Pato O'Ward qualifies first for Thermal

For the first time since their return to the series in 2020, Arrow McLaren will occupy the entire front row of the grid in an NTT INDYCAR SERIES race. Pato O'Ward and Christian Lundgaard secured the top two positions during qualifying for the The Thermal Club INDYCAR Grand Prix.

O'Ward, the Mexican driver for the team, set a time of 1 minute, 39.9567 seconds during the Firestone Fast Six in his No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet, earning his sixth career pole position and his first since July 2022 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. This result marks a significant recovery for O'Ward, who had qualified in a disappointing 23rd place at the season opener in St. Petersburg.

"I knew that if we could get the car to my liking, I would do it," said O'Ward. "I have to thank the guys. We transformed the car. We adjusted it after Q1 because I was somewhat happy with it, but not perfect. We made a small adjustment, and as soon as we went out in Q2, I said, 'I've got it.'"

O'Ward completed his best lap with one minute and 45 seconds remaining in the final segment and did not need to push hard again, saving valuable wear on his alternate Firestone Firehawk tires. He needed only four laps in the Firestone Fast Six to secure the pole; only Alexander Rossi completed fewer laps during that segment.

Lundgaard Impresses in Arrow McLaren Debut

The team's newcomer, Christian Lundgaard, finished just behind with a time of 1:40.1245 in the No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet. This is his best starting position since last May, when he also qualified second for the Sonsio Grand Prix at the mixed circuit of Indianapolis Motor Speedway with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, where he spent the first three full seasons of his career. Lundgaard was the fastest in pre-qualifying practice.

The previous best qualifying result for Arrow McLaren with their two main cars since their return to the series in 2020 was the 1-3 achieved by Felix Rosenqvist and Rossi, respectively, in April 2023 at Texas Motor Speedway.

Palou Continues Strong Form After St. Petersburg Win

The three-time champion and current back-to-back series champion, Alex Palou, qualified third with a time of 1:40.3092 in the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda on the 17-turn, 3.067-mile natural terrain circuit.

Palou, who won the season opener in St. Petersburg, seemed destined for pole position early in qualifying. He set the fastest lap of the weekend, 1:39.5933, during the first qualifying segment and followed it up with a lap of 1:39.6518 to lead the Fast 12 segment. Palou was the last driver on track during the Firestone Fast Six, but team officials asked him to back off on his final lap and save his alternate Firestone Firehawk tires for Sunday's race, as it was clear he would not surpass O'Ward.

Andretti Global Places Two Cars in the Fast Six

Colton Herta qualified fourth with 1:40.3978 in the No. 26 Gainbridge Honda, leading the two Andretti Global cars in the Firestone Fast Six. His teammate Marcus Ericsson finished fifth with 1:40.7435 in the No. 28 Bryant Honda.

Rossi rounded out the top six qualifiers with his best lap of 1:41.0359 in the No. 20 ECR Java House Chevrolet, continuing his strong start with Ed Carpenter Racing, the team he joined after last season.

Penske Misses Top 12 for First Time in Over Three Years

Arrow McLaren's monopoly of the front row was one of two major stories during qualifying under the sunny skies of Southern California. The other was Team Penske's failure to advance beyond the first round of qualifying for the first time in over three years.

Josef Newgarden, a two-time Indianapolis 500 winner and reigning series champion, was the fastest of the three Team Penske drivers, qualifying 17th in the No. 2 PPG Team Penske Chevrolet. Will Power, a two-time series champion and the all-time leader in INDYCAR SERIES poles, finished 21st in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet. Scott McLaughlin ended up 25th in a field of 27 cars in the No. 3 XPEL Team Penske Chevrolet.

The last time no Penske driver advanced from the first round of qualifying on a road course was in September 2021 at Portland International Raceway, when all four of the team's cars failed to make the top 12 after the initial segment.

Up next for the inaugural points-paying event of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES at The Thermal Club is the 25-minute warm-up at 11 a.m. ET on Sunday (FS1, FOX Sports app, INDYCAR Radio Network). The 65-lap race will follow at 3 p.m. (FOX, FOX Sports app, INDYCAR Radio Network).

Qualifying Results

Pos	Car	Driver	Time	Speed
1	5	O'Ward, Pato	01:39.9567	110.460
2	7	Lundgaard, Christian	01:40.1245	110.275
3	10	Palou, Alex	01:40.3092	110.072
4	26	Herta, Colton	01:40.3978	109.975
5	28	Ericsson, Marcus	01:40.7435	109.597
6	20	Rossi, Alexander	01:41.0359	109.280
7	66	Armstrong, Marcus	01:40.6824	109.664
8	27	Kirkwood, Kyle	01:40.7306	109.611
9	60	Rosenqvist, Felix	01:40.9824	109.338
10	45	Foster, Louis (R)	01:41.2256	109.075
11	9	Dixon, Scott	01:41.2319	109.068
12	4	Malukas, David	01:41.2997	108.995
13	18	Veekay, Rinus	01:40.6490	109.700
14	14	Ferrucci, Santino	01:40.6658	109.682
15	76	Daly, Conor	01:40.6592	109.689
16	6	Siegel, Nolan	01:40.7040	109.640
17	2	Newgarden, Josef	01:40.6956	109.649
18	15	Rahal, Graham	01:40.8433	109.489
19	21	Rasmussen, Christian	01:40.8884	109.440
20	8	Simpson, Kyffin	01:41.1684	109.137
21	12	Power, Will	01:40.9750	109.346
22	90	Ilott, Callum	01:41.2929	109.003
23	51	Abel, Jacob (R)	01:41.1118	109.198
24	77	Robb, Sting Ray	01:41.3356	108.957
25	3	McLaughlin, Scott	01:41.5133	108.766
26	30	DeFrancesco, Devlin	01:41.3664	108.924
27	83	Shwartzman, Robert (R)	01:43.0781	107.115