Indianapolis 500 Rookie Linus Lundqvist Enjoying the Moment

Linus Lundqvist is at war of sorts—with himself.

The rookie driver of Chip Ganassi Racing’s No. 8 American Legion Honda said this week at Indianapolis that he’s battling the joy of being at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway – and the nagging feeling he isn’t being as competitive as he wants to be.

So it’s the wide-eyed racing romantic at arguably the world’s premier motorsport event dueling emotionally with the fierce competitor.

“I'm not going to lie,” the 25-year-old Swede who’s one of six first-timers in the field of 33 said. “I'm a little bit torn, actually. Kind of two camps within me.

“One is you've been chasing your whole life and career towards this one dream. It's kind of upon you right now. You're going to start the Indianapolis 500,” Lundqvist said. “But I'm also a very competitive guy, which means that I'm not really happy until we're fighting at the front and being competitive. I just haven't been this week.

“It's not super enjoyable, because I'm annoyed if we're not at the front. That's kind of what I mean when I'm a little bit torn between the two. At the same time, I still want to enjoy this, because I'm extremely privileged to be one of very few people to get to experience the Indianapolis 500. There's a little bit of two camps within myself."