IndyCar Long Beach starting lineup: First pole position for Meyer Shank Racing as Rosenqvist nips Power
Meyer Shank Racing earned its first NTT IndyCar pole position as No. 60 Dallara-Honda driver Felix Rosenqvist nipped Will Power by 0.0039 seconds in qualifying for the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.
Sunday's race (3 p.m., USA Network and Peacock) will feature the closest front row for a street-course race since IndyCar introduced knockout qualifying in 2008.
Rosenqvist scored the sixth pole of his career and his first since the 2023 season finale at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca last September in his final start at Arrow McLaren.
QUALIFYING RESULTS: Click here for Grand Prix of Long Beach qualifying speeds | Round 1, Group 1 | Round 1, Group 2 | Round 2 l Round 3
In his first two starts since joining MSR, the Swede has qualified second at St. Pete and first at Long Beach.
Magical start to IndyCar season continues for Felix Rosenqvist
Delivers Meyer Shank Racing its first IndyCar Series pole
“It was hard,” Rosenqvist told NBC Sports' Marty Snider. “Honestly, I didn’t think I had it because I had a big tank-slapper out of (Turn) 5. This is a hard-fought one. Huge respect for Power and the laps he can put down. It doesn't come easy. It doesn’t come easy. Every lap out there, you’re flirting with the walls. That was a fun one.”
Power, the all-time career leader with 70 IndyCar pole positions, scored his best starting spot on a road or street course since winning the pole for the 2022 season finale (when he clinched his second championship at Laguna Seca). The Team Penske driver rebounded after his No. 12 Dallara-Chevrolet nailed the Turn 8 wall twice in a Saturday morning practice.
"Just getting in the Fast Six again is a big deal for me," Power told NBC Sports' Dillon Welch. "Just working hard on my qualifying. I've been quick all year in practice, so super stoked to transfer. Obviously, it hurts a bit when you miss out by that much. But honestly, Felix must have done a phenomenal lap. I couldn't pick anywhere I made a mistake. It was about as good as I can do. We can certainly win from there."
It's been nearly four years since Rosenqvist's lone IndyCar win (at Road America). Meyer Shank Racing also has one victory — the record-tying fourth Indy 500 win by Helio Castroneves (now a co-owner at MSR) in 2021.
IndyCar Grand Prix of Long Beach on USA: How to watch, start times, schedules, streaming
The 2024 season resumes on the streets of Southern California, where Honda hopes for a rebound from the season opener.
But perhaps Rosenqvist's pole is a good omen. MSR had entered Long Beach with 123 starts among six drivers since entering IndyCar in 2017 without having qualified first.
Team Penske's Josef Newgarden, who dominated the season opener in St. Pete, will try to stay unbeaten from the third starting spot. Starting alongside the points leader will be Colton Herta, who was just ahead of Andretti Global teammate Marcus Ericsson. Two-time IndyCar champion Alex Palou will start sixth.
It was a rough day for Arrow McLaren as all three of its drivers failed to advance to the second round. The shocker was Pato O'Ward, who qualified 14th after turning the fastest lap in Friday's practice.
“I wasn’t unhappy with (the car), to be honest," O'Ward told Snider. "We’re just slow or not fast enough. No real explanation for that. I thought it was going to be fine, at least, to transfer, but I think we went the wrong way in P2 and went back to what we had yesterday, and I just think we missed the window a little bit.
"If our race car is good, I can (win). We just need to make sure we get it at that position, and we get it in that window where I can really take advantage of the tools that I’ve got. For now, we just have to really dive in to see what and where we missed it."
Here’s the IndyCar starting lineup for Sunday’s Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach on the 11-turn 1.968-mile temporary street course (qualifying position, car number in parentheses, driver, engine, time and speed):
ROW 1
1. (60) Felix Rosenqvist, Honda, 1 minute, 6.0172 seconds (107.317 mph)
2. (12) Will Power, Chevrolet, 1:06.0211 (107.311)
ROW 2
3. (2) Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet, 1:06.1059 (107.173)
4. (26) Colton Herta, Honda, 1:06.3784 (106.734)
ROW 3
5. (28) Marcus Ericsson, Honda, 1:06.4039 (106.693)
6. (10) Alex Palou, Honda, 1:06.5444 (106.467)
ROW 4
7. (45) Christian Lundgaard, Honda, 1:06.2107 (107.004)
8. (9) Scott Dixon, Honda, 1:06.2219 (106.986)
ROW 5
9. (11) Marcus Armstrong, Honda, 1:06.2404 (106.956)
10. (27) Kyle Kirkwood, Honda, 1:06.2672 (106.913)
ROW 6
11. (3) Scott McLaughlin, Chevrolet, 1:06.3504 (106.779)
12. (15) Graham Rahal, Honda, 1:06.5757 (106.417)
ROW 7
13. (7) Alexander Rossi, Chevrolet, 01:06.8349 (106.004)
14. (5) Pato O'Ward, Chevrolet, 01:06.4572 (106.607)
ROW 8
15. (66) Tom Blomqvist, Honda, 01:07.0325 (105.692)
16. (77) Romain Grosjean, Chevrolet, 01:06.4706 (106.585)
ROW 9
17. (8) Linus Lundqvist, Honda, 01:07.1022 (105.582)
18. (21) Rinus VeeKay, Chevrolet, 01:06.7415 (106.153)
ROW 10
19. (30) Pietro Fittipaldi, Honda, 01:07.1284 (105.541)
20. (78) Agustin Canapino, Chevrolet, 01:06.8481 (105.984)
ROW 11
21. (20) Christian Rasmussen, Chevrolet, 01:07.3332 (105.220)
22. (6) Theo Pourchaire, Chevrolet, 01:06.9722 (105.787)
ROW 12
23. (18) Jack Harvey, Honda, 01:07.6865 (104.671)
24. (14) Santino Ferrucci, Chevrolet, 01:07.1851 (105.452)
ROW 13
25. (41) Sting Ray Robb, Chevrolet, 01:09.5850 (101.815)
26. (4) Kyffin Simpson, Honda, 01:07.3125 (105.252)
ROW 14
27. (51) Nolan Siegel, Honda, 01:07.5848 (104.828)
