THERMAL, Calif. — Pato O’Ward is one of IndyCar’s fastest drivers. On Saturday at The Thermal Club, O’Ward’s speed paid off with his first pole in three years.
The Arrow McLaren driver from Monterrey, Mexico was the fastest driver in Saturday’s qualifications for Sunday The Thermal Club IndyCar Grand Prix.
O’Ward wheeled his No. 50 Chevrolet around the 3.067-mile, 17-turn, road course at The Thermal Club in 1:39.9567. Teammate Christian Lundgaard was seconds at 1:40.1245 in the No. 7 Chevrolet to give Arrow McLaren a sweep of the front row.
It was O’Ward’s first pole since Mid-Ohio in 2022.
“Maybe I figured out how to qualify again,” O’Ward said. “I don’t know.
“I knew if we could get the car to my liking, we could get it done. I have to thank my guys. We dialed in after the first session and as soon as I went out in Q2, I realized we’ve got this.”
Alex Palou led a trio of Honda’s from positions 3-5 with a lap at 1:40.3092 in the No. 10 for Chip Ganassi Racing. Colton Herta of Andretti Autosport was fourth at 1:40.3978 in the No. 26 Honda and teammate Marcus Ericsson was fifth at 1:40.7435 in the No. 28.
ECR’s Alexander Rossi rounded out the Fast Six at 1:41.039 in the No. 20 Chevrolet.
Positions 7-12 included Marcus Armstrong, Kyle Kirkwood, Felix Rosenqvist, Louis Foster, Scott Dixon and David Malukas.
“The car is super quick,” Armstrong said. “I’m really disappointed that we did not make it through there. I got impeded by another car on the first run. But, with P7 we can do some good stuff tomorrow. I feel like Meyer Shank Racing really has the car hooked up so let’s go for gold.”
It was the first McLaren IndyCar front row sweep since rejoining the series ahead of the 2020 season.
“We are just trying to copy what McLaren does in Formula One,” Lundgaard said. “It’s important to be there when it counts.
“I’m 2-for-2 in the Fast Six, so that helps.”
While Arrow McLaren had a big day up front, none of the three drivers from Team Penske advanced out of the first round for the first time since
Josef Newgarden will start 17th in the No. 2 Chevrolet, Will Power 21st in the No. 12 Chevrolet and Scott McLaughlin 25th in the 27-car field.
There were all in the first group of the first session.
“We just weren’t quick,” Newgarden said. “All of us didn’t look fantastic in our group. I mean I think if you’re saying you need three-, four-tenths, I think we could’ve put that together on the red tire. I had some traffic at the end of my run. I don’t know who it was, I think it was probably (Rinus) VeeKay. It was probably a tenth or two in that final sector. And then dropped a little time personally in turn nine.
“I think I could see getting a transfer spot out of that, just maybe losing sort of the major speed that we’re going to need. I felt really good going into qualifying. I thought our car was in a good window. Obviously, we’re going to have to find some speed for tomorrow now, but we can always make something happen. I always feel good with Team Penske. Always lookout for the PPG Chevy, we can go to the front.”
For the second race in a row, Power had difficulty in qualifications after having high hopes entering the weekend.
“We had been quick in every single session until that red tire run then,” Power explained. “Just didn’t start the first lap on them well so I aborted it. Then, you’ve used them a little bit and there’s only one lap you’ve got. I was, man, surprised. I mean, I gave up three-tenths on the first corner of the start of the lap, so that is on me there. It’s the not the seconds we’re looking for like (Alex) Palou did.
“It’s not even fathomable for us to get to that lap time, but the top six maybe if we’re lucky.”
It was the first time since Portland in 2021 that no driver from Team Penske advanced out of the first round in qualifications.
“Honestly, I felt like the car was okay,” McLaughlin said. “It was just hard to get a read without doing that first run. That’s pretty much on me. Obviously, the whole team is struggling a little bit. It’s surprising because we actually felt pretty good. We’ll fight any way we’ve got and the XPEL
“Chevy will be at the front tomorrow.”
Back to the front, the Arrow McLaren front row will lead the field to the green flag shortly after 3 p.m. ET on Sunday.
Entering the weekend, “tire deg” was a popular term as drivers spoke about the difference between the Firestone “Black” primary tires and the softer Firestone “Red” alternate tires.
“I don’t think the drop-off is as much as we expected after St. Pete,” Lundgaard said.
O’Ward predicts the race will be more like an oval in the Midwest than a road course in the Coachella Valley near Palm Springs.
“It’s going to be like an old Iowa,” O’Ward said. “Tomorrow will be reminiscent of that. There will be multiple different strategies tomorrow with a lot of tire deg.”
