The NTT IndyCar Series completed a knockout qualifying session midday Saturday, with 27 drivers tackling the historic Long Beach street course.
Clouds that were present in the early practice session stuck around for qualifying, resulting in track temps that were cooler than some were expecting.
Those conditions were perfect for Kyle Kirkwood, who stormed to pole with a lap of 1:06.1921.
READ MORE: IndyCar Long Beach – Full Qualifying Results
Kirkwood was locked in throughout all sessions of qualifying and led a group of Andretti Global drivers right through to the front.
In fact, all three of the team’s drivers advanced to the Firestone Fast 6, filling half of the positions on the front three rows.
Colton Herta had to take three fast lap attempts to finally set a good time in the first round, and pushed so hard that he hit the wall and broke his toe link as he crossed the timing line.
His massive effort allowed him to advance all the way through to the final round. Herta had to give up his all-important prep lap due to a late drive-through penalty, which ultimately cost him enough that he lost out on pole.
The gap was less than a quarter of a second, however, and he still earned a spot on the front row.
Alex Palou, as quick as ever, locked in the third starting position, and will roll to the green alongside Felix Rosenqvist in his #60 Meyer Shank Racing Honda.
Marcus Ericsson was the slowest Andretti driver and qualified fifth, just ahead of Scott McLaughlin, who represented the only Chevrolet engine in the final round.
Mistakes prove costly
Pato O’Ward, who touched the wall on Friday, started qualifying with a brand new gearbox after his Arrow McLaren team discovered an anomaly that needed to be addressed.
He advanced to the second round and earned the ninth place starting position.
His team-mate Christian Lundgaard looked set to represent the papaya colors in the final round, but a late mistake pushed his car wide and into the tire barriers.
He dropped to 12th on the grid after taking a penalty for causing a red flag, just behind the third member of the team Nolan Siegel.
Team Penske had a poor qualifying effort for the second race running. At The Thermal Club, all three Penske drivers failed to advance out of the first round and suffered for it during the race.
Again here at Long Beach, Will Power and Josef Newgarden both failed to make it to the second round and will be forced to start from 13th and 15th respectively.
McLaughlin saved face for Team Penske by putting his #3 entry into the Firestone Fast 6, hoping to recover from his disastrous run in Thermal.
Scott Dixon, however, joined a group of veterans that suffered through a less-than-enjoyable Saturday. He was also knocked out in the first round and will start the race from 14th position.
Drivers have one final warm-up session Sunday morning, then will be tasked with 90 laps around the tough street course in the afternoon. The green flag flies at 12:30 PM local time, 4:30PM eastern time.
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