Linus Lundqvist Takes 1st Career Pole at Rainy Road America (2024)

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 Peaco*ck.