Meyer Shank Racing’s David Malukas in the No.66 Honda was the stand-out performer in qualifying for today’s Bommarito Automotive Group 500 at World Wide Technology Raceway. Malukas starts the race from second place behind pole-sitter Scott McLaughlin who scored his fourth NTT P1 Award of the season and speaking following the action the New Zealander said:
“We rolled out of the truck great today. The DEX Imaging Chevy has been great. I’m very proud of the team. We had a procedure and went through it and got it done, and just makes me proud of everyone. But end of the day tomorrow is payday, and we’ll make sure that we were on top of things. But proud of this whole group. And, yeah, we just want them to sleep on us. We’re coming, and I want to make sure I get myself back in this championship. Starting position is huge, and ultimately, getting a pole without going, you know, having an engine penalty as well as a big deal. So that’s what happened last year. And we found out the hard way. You know, being stuck in the middle there is really tough, but we’ll do our best for strategy, find our way forward. And yeah, hopefully we can bring home the win.
David Malukas commented on his qualifying saying:
We definitely did a really good job with the setup. Missed it a little bit, but it’s so hard to judge, with the temperature changing and the track being so green. There’s a little bit more time in it, but coming from practice one, it was pretty good. [On using every inch of the racetrack] It was definitely getting a little bit close! On that exit from Turn 2, I had to delay the deployment of the hybrid, I was really pushing it, getting close to those walls – and that’s what it takes to get a good lap.”
Josef Newgarden in the No.2 PPG Team Penske Chevrolet starts the race from third place and speaking following the action he commented saying:
“Good. Man, my car was great. I was a little bit shy. We made a really big jump from practice. We kind of went on the safer side of a trim step. Probably could have taken more. Just felt like we were a little behind the eight-ball coming out of practice. Super happy with the PPG Chevy. The team did a great job.”
“It’s a different landscape right now. It’s a totally different car, which I think changes things. Iowa was a different track, plus a different car, and you saw a very different product. So, I think it’s hard to say how the season is going to end, but I certainly believe we can figure it out. It’s just a matter of do we have it fully sorted right now or not? I think we’re pretty close. But we’ll see what time says, but it might take us a little bit more time to get where we want to be.”
Will Power in the No.12 Verizon Business Team Penske Chevrolet who goes into the race tonight in second place in the championship starts the race from fourth place and speaking following the action he commented saying:
“Qualifying on these short ovals is bloody tough. You get about a lap and a half to get up to speed and then you need to absolutely nail the lap. It’s intense but that why we love it. The Verizon Chevy has been very solid all day. We’ll get some time this evening to work on race setup in conditions that will be similar to tomorrow. These Team Penske Chevys have speed. Just need to hit on the execution tomorrow.”
Kyle Kirkwood starts the race from fifth place just ahead of Romain Grosjean and Marcus Ericsson while Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward starts the race from eighth place just ahead of Juncos Hollinger Racing’s Conor Daly while Marcus Armstrong rounds out the top ten.
Felix Rosenqvist is the first of a handful of drivers who have an engine penalty for the race and starts the event from 11th place just ahead of Rinus VeeKay who commented saying:
“Felt quite similar between the two, both practice and qualifying. The car felt good. Happy with the balance. There are guys trimming a bit more, some a bit less. It’s kind of a question mark today, but I’m happy. I did what I needed to do in that run. The ECR No. 21 crew gave me a good car that gave me confidence to push those entries, to push flat in (turns) three and four. Chevy gave us some great power, too, so hopefully it hangs in there. But I’m satisfied and hopefully we can race well.”
Alexander Rossi starts the race from 13th place just ahead of Graham Rahal who commented following the action saying:
The car was pretty good but we put a whole lot of rear wing into it. Just with the track temp, we thought watching others maybe it was something that would be beneficial but ultimately it maybe cost us a tenth or two out there. But, we did our best laps of the weekend out there (in qualifying) which is what you expect in qualifying but it wasn’t quite enough. We’ve got some speed to find. The balance was good but everybody is going to say that because after you get out of practice with all of the cars out there, you go out and now you’ve got clean air and it makes life a lot better.
“We’ve got high-line practice coming up and I know that is always a challenge. But as long as everybody sticks to it, we can make it better. It can get dicey out there. The biggest thing we struggle with at a race like this is when marbles really begin to pick up. It’s very, very easy to hit the fence if you get wide so everybody gets nervous and scared to utilize it (high line). But look, anything can happen at these races. We’ve seen it, we’ve lived it. Our guys are going to do a great job in the pits and I’ll try to do a great job out on track and bring home a good finish for the Code 3 Associates team. Let’s see what happens. Each and every weekend, particularly with this hybrid, it’s a learning experience. Let’s keep our chins up and stay positive and see what happens.
Pietro Fittipaldi in the No.30 MiJack Honda starts the race from 15th place and speaking following the action he commented saying:
“We were a little bit out of the window in practice and made some changes before qualifying that gave us a good step forward. For sure, we could have maximized more if we started with this car (set up) in practice. We have two more sessions before the race and will keep dialing it in.”
Championship leader Alex Palou in the No.10 Samaratin’s Purse Chip Ganassi Racing Honda starts the race from 16th place following a nine-place grid penalty while Santino Ferrucci starts the race from 17th place just ahead of Santino Ferrucci while six-time series champion and defending Bommarito Automotive Group 500 winner Scott Dixon starts the race from 19th place.
Nolan Siegel who suffered a tire failure in practice starts the race from 20th place just ahead of Ed Carpenter and Kyffin Simpson. Christian Lundgaard starts the race from 23rd place and speaking following the action he said:
I would say the car actually felt pretty good but didn’t really seem to be fast enough. The balance was pretty consistent, but the speed just didn’t seem to be there which was a little frustrating. We have a high-line practice later and another practice after that so we hope to get more of an understanding of the car then.
Sting Ray Robb starts the race from 24th place just ahead of Colton Herta in the No.26 Gainbridge Andretti Global Honda who spoke following the action saying:
“Today’s qualifying was disappointing. The car just broke loose in the second lap, and unfortunately, we ended up in the wall. It’s unfortunate because the Gainbridge Honda was showing great speed in Practice 1. However, I really appreciate all of the 26 crew for working hard and getting us ready for tonight’s final practice. We’ll take what we learned today and get ready for tomorrow’s race.”
Jack Harvey and Katherine Legge of Dale Coyne Racing round out the order for Dale Coyne Racing.