Ericsson takes first IndyCar pole in inaugural Arlington qualifying

Credit: Chris Owens

Andretti Global’s Marcus Ericsson has secured a maiden IndyCar pole position in the series’ first qualifying session on the streets of Arlington, as Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin crashed out in the opening round.

Qualifying 0.4618s behind Ericsson, four-time champion Álex Palou will start second for Chip Ganassi Racing (CGR), ahead of Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward and Andretti’s Will Power. Meyer Shank Racing (MSR)’s Felix Rosenqvist and Marcus Armstrong share the third row.

This is how qualifying, featuring a revamped single-car Fast Six format, unfolded around IndyCar’s new, 2.73-mile Texan street circuit.

Round 1 - Group 1

The opening group progressed without any major shocks. Palou led the way by over three-tenths for CGR as the only driver to produce a sub-1:34s lap, followed in the order by Rosenqvist. 

Ed Carpenter Racing showed well, with Alexander Rossi, who qualified last in St. Petersburg, progressing in third and Christian Rasmussen placing fifth. Josef Newgarden, in a back-up car for Team Penske after what appeared a relatively minor practice crash, which he described as “comical”, and Ericsson completed the top six.

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing (RLL) lost Louis Foster and rookie Mick Schumacher in seventh and ninth, each followed by a Dale Coyne Racing driver - Romain Grosjean eighth and Dennis Hauger 10th. Juncos Hollinger Racing placed last in the 12-driver group with Rinus VeeKay and Sting Ray Robb, who was over 1.2s adrift of his 11th-place teammate.

Round 1 - Group 2

The second group was headlined by the incident for one of the pole favourites as Friday’s practice leader McLaughlin crashed in Turn 8. Clipping the inside wall, the Penske driver ended up in the outside barrier with heavy front-left damage, finishing last in the group. 

Particularly rife with heavy-hitters, Group 2 was always bound to provide shock exits. And joining McLaughlin in failing to transfer was Arrow McLaren’s Christian Lundgaard in ninth and CGR’s Scott Dixon one position back.

Andretti’s Kyle Kirkwood headed the group with a statement lap set on harder primary tyres, ahead of Penske’s David Malukas.  AJ Foyt Racing’s Santino Ferrucci transferred in third in a significant turnaround after a tough start to the weekend, followed by Armstrong, Power and O’Ward.

CGR’s Kyffin Simpson was the first driver out in seventh, leading Foyt’s Caio Collet - the top rookie in qualifying. Behind Lundgaard and Dixon was Arrow McLaren’s Nolan Siegel, continuing a challenging start to his season, and RLL’s Graham Rahal. 

Fast 12 

The biggest shock in the Fast 12 session came as Kirkwood, pace-setter in Group 2 of the initial round and the quickest driver overall in practice, failed to advance - albeit by only four-hundredths - as his teammates Power (fourth) and Ericsson (sixth) progressed.

Palou led the way again in the second round, ahead of O’Ward - the sole Chevrolet representative in the Fast Six - and Rosenqvist, whose teammate Armstrong advanced in fifth to make it a double-MSR transfer.

Behind Kirkwood - the first driver missing the cut - Rasmussen qualified an impressive eighth as he looks to transfer his oval form to road and street courses. Malukas was the lead Penske driver in ninth, with Rossi splitting the Chicagoan and Newgarden as both ECR cars secured top-10 starts. Ferrucci completed the top 12.

Fast Six

After an unchanged opening two rounds, the pole shootout saw cars run individually, starting with the sixth-place driver in the Fast 12, Ericsson, and ending with Round 2 leader Palou. This was a trial of a format that the series is evaluating for wider implementation in future.

From the first three drivers, it was Ericsson comfortably the leader with his 1:34.3562s lap, with Armstrong only managing 1:35.6012s and Power splitting the pair at 1:35.0856s. Rosenqvist could not make inroads, either, slotting behind Power on a 1:35.160s lap.

Ericsson was guaranteed successive front-row starts on street courses as O’Ward could only manage a 1:34.8453s lap, placing him ahead of Power. And with a 1:34.8180s lap, Palou slotted into second to guarantee the resurgent Swede his first IndyCar pole position.

With Ericsson leading the field to green, coverage of Sunday’s Grand Prix of Arlington now begins at 10:30 CT (15:30 GMT) - moved forward by an hour due to forecasted high winds.