Felix Rosenqvist continued his speedy start to the NTT IndyCar Series season by winning the first heat race pole for Sunday’s $1 Million Challenge at The Thermal Club.
Rosenqvist won the pole with a fast time at 1:38.5831 around the 17-turn, 3.067-mile road course at The Thermal Club in Thermal, Calif., in the No. 60 SiriusXM/AutoNation Honda for Meyer Shank Racing.
Group 2 featured some of the fast young drivers in the series, but it was two-time and reigning IndyCar champion Alex Palou winning the pole for the second heat race on Sunday. Palou’s fast time was 1:38.5675 in the No. 10 Honda for Chip Ganassi Racing.
The second session was red flagged when Andretti Global driver Marcus Ericsson smacked the turn nine wall with his Honda on a hot lap with 1:19 left.
The speed runs that began Saturday at 8 p.m. (ET) set the lineups for Sunday’s two heat races. The top six in each heat advanced to the 12-car lineup that will determine IndyCar’s $1 Million Challenge.
Windy conditions that caused a brief delay in the start of the final test session earlier Saturday had calmed down and the track had been properly cleaned for the first qualifying group. But the winds returned during the qualification session, making it very tricky around the road course.
The first qualifying group was stacked with some of the top names in IndyCar including the all-time pole winner — Will Power and six-time IndyCar Series champion Scott Dixon.
With just seven minutes in each session, there was little time to waste for each group.
In the first qualifying session, Rosenqvist was on top of the timing monitor when the session was checkered, but Colton Herta was still on the race course completing his final lap. When it was over, Rosenqvist remained on top.
“We tried to stay calm after the messy session in the morning, forget that session, take a deep breath and do it all again,” Rosenqvist said. “It’s so tricky out there. The win was changing every lap, there was dust on the track, and I was first out. But I could focus on my tire warmup, was more confident when I went for the lap.
“All I had to do was put it together and the speed was there. We need to focus on race pace. We’ve been good on one lap so far, but we are gelling every session. This is awesome.”
The top six drivers from each heat race will advance into the 12-car lineup that will battle it out for the $500,000 first-place prize.
“It’s an angry pack behind in the mirror,” Rosenqvist said of his heat. “Everyone is going to go for it, give it their all and try to be first.”
Scott McLaughlin was second in the first qualifying group at 1:38.6068 in the No. 2 Chevrolet for Team Penske.
“That was like a good old Supercars shootout,” McLaughlin said. “To do a good job there was good. I missed up that last corner, but you have to do the lap. There is pressure and it’s cool. Chevy has been giving us great power all year and hopefully we can keep this Xpel Chevy up front.
“We’ll do what we can. Every race we go out, we try to win it. But it’s a learning process, too. It’s going to be interesting to see where we shake up after 10 laps.”
Rinus VeeKay was third in the first qualifying session at 1:38.6283 in the No. 21 Chevrolet for Ed Carpenter Racing.
“It’s interesting, it’s different, and we have the push-to-pass, too,” VeeKay said. “It felt really good. One thing about this track, every outing the car felt different. We nailed it for the conditions the way they were. I’m very happy and a great job for the guys. We had to make sure we had traction and could get off the corner really well without wheel spin.
“You only have to lead one lap on Sunday, and that’s the last one. The starting position makes it easier to get in there.”
Christian Lundgaard of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing was fourth at 1:38.6394 in the No. 45 Hy-Vee Honda for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing.
“It’s for sure, full commitment,” Lundgaard said. “I don’t know what Santino Ferrucci was doing if he was slow. It’s a bummer, but we have shown our pace. I think they are looking at us as the most competitive car. I think they should be worried. I’m going to go out there and have fun. The heat race will be different strategy than the main race. There are many different ways to approach it.”
Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden was fifth at 1:38.7926 in the No. 2 Chevrolet followed by teammate Will Power, sixth at 1:38.8056 in the No. 12 Verizon Chevrolet for Team Penske.
“You literally had one lap, that’s it,” Power said. “One lap, then big deg. It’s tough. I tried a couple different things and made mistakes. The quickest time was a quick time. For Rosenqvist to be P1, that’s solid. I don’t feel like doing much damage for P6. Once you are back there and it’s a short race, anything can happen.”
Romain Grosjean was seventh followed by Juncos Hollinger teammate Agustin Canapino, both in Chevrolets. Scott Dixon’s Honda was ninth followed by Ferrucci’s Chevrolet and Herta’s Honda. Rookie Nolan Siegel was 12th in the 12-car group.
After a brief break, the second group hit the track to qualify for the second heat race.
Callum Ilott was on top when the qualification session was halted followed by Pato O’Ward, who ran a fast time of 1:39.4293 in the No. 5 Chevrolet for Arrow McLaren.
“This track is every sensitive to heat and wind,” O’Ward said. “It was getting really gusty, and you could see the Rooster Tails on the back of the cars. It wasn’t the most perfect lap for me. I could never get it set. A lot of guys are struggling with it, and it feels icy out there. The wind is a factor, and it has shifted a lot. It’s not that it felt horrible, but never got into the operating window.
“The tires never got to their sweet spot. Once you choose your lap, you have to stick with it.”
When the red flag was lifted, each car had a chance to make one final flying lap around the course.
Palou made the most of it with the pole.
“We started pushing and then the red flag came out, but it’s cool to see Marcus Armstrong right behind me,” Palou said. “We didn’t know if we were able to put a lap together, but I’m very happy with that pace. The car is good. The team did an amazing job, and we are looking forward to Sunday.”
Because Palou had the fastest lap out of both sessions, if he wins the second heat race, he will start on the pole for the 20-lap $1 Million Challenge feature race.
Armstrong’s No. 11 Honda at Chip Ganassi Racing was second at 1:38.7975 for an All-Ganassi front row. Graham Rahal jumped up to third on the final lap at 1:389.9723 in the No. 15 Honda for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing.
“It was the old fashioned, pull it out sort of thing,” Rahal said. “I just need to the balance to be consistent and the brake to be consistent. I went in there and locked the rear and lost a lap, but we pulled it out. It was nice to be competitive again. We were able to put one in and gives us a good starting spot for tomorrow. This is a pleasant surprise for me. We’ll go from there.”
Lundgaard was fourth at 1:39.0685 in the No. 45 Hy-Vee Honda. Tom Blomqvist of Meyer Shank Racing was fifth in the No. 66 Honda at 1:39.0820 followed by another RLL driver, Pietro Fittipaldi at 1:39.1117 in the No. 30 Honda.
Alexander Rossi was seventh followed by Ilott and O’Ward as all three Arrow McLaren drivers’ line up 7-9. Rookie Kyffin Simpson was 10th followed by another rookie, Christian Rasmussen, and Colin Braun.
Ericsson will start last in the second heat after crashing.