Arrow McLaren’s PAto O’Ward in the No.5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet ended Friday practice at Iowa Speedway in fifth place with a speed of 175.470MPH completing 101 laps and speaking following the action, O’Ward said:
“It’s just tough to read after one session on this track. Around here, five laps difference on your tires versus somebody else’s tires is really a world of difference. So, it’s super easy to spook yourself and feel like you’re not as strong as what you actually are, or you can get a misread and be like, “I’m a hero!” and then you’re not. I think tomorrow will be an opportunity to learn more about what everybody’s got to work with for Race 2. We don’t have more time to really work on the car. It’s just qualifying and then race that qualifying car. I think it will be a tire degradation game, just like it always is. Putting 60 laps on a set will be a pretty tall order.”
Alexander Rossi in the No.7 VELO Chevrolet was 14th completing 193 laps and speaking following the action he commented saying:
”It was a whirlwind session, trying to figure out this short-oval car for the first time. We started out struggling a little bit, but by the end, I ended up pretty happy with the car. It’s going to be difficult tomorrow to guesstimate what you’ll be able to get away with the early qualifying session, but it’s the same for everyone and we’ll make the most of it.”
Felix Rosenqvist in the No.6 NTT DATA Chevrolet was 26th and speaking following the action he commented saying:
”We first had some issues with the radio. Then, we seemed kind of lost on the setup to start with, so we tried to steer it back in the right direction. The car was a bit better in the end. It seemed okay on the long runs, but we’re struggling a bit on one-lap pace. We have quite a lot of things to think of overnight.”
Arrow McLaren Race Director Gavin Ward commented saying:
“It was a busy session as it always is at short ovals. The laps come around fast. I think we’re feeling pretty good. We’ve got a bit to learn from teammates here, but there’s no reason why we can’t be competitive come tomorrow. “