Written by Morgan Holiday
After a three week break, IndyCar is back on track for Qualifying at the inaugural points-paying Grand Prix of Thermal.
Álex Palou topped Friday's practice session, but Andretti came out in force and put up a fight ahead of Saturday's Qualifying session.
Group 1
The first 13 drivers took to the track for Qualifying and got right into the action, as Team Penske driver Scott McLaughlin spun during his banker lap and picked up a penalty for causing a yellow flag.
Meanwhile his teammate Josef Newgarden quickly jumped to the top of the time sheets ahead of the sole rookie driver taking part in Group 1, Dale Coyne Racing's Jacob Abel.
On the softer tyre compound David Malukas set the fastest lap of the weekend so far with his time of 1:40.330. With five minutes to go in the first part of Qualifying, he led Conor Daly, Palou, Will Power, Scott Dixon and Marcus Armstrong.
Power was the only Team Penske driver (all three qualifying in Group 1 this weekend) in the top six set to advance, as Newgarden lingered in seventh place and McLaughlin sat solidly at the bottom of the list after his unfortunate spin early on.
As the drivers made their final lap around the circuit for this session, unsuprisingly it was Palou who set the fastest lap with a time of 1:39.593, securing his spot in the top twelve.
Meyer Shank Racing's Felix Rosenqvist jumped to second, where Scott Dixon split him and his teammate Armstrong. Malukas and Kyle Kirkwood completed the top six, the drivers headed into the next round.
The drivers eliminated from Group 1 were Rinus Veekay, Daly, Newgarden, Christian Rasmussen, Power, Abel, and still last, McLaughlin.
Group 2
The remaining 14 drivers took to the track for their chance to advance to the next stage of Qualifying. A.J. Foyt Racing's Santino Ferucci took the top spot early on before being displaced by Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing rookie Louis Foster.
Halfway through the session it was Arrow McLaren driver Pato O'Ward who took P1, his teammate Nolan Siegal following in third behind Foster. The third Arrow McLaren driver, Christian Lundgaard, was down in eighth and looking to improve before the time ran out.
Looking to get all three of their drivers into the next session of Qualifying was Andretti, Kirkwood already having gotten the job done in Group 1. Colton Herta and Marcus Ericsson sat fourth and fifth respectively going into the final minutes, hoping to follow their teammate through to the Fast 12.
Ericsson improved to jump Herta and take fourth, as Herta dropped down and out of the top six as other drivers improved. In the final moments of the session, however, Herta set a lap time of 1:40.062 to go fastest overall before getting beaten by Lundgaard, who went just over a tenth of a second faster.
O'Ward ended the session in third ahead of his former teammate and current Ed Carpenter Racing driver Alexander Rossi. Foster, the only rookie to make it through to the Fast 12, ended the session in fifth as Ericsson was sixth and made it three Andrettis through to the next round.
Ferucci was the top driver to miss out followed by Siegal, the only Arrow McLaren driver not to go through. Graham Rahal, Kyffin Simpson, Callum Ilott, Sting Ray Robb, Devlin Defrancesco and Robert Shwartzman completed the list of eliminated drivers.
Shwartzman, ever the unlucky rookie this weekend, picked up a penalty for speeding in the pit lane that hindered his ability to get a good lap in.
Fast 12
With ten more minutes on the clock, the top six drivers from the first two sessions headed out on track again for a chance to fight for pole position.
Lundgaard took an early lead as Foster continued what was shaping up to be an excellent day for the rookie as he sat in second place ahead of Malukas. Halfway through the session, those three drivers led Ericsson, Palou and Kirkwood as the top six in the session.
The first hurdle for reigning champion Palou came when he was put under investigation for impeding O'Ward. The threat of a penalty didn't stop him from setting another lap time that put him at the top of the time sheets. Amongst a flurry of fast laps, Rossi, Armstrong and Rosenqvist were on the list of improvements.
In his final push, O'Ward jumped to second behind Palou, Lundgaard joining them in the top three. Ericsson, Rossi and Herta followed in fourth, fifth, and six, two Andrettis and two Arrow McLarens getting into the final battle for pole.
Armstrong was the top elimination, finishing in seventh ahead of Kirkwood, Rosenqvist, Foster, Dixon and Malukas. The preliminary results held as no further action was taken on Palou over the incident with O'Ward.
Fast Six
Herta was the first driver to put a fast lap on the board in the final hunt for pole position, setting a 1:40.842 ahead of Lundgaard and Ericsson. O'Ward slotted into fourth, leaving Palou and Rossi the final two to set their laps.
With less than two minutes to go, Palou set a time that put him in fifth place, as Rossi still waited. O'Ward then jumped Herta for preliminary pole, everyone else maintaining their positions.
Palou's second lap put him second between O'Ward and Herta, hurrying to go again for a final chance at pole.
Herta was unable to improve, dropping to fourth as Lundgaard took second behind his teammate. Ericsson and Rossi ended their final runs in fifth and sixth, Palou making one final run where he couldn't improve.
And so it was O'Ward and Lundgaard who solidified a 1-2 finish for Arrow McLaren. The usually dominant Palou will start tomorrow's Grand Prix in third, ahead of Herta, Ericsson, and Rossi.
The green flag flies for the IndyCar Grand Prix at Thermal on Sunday at 3:22pm ET.
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