IndyCar: Rosenqvist holds on to win pole for XPEL 375 at TMS

Arrow McLaren driver Felix Rosenqvist qualified early at an average speed of 221.110 mph (2-lap average) and then had to wait for most of the field to qualify for the XPEL 375 IndyCar race to see if anyone could knock him off pole.

No one did, but Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin (winner in St Petersburg) and Dale Coyne Racing’s Takuma Sato came very close and will start 2nd and 3rd.

It was the 2nd career NTT IndyCar Series pole for Rosenqvist and his first on an oval.

Will Power and Scott Dixon rounded out the top-5.

Scott McLaughlin and Simon Pagenaud. Photo by Penske Entertainment: Chris Owens

The driver of the No. 7 ARROW McLaren SP Racing Chevrolet completed his two-lap qualifying run at 46.8906 seconds at 221.110 mph, besting No. 2 qualifier Scott McLaughlin (No. 3 Team Penske XPEL Chevrolet) by just 0.003-of-a-second with his run of 46.8936 at 221.096. It was the second series pole for the Swedish native, whose first came in 2019 at the INDYCAR Grand Prix at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

“Getting that run that early is just killing you,” said Rosenqvist. “There are so many guys here close. I had a couple of guys within thousandths.  I just have to thank Arrow McLaren SP, Chevy, and Vuse. The car felt so good, and I knew that lap was pretty much as good as I could have made it.  It was just so hard to wait for so long to get it.

“This is huge for the team and for myself as far as a big confidence boost. Big comeback after some tough times.  I am really pleased for everyone on my team to get this result. It’s awesome. So now we will just switch focus to the race and see what we can do.”

Scott McLaughlin, winner of the season opener in St Petesburg race added his thoughts. “I certainly felt I had a little bit of scrub off turn one and two on that last lap, and that potentially — it may have cost me a little bit, scrubbed a little bit of speed there. I knew it, so on three and four I was like, oh, I’m making a little bit of a weight jack adjustment and bars, but then I looked at the score and I was, like, 209.9 at the end. That might not be enough, and then sure enough they said P2. Like I said, great job for Team Chevy to have a front row. I think it’s three in the top four, so it’s leaps and bounds, and we’re getting ready for Indy now.”

Jimmie Johnson, the seven-time NASCAR Series Champion and seven-time race winner at Texas Motor Speedway who is making his NTT INDYCAR SERIES oval debut in the XPEL 375, put the No. 48 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda 18th on the pylon with a two-lap run of 47.1562 at 219.865. He will line up on the outside of Row 9.

“It was a fun morning.  I feel like we are just learning so much.  I just wish I could have completed our test session that we came here for a week ago.  I am still playing a little bit of catch up to get to this point.  I passed cars. I have been through a qualifying drill now to understand a lower-trim feeling on the car.”

Two-time series champion Josef Newgarden led the final practice with a top lap of 223.108 in the No. 2 PPG Team Penske Chevrolet. The 70-minute session for the full field took place after seven drivers turned laps in the high groove of the track for 30 minutes, trying to add Firestone rubber to create even more passing opportunities.

Veteran Jack Harvey was unhurt in the only incident in final practice. Harvey brushed the SAFER Barrier exiting Turn 2 and made hard contact with the inside wall on the backstretch with his No. 45 Hy-Vee Honda, which suffered heavy left-side damage.

Qualifying Results

Pos No Name Speed Lap1 Lap2 Engine Team
1 7 Felix Rosenqvist 221.110 221.316 220.905 Chevy Arrow McLaren SP
2 3 Scott McLaughlin 221.096 221.166 221.027 Chevy Team Penske
3 51 Takuma Sato 221.094 221.216 220.973 Honda Dale Coyne Racing w/RWR
4 12 Will Power 221.016 221.024 221.009 Chevy Team Penske
5 9 Scott Dixon 221.011 221.094 220.929 Honda Chip Ganassi Racing
6 06 Helio Castroneves 220.768 221.048 220.489 Honda Meyer Shank Racing
7 2 Josef Newgarden 220.758 220.796 220.721 Chevy Team Penske
8 21 Rinus VeeKay 220.748 221.028 220.468 Chevy Ed Carpenter Racing
9 26 Colton Herta 220.602 220.752 220.453 Honda Andretti Autosport
10 5 Pato O’Ward 220.579 220.908 220.252 Chevy Arrow McLaren SP
11 10 Alex Palou 220.571 220.599 220.544 Honda Chip Ganassi Racing
12 27 Alexander Rossi 220.458 220.463 220.453 Honda Andretti Autosport
13 28 Romain Grosjean 220.412 220.668 220.156 Honda Andretti Autosport
14 8 Marcus Ericsson 220.364 220.494 220.234 Honda Chip Ganassi Racing
15 60 Simon Pagenaud 220.338 220.284 220.392 Honda Meyer Shank Racing
16 20 Conor Daly 219.987 220.104 219.871 Chevy Ed Carpenter Racing
17 29 Devlin DeFrancesco 219.888 219.681 220.096 Honda Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport
18 48 Jimmie Johnson 219.865 220.006 219.724 Honda Chip Ganassi Racing
19 18 David Malukas 219.864 219.927 219.802 Honda Dale Coyne Racing with HMD
20 77 Callum Ilott 219.462 219.637 219.287 Chevy Juncos Hollinger Racing
21 33 Ed Carpenter 219.212 219.450 218.975 Chevy Ed Carpenter Racing
22 4 Dalton Kellett 219.038 219.275 218.801 Chevy AJ Foyt Enterprises
23 14 Kyle Kirkwood 219.013 219.147 218.880 Chevy AJ Foyt Enterprises
24 45 Jack Harvey 218.781 218.820 218.742 Honda Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
25 30 Christian Lundgaard 218.687 218.619 218.754 Honda Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
26 11 JR Hildebrand 218.584 218.740 218.428 Chevy AJ Foyt Enterprises
27 15 Graham Rahal 218.410 218.239 218.582 Honda Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing