Scott McLaughlin broke Meyer Shank Racing’s hold on the top of the timesheets to claim pole for Saturday’s NTT IndyCar Series race at WWTR.
McLaughlin’s No. 3 Team Penske Chevrolet was the third-last car in the qualifying order, and he started his run at a time when MSR held the top two spots courtesy of Felix Rosenqvist and David Malukas respectively.
Rosenqvist, with a nine-place grid penalty looming, wasn’t going to start from pole regardless, but McLaughlin ended the conversation completely with a two-lap average of 179.972mph, putting him safely clear of the Swede’s 179.792mph.
“So stoked,” said McLaughlin. “We had a procedure, went through it, got it done and I’m really proud of everyone. But at the end of the day tomorrow is pay day, so we’ll make sure we’re on top of things. I want to make sure I get myself back in this championship.”
Malukas held on for third-best at 179.503mph but will start from second on the grid thanks to Rosenqvist’s penalty, while Josef Newgarden and Will Power ensured that all of The Captain’s cars qualified inside the top five with runs of 179.424mph and 179.262mph respectively. Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood will be promoted into the top five at Roseqnvist’s expense courtesy of his 178.417mph run in the No. 27 Honda.
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Championship leader Alex Palou and Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Scott Dixon will both start deep in the field once their nine-places penalties are added to qualifying seventh and 10th, but they still have less work to do on Saturday night than Colton Herta. The Global Andretti driver had just completed a stout 179.9mph first lap when he lost the rear of the No. 26 Andretti Global Honda in Turn 1. The car entered a slow spin that turned into a four-wheel drift towards Turn 2 that ended with gearbox-first contact with the outside wall. He completed his run with the rear wing hanging at an odd angle, and ruing what might have been.
“It broke loose, unfortunately,” he said. “First lap was decent, don’t think it was going to get pole but I think it could have gotten us a top five. Then second lap… it just let go pretty early and that’s all she wrote. It sucks, I think the car was pretty good, but we were just a bit too aggressive there.
“We’ll have to see [about damage]. Hopefully there’s no damage to the engine; I’m sure the gearbox is destroyed, and obviously the rear wing attenuator. But hopefully there’s not too much for the guys to work on so we can get back out for night practice.”
It wasn’t the result Herta was looking for, but the two laps he completed were two more than Dale Coyne Racing managed. Jack Harvey was first in line and had just completed his warm-up lap when the No. 18 Honda pulled to the side of the track with a hybrid problem as it approached the green flag. Katherine Legge, who returns to the No. 51 sister car this weekend, was nearly 12mph off the leader’s pace in opening practice earlier in the day and did not attempt a qualifying run at all.
UP NEXT: High-Line Practice (7:45pm ET) and Final Practice (8:30pm ET)