Qualifying for the first true race weekend at The Thermal Club took place on Saturday afternoon, with 27 drivers vying for the top grid positions.
Pato O’Ward was able to log the fastest time in the Firestone Fast 6 session, completing a lap of the lengthy club course in 1:39.9567.
His team-mate Christian Lundgaard qualified alongside in second, marking the first time Arrow McLaren has earned a front row lockout in IndyCar.
READ MORE: IndyCar Thermal Club – Full Qualifying Report
The most surprising results of qualifying were the drivers that were near the back. All three Team Penske veterans failed to put together a good run, and were knocked out in the first round.
Josef Newgarden earned the 17th starting position and was the best of the team. Clearly the team has some work yet to do in order to lock down the setup ahead of the race.
Race day is coming up on Sunday afternoon, with the green flag waving at 12:00 local time, 3:00 PM eastern.
| # | Driver | Time | Avg. Speed (MPH) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pato O’Ward | 01:39.9567 | 110.4600 |
| 2 | Christian Lundgaard | 01:40.1245 | 110.2750 |
| 3 | Alex Palou | 01:40.3092 | 110.0720 |
| 4 | Colton Herta | 01:40.3978 | 109.9750 |
| 5 | Marcus Ericsson | 01:40.7435 | 109.5970 |
| 6 | Alexander Rossi | 01:41.0359 | 109.2800 |
| 7 | Marcus Armstrong | 01:40.6824 | 109.6640 |
| 8 | Kyle Kirkwood | 01:40.7306 | 109.6110 |
| 9 | Felix Rosenqvist | 01:40.9824 | 109.3380 |
| 10 | Louis Foster | 01:41.2256 | 109.0750 |
| 11 | Scott Dixon | 01:41.2319 | 109.0680 |
| 12 | David Malukas | 01:41.2997 | 108.9950 |
| 13 | Rinus VeeKay | 01:40.6490 | 109.7000 |
| 14 | Santino Ferrucci | 01:40.6658 | 109.6820 |
| 15 | Conor Daly | 01:40.6592 | 109.6890 |
| 16 | Nolan Siegel | 01:40.7040 | 109.6400 |
| 17 | Josef Newgarden | 01:40.6956 | 109.6490 |
| 18 | Graham Rahal | 01:40.8433 | 109.4890 |
| 19 | Christian Rasmussen | 01:40.8884 | 109.4400 |
| 20 | Kyffin Simpson | 01:41.1684 | 109.1370 |
| 21 | Will Power | 01:40.9750 | 109.3460 |
| 22 | Callum Ilott | 01:41.2929 | 109.0030 |
| 23 | Jacob Abel | 01:41.1118 | 109.1980 |
| 24 | Sting Ray Robb | 01:41.3356 | 108.9570 |
| 25 | Scott McLaughlin | 01:41.5133 | 108.7660 |
| 26 | Devlin DeFrancesco | 01:41.3664 | 108.9240 |
| 27 | Robert Shwartzman | 01:43.0781 | 107.1150 |
