Saturday’s IndyCar qualifying from Road America was a tricky one, with a wet track giving drivers trouble as they tried to set the fastest laps possible.
The 4.01-mile course was fully wet when qualifying started, but the rain eased and the cars quickly began to clear a drier line on the course.
Lap times fell throughout the knockout sessions, but wet tires were still needed until the Firestone Fast 6 shootout when drivers tested their skills by fitting slicks for their final pole runs.
READ MORE: IndyCar Road America – Full Qualifying Results
As times fell lap by lap, rookie Linus Lundqvist laid down his lap just before the red flag came out to lock in his first career pole.
Lundqvist knew when rain was in the forecast that he had a chance, and was more than thrilled to come out on top for the day.
Colton Herta set the second fastest time and will start alongside the rookie for Sunday’s race.
Marcus Armstrong and Kyle Kirkwood filled out the second row, with each showing considerable pace throughout the weekend so far.
Josef Newgarden suffered a massive shunt during the final lap of qualifying while going through the backstretch kink at full speed.
He attempted to use the curbing on turn-in, and the leftover water on the edge of the track sent him spinning hard into the wall.
Newgarden’s crew will have a massive repair job ahead of them, but he should still be able to start from the third row.
Will Power was also not quite able to keep a handle on his #12 Team Penske machine, and spun off the course on his first lap of the final session.
Because he needed to be rescued by safety officials so early in the run, he was forced to settle for fifth alongside his team-mate.
Alex Palou just missed out on advancing to the Fast 6, with this time of 2:00.9290 three tenths of a second too slow. He will be joined on the fourth row by Scott McLaughlin, who picked up a dirty sidepod when he ran through the gravel on one of his laps.
Not only did Chip Ganassi Racing have two drivers in the Fast 6, the team placed all five drivers into the Top 12.
Scott Dixon earned the 10th starting place, while Kyffin Simpson the 12th in what was a solid afternoon for the team.
Helio Castroneves was one of the only drivers to need assistance during qualifying, with the veteran running long into the Turn 5 runoff.
He lost his fast laps to that point, and will start Sunday’s race from the back row.
Sunday’s forecast does not have any rain in it, so fans will be able to look forward to a more straightforward race. The 55-lap XPEL Grand Prix gets underway at 2:45 central time.
