Michael Shank on Nyck de Vries: 'If he wanted to go IndyCar racing, he'd do very well'

Mike Shank isn't sure whether it might be in IndyCar, sportscars — or both — but the Indy 500-winning team owner would love to have Nyck de Vries in the Meyer Shank Racing pink and black one day.

Monday's private four-car IndyCar test at Sebring International Raceway, where the 26-year-old Dutch driver paced Callum Ilott (Juncos Hollinger Racing), Stoffel Vandoorne (Arrow McLaren SP) and Jack Aitken (Ed Carpenter Racing), served as a fact-finding mission for Shank, whose two-car IndyCar program has long been set for 2022.

More: Stoffel Vandoorne enjoys 'beast of a car' in first IndyCar test: 'Above all, I was happy'

Fellow veterans and ex-Team Penske drivers Helio Castroneves and Simon Pagenaud, winners of two of the past three Indy 500s, have teamed up at MSR in the team's debut with two full-time entries. Though the 46-year-old four-time 500 winner's racing career is no doubt coming to a close sooner rather than later, Shank declined to say whether de Vries' test was the first step in finding Castroneves' replacement.

"I'm not open to talking about (Helio's contract length) right now, but we're working on all kinds of future things with him," Shank told IndyStar Monday following the Sebring test. "I promise you."

More: Here's a look at the potential 2022 Indy 500 field six months from race day

Given Honda's full stable of full-time IndyCar entries for 2022, Shank said he's "99% certain" he won't run an extra car at any time this upcoming season, but a third MSR car isn't out of the realm of possibilities for further down the road. First, his team has to get a handle on running two productively, while continuing to excel with its IMSA DPi program, but further growth could be on the horizon.

And de Vries, Shank said, is the type of wildcard all-around talent MSR could plug in anywhere and expect results.

"I've been watching him for about a year — he didn't know me, but I was watching. He's got three years or so working with really high-end teams, and he's got a lot of great racing experience even if it's not in IndyCar," Shank said of de Vries. "That translated almost instantly today. It was exactly what I hoped for, and he performed exactly how I thought he'd perform. If he wanted to go IndyCar racing, he'd do very well.

"What really stands out, is I saw an extraordinary performance in the LMP2 class this year at (the 24 Hours of Le Mans), and that's what really convinced me that we needed to try him. He's the complete package. He's got the brain capacity to deal with these cars at a high-level and not be at max capacity when he's driving that fast."

As he is currently with Castroneves, Shank could use de Vries in a combination role as an IMSA endurance driver and full-time IndyCar competitor, should their visions align down the road. There will be plenty of time to think about what's to come, but with the 2019 F2 and 2021 Formula E champ just over a month from the start of his 2022 racing season with Mercedes — his last before the program pulls out of Formula E — Shank said he wants to get a head-start planning for the future.

More on Monday's Sebring IndyCar test:

• Vandoorne enjoys 'beast of a car' in first IndyCar test: 'Above all, I was happy'

• Carpenter says team had 'smooth day' with prospective IndyCar rookie Aitken

"We want to understand what the world is giving us with this level of talent, whether it's here or Kirkwood or one of the folks in Indy Lights," Shank said. "We're going to give some people some different opportunities to have a look.

"We have a lot to think about, but we've got a lot of really big steps for us right now."

Email IndyStar motor sports reporter Nathan Brown at nlbrown@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter: @By_NathanBrown.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: IndyCar: Mike Shank considers Nyck de Vries for both IndyCar, IMSA