Linus Lundqvist drove his No. 8 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda through changeable conditions at Road America for his first NTT IndyCar Series pole position during Saturday’s (June 8) qualifying.
Lundqvist be followed to the green flag by Colton Herta with Marcus Armstrong in third. This result puts the Lundqvist in prime position to improve upon his career-best finish of third place which he achieved at Barber Motorsports Park in April.
“What can I say?” said a teary-eyed Lundqvist after the session. “What a day. Thank you to the team, to the No. 8 crew for sticking with me. Obviously it’s been a rough couple of races so to be able to bounce back like this is nice.
“There’s no better way of rebuilding confidence than this, my first ever pole in IndyCar, in these conditions as well. It was tricky, very tricky out there in the wet to start with … but we made it work in the end. I’m just super, super happy.”
Firestone Fast Six
Will Power‘s bid for pole position came undone with just under six minutes remaining in the Fast Six shootout when he lost the rear end coming through Canada Corner (turn 12) and stalled the car before he could get rolling.
As the clock wound down, Josef Newgarden lost the rear of his No. 2 Chevrolet on the entrance to the circuit’s fast right-hand corner at turn 11 known as the Kink. The Indianapolis 500 winner hit the barrier in a massive way with the left-hand side of the car, totalling his machine. Fortunately, Newgarden was awake, alert and mobile after the incident and was able to walk away from the scene under his own power.
| Position | Driver | Number | Team | Time |
| 1 | Linus Lundqvist | 8 | Chip Ganassi Racing | 1:45.1519 |
| 2 | Colton Herta | 26 | Andretti Global | +0.1394s |
| 3 | Marcus Armstrong | 11 | Chip Ganassi Racing | +0.5073s |
| 4 | Kyle Kirkwood | 27 | Andretti Global | +1.2979s |
| 5 | Josef Newgarden | 2 | Team Penske | No time |
| 6 | Will Power | 12 | Team Penske | No time |
Round 2
Most notable in the top-12 shootout wasn’t who was eliminated, but who was present in the first place. Rookie Kyffin Simpson, looking to improve upon an average finish of 17.5 across the first six races of the season, race his way into round 2 for the first time in his IndyCar career. The 19-year-old Caymanian will start 12th in Sunday’s race.
| Position | Driver | Number | Team | Time from Advancing |
| 7 | Alex Palou | 10 | Chip Ganassi Racing | +0.2906s |
| 8 | Scott McLaughlin | 3 | Team Penske | +0.3456s |
| 9 | Alexander Rossi | 7 | Arrow McLaren | +0.3651s |
| 10 | Scott Dixon | 9 | Chip Ganassi Racing | +0.7287s |
| 11 | Pato O’Ward | 5 | Arrow McLaren | +0.9757s |
| 12 | Kyffin Simpson | 4 | Chip Ganassi Racing | +1.0882s |
Round 1 Group 1
The first group in Round 1 completed their session without major issues, although all drivers were on the edge of control in the slowly-worsening wet conditions.
| Position | Driver | Number | Team | Time from Advancing |
| 13 | Christian Lundgaard | 45 | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing | +0.4356s |
| 15 | Marcus Ericsson | 28 | Andretti Global | +0.6990s |
| 17 | Rinus VeeKay | 21 | Ed Carpenter Racing | +0.7618s |
| 19 | Santino Ferrucci | 14 | A. J. Foyt Enterprises | +1.8674s |
| 21 | Nolan Siegel | 78 | Juncos Hollinger Racing | +3.0778s |
| 23 | Luca Ghiotto | 51 | Dale Coyne Racing w/ RWR | +3.1871s |
| 25 | Pietro Fittipaldi | 30 | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing | +3.6609s |
Round 1 Group 2
The lone casualty of the slick conditions during the first round was Helio Castroneves. The Brazilian, making what is expected to be his final start of the 2024 season, locked up and ran wide at turn 5 before stalling the car in the run-off area and triggering a red flag. By virtue of bringing out a red flag, Castroneves’ two fastest laps were deleted and he was disqualified from advancing further in qualifying. The four-time Indianapolis 500 winner will start last in 27th place.
| Position | Name | Number | Team | Time from Advancing |
| 14 | Romain Grosjean | 77 | Juncos Hollinger Racing | +0.3497s |
| 16 | Christian Rasmussen | 20 | Ed Carpenter Racing | +0.6815s |
| 18 | Theo Pourchaire | 6 | Arrow McLaren | +0.7616s |
| 20 | Jack Harvey | 18 | Dale Coyne Racing | +1.5314s |
| 22 | Felix Rosenqvist | 60 | Meyer Shank Racing | +1.8961s |
| 24 | Graham Rahal | 15 | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing | +3.4084s |
| 26 | Sting Ray Robb | 41 | A. J. Foyt Enterprises | +3.4424s |
| 27 | Helio Castroneves | 66 | Meyer Shank Racing | +8.2708s |
2024 IndyCar Road America Qualifying Results
The XPEL Grand Prix will get underway Sunday, June 9, at 3:30 p.m. ET. Coverage will be provided on NBC and Peacock.
Alex is the IndyCar Content Director at Frontstretch, having initially joined as an entry-level contributor in 2021. He also serves as Managing Director of The Asia Cable, a publication focused on the international affairs and politics of the Asia-Pacific region which he co-founded in 2023. With previous experience in China, Japan and Poland, Alex is particularly passionate about the international realm of motorsport and the politics that make the wheels turn - literally - behind the scenes.