DETROIT — During Saturday’s (May 30) practice session for the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix, Christian Lundgaard‘s car began smoking as the NTT IndyCar Series began their group practice running.
Just over three hours later, Lundgaard was on track in the No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet and managed to qualify fifth for Sunday’s (May 31) race.
We're up for the fight. 🤺 pic.twitter.com/8mIPm9Wr8N
— Arrow McLaren IndyCar Team (@ArrowMcLaren) May 30, 2026
The Danish racer turned a lap of 1 minute, 2.7870 seconds to put himself on the inside of the third row alongside defending Detroit winner Kyle Kirkwood. Alex Palou claimed his third pole position in a row, with 2022 Detroit winner Will Power joining him on the front row.
“I told the guys that I was very motivated to go out and get one for Chevy,” Lundgaard said. “And also, you know, turn it around, and I feel like we got better. So that’s good. Obviously lacked a lot of track time in (second practice) and some working time to work on our race car, but I got a pretty good result starting 5th.”
Lundgaard was fourth-fastest in his first round qualifying group and advanced to the second round of qualifying. May’s Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course winner was fifth-fastest in the second round of qualifying and moved on to the Firestone Fast Six, where he turned the fifth fastest lap in the session.
Lundgaard’s effort behind the wheel was matched or even exceeded by his team’s effort in the paddock. After an engine failure, the team had to switch out the Chevrolet power plant and rebuild the back half of the car.
That took up the vast majority of the three-hour window between sessions and allowed Lundgaard to get on track to give his crew their props by qualifying fifth.
After Palou and Power on the front row, Scott McLaughlin and Scott Dixon will start on the second row ahead of Lundgaard and Kirkwood. Lundgaard’s teammate Pato O’Ward will start seventh.
Christopher DeHarde has covered IndyCar racing and the Road to Indy for various outlets since 2014. In addition to open wheel racing, DeHarde has also covered IMSA and various short track racing events around Indiana. Originally from New Orleans, DeHarde moved to the Indianapolis area in 2017 to further pursue a career as a motorsports writer.