Christian Lundgaard grabbed his second pole with Chevrolet power, leading an all Arrow McLaren front row, including Pato O’Ward

What They’re Saying – Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio race David Malukas, No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet qualified 4th:“Overall, really good. When you look back from last year to today. This track was actually our worst. We did a lot of work in the off-season to get it turned around. These guys did a fantastic job. We were in the Firestone Fast Six, when last year we didn’t get to Q2. A big difference. Big kudos to these guys. In Practice 1, we weren’t anywhere near where we needed to be and they flipped this car and we are in the Fast Six. A really good day. A few mistakes from my side in that Q3 from my side to learn from. We’re still learning every single day and making ourselves a better team every single day. Looking really strong for tomorrow.” Christian Lundgaard, No. 7 VELO Arrow McLaren Chevrolet qualified on pole:“I honestly didn’t get off to the best of starts in Turn 11 and Turn 1 was a little messy. Had a big overseer out of 12 and13 as well. We knew it was a one lap tire, when it was a one lap shootout, really, for all of us. So, I’m happy at this point. We’ve got to go finish it off tomorrow, but at least we’re in the hunt for three road courses in a row.” Pato O’Ward, No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet qualified 2nd:“I’ve got to thank the guys and gals at Arrow McLaren and Team Chevy. That’s a great Fast Six for them as well. Congrats to Christian on the pole. Good to be running out and on the front row heading into turn one. It’s a pretty good view. I’ve been happy with my car all weekend, and we’ve got a good one to make it happen tomorrow.”
Christian Rasmussen, No. 21 Splenda Chevrolet qualified 5th:“That was pretty good! America’s birthday brought some good things for us here. Starting 5th at Mid-Ohio, my best start in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES to date and also my first Fast 6. I can’t believe it’s taken us this long but now that monkey is off our back! We’re going into tomorrow confident and we’ll see what we can do. We’re excited, the No. 21 Splenda Chevrolet is a good racecar.” Rinus VeeKay, No. 76 Juncos Hollinger Chevrolet qualified 6th:“Really good qualifying here at Mid-Ohio. That was Sting Ray’s best road course qualifying of the season so far and also ours. Really good job by the team. Testing here really helped. I think we found a good set-up for a place like this. We did the right thing from practice two. We got lost there, and we went back, and did the right things for qualifying. Really good job there by the Juncos Hollinger Racing team. Ready for tomorrow.”Josef Newgarden, No. 2 PPG Team Penske Chevrolet qualified 9th:“The car is on rails. I think David is showing it from the speed standpoint in the Firestone Fast Six. I think the car has just been lovely to drive right from the start. Having a great test here last week with Felipe (Nasr); he did a phenomenal job. We’ve learned a lot. Team Chevy has done tremendous for us leading into this. I feel really positive going into the race. We’d like to have a great result with this special PPG livery and have something to celebrate” Caio Collet, No. 4 Combitrans Amazonia Chevrolet qualified 11th:“From where we were this morning, a good improvement. Very, very close, just a tenth (of a second) away from the Firestone Fast Six. I think we could have done a little bit better there, with maybe executing a little bit better in the last run in the Fast 12. Overall, very happy with how we progressed from this morning, and I think we have very good pace for tomorrow.”Nolan Siegel, No. 6 NTT DATA Arrow McLaren Chevrolet qualified 15th, and will start 14th: “Disappointing day. I was focused on translating our potential into a deeper run into Qualifying, but it wasn’t in the cards. We’ll be ready to move forward tomorrow. Of course, congrats to the team, Team Chevy, Christian and Pato for going 1-2.” Scott McLaughlin, No. 3 Good Ranchers Team Penske Chevrolet qualified 17th, but will start 16th:“We were just too loose there which was really unfortunate for the Good Rancher Chevy It was just really hard to maximize the car when you sort of don’t really have the confidence on the (corner) entry with the rear of the car. We had a really good car in our first and second practices, so frustrated to miss out there, but that is what it is. We’ll just see what we got in morning warmup. We just got out there and have a play, and We definitely are better than we were here right now. Just a frustrating miss out there. So close in INDYCAR, you can’t miss it. So that’s what it is.” Alexander Rossi, No. 20 ECR Java House Chevrolet qualified 18th, but will start 17th:“We made a lot of progress. We only ran one set of the alternates there because we use a set in practice two and that time that we was good enough to get through in round one. So, we were trying not to relegate ourselves to twelfth because we would have had to use another set for round two. It was an aggressive decision to sit on the time and hope it was good enough, and it was by six-hundreths. That’s the way it goes. “It’s (the package) infinitely better than it has been through the sessions leading up to this, so we’ve made progress. Both cars have worked well together to evolve as the weekend goes on. I’m much more confident after that session, despite the result.” Sting Ray Robb, No. 77 Juncos Hollinger – Goodheart Chevrolet qualified 14th, and will start 21st after a penalty for an unapproved engine change:“I’m really proud of the team. This is the best car we’ve had rolling off the truck ever. Disappointed not being inside the Firestone Fast Six today. I think we had a car and the ability to do that. Congrats to Rinus for being in the Fast Six. The engine penalty doesn’t help us going into tomorrow. Props to the team. It’s really exciting to make big steps like this and it’s really fun to drive.” Santino Ferrucci, No. 14 Homes For Our Troops Chevrolet qualified 22nd:Santino: “Honestly, this weekend we have not been competitive at all. We’ve been working very diligently to close the gap and to be honest and we did kind of just that. We’ve just been struggling to find a change in the car that will give us some reaction. But what it came down to in qualifying is we were on the wrong side of one tenth of a second which is about the rate you blink your eyes. Honestly It’s just a bit of a bummer so because instead of starting in the fast 12, we start 22nd—that’s just how close it is. We’re gonna have to drive through the field tomorrow and see what we can do.”

Pato O’Ward during qualifying at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course

NTT INDYCAR SERIES News ConferenceSaturday, July 4, 2026Christian Lundgaard
Pato O’WardPress Conference
THE MODERATOR: Good afternoon. Wrapping up qualifying for tomorrow’s the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio presented by the 2027 CR-V Hybrid.
Christian Lundgaard in the No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet, best start here at Mid-Ohio, second straight front-row start at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, first pole since Portland last year, fourth career NTT P1 award. Pato O’Ward will start second, third front-row start here at Mid-Ohio and third of the season.
Congratulations, Christian. Your thoughts on pole position and having the best view of tomorrow’s race at the start?
CHRISTIAN LUNDGAARD: Yeah, we’ve been fast all weekend, so I feel like it was just the goal at the end of the day. Obviously we qualified second here last year, and to do it any better, it was one position.
To have it as a team, too, at the end of the day, if it’s one way or the other, I don’t think it really matters. We’re leading the show tomorrow, and we can dictate the pace. So I think that will be at least our strongest benefit tomorrow.
Q.  Pato, just your thoughts on a great day for the team?PATO O’WARD: Yeah, I think it’s a great result for the team. Like Christian said, I think we’ve got the best view going into Turn 1. I think it’s — well, Turn 4 because we’re starting on the backstretch.
But yeah, it’s a good look to have an all-papaya front row and the cars have been strong all weekend and they have been in the past, obviously.
It’s not a stranger for us to look forward to a Sunday here and feel like we can really have a very strong ending result.
Q.  Christian, as a competitor, after what you’ve been through the last 24 hours, just how cool is this to be able to pull this off, just from a competitive aspect?CHRISTIAN LUNDGAARD: Well, at the end of the day for me it’s just noise. Once you’re in the car, I don’t really think anything matters. The talk is for next year, not this year.I still have a job to do and a job to finish.
Q.  Pato, as his teammate, you’ve probably developed a pretty close relationship with him. How cool is this from your standpoint to see what he was able to do even though it kept you from winning the pole?PATO O’WARD: No, I think we’ve had a very strong pairing, to be honest, in the last two years. This is not the first time that we’re sharing a front row, and I think what we strive to do every single weekend is just this, right? Like this is what we want to be doing. This is where we want to be positioning our race team and our engine manufacturer, which it was good to see this qualifying session was quite strong for Team Chevy, so thanks to them for bringing a good package for us this weekend for all of us to try and get it done.Yeah, this is what you want when you have a teammate. You want to be able to push each other. You want to be able to keep striving for the ultimate ceiling, right, which a lot of the times you don’t know where it is.
So far, I think we’ve done our jobs, and we’re trying to really maximize the package that we’ve got.
Q.  Christian, you mentioned you’ve been fast in every session. Do you almost feel like going into tomorrow you might have more confidence than you’ve had at any of the other races so far this year?CHRISTIAN LUNDGAARD: I mean, you know, I was very vocal in the beginning of the season that we just had to qualify better, right, and the results would be even better than they had been at the time. We proved it at Indy Road Course, qualifying further up. Road America is still sort of a mystery to me how we ended up where we did. Obviously the car was fast, but we needed some lucky yellows to just put us back in play.
Here we can dictate the pace. We know the car is fast in race trim. I don’t necessarily think it gets me more confidence in that regard. We just have to focus on in warmup tomorrow to be able to produce the best race car, as well.
Q.  A couple months ago Tony Kanaan was talking about your contract and said when he drove, he always told owners or whoever his boss was that he wanted them to let him know if he was being fired. Has he or Zak Brown or anybody extended that same grace and transparency to you in the past few weeks?CHRISTIAN LUNDGAARD: I mean, there’s a lot of talks back and forth. At the end of the day, I still have a job to do now. What next year brings, at the end of the day, I still don’t know. My guess is as good as yours is from that regard.
But as long as I keep doing the best that I can and keep winning races, I feel like those results speak for themselves.
Q.  Pato, you talked a lot about trying to get your first podium of the year. If there comes a situation where maybe you risk — do you want your team to roll the dice if you have to to win versus maybe play it safe or a top 3?PATO O’WARD: I mean, I don’t think we’re in a position to be rolling the dice, to be honest. We have a good position.
There’s a lot of things that can happen. I’ve started in the front row other times this year, and we’ve had some happy pedalers behind that pumped us or take us out. You cannot control that. I cannot control that. I also cannot control if we have a hiccup in the pits. I cannot control that. All I can do is maximize what I’ve got inside of the race car, and I truly believe that’s what I’ve been doing this year. I don’t think I’ve driven as well as I have this year. Sadly, the results I don’t think are well correlated with that, but I think there’s a lot of little things that have been costing us a lot of just much better results in certain areas.My hope for tomorrow is just to have a clean race. I don’t need the fastest pit stops. I don’t need the best strategy. I don’t need extremely lucky yellows. All I need is a nice smooth race, and I’m more than skilled enough to get the job done.
Q.  For either of you, it seemed like yesterday it was so hot, you could really get a good gauge on the softs. Did you get a good gauge today, and did they react the way you expected them to?CHRISTIAN LUNDGAARD: Well, I think considering all qualifying laps was done on lap 2, I feel like that is a pretty good indication.
Q.  Christian, starting on pole, how much does that mean to you to get that spot, especially with all the noise?CHRISTIAN LUNDGAARD: Yeah, I mean, it doesn’t really make a difference, right? For me, I’m going to continue to do the best that I can. It’s not like I’ve had more motivation this weekend than I’ve had any other weekends. I continue to show up and do the best that I can.
Some weekends are better than others, and that’s life. That’s racing. Obviously to get a pole is great. It shows that we figured something out from our qualifying package, which we’re going to try to bring on to the rest of the season.
Q.  To continue your run of dominance on road courses, I feel like Alex Palou has been able to circumvent that into many championships here in INDYCAR and you’re pretty good on the street courses, as well. How does it feel to prove that, as well, or continue to prove that?CHRISTIAN LUNDGAARD: You know, right now I’m taking it a day at a time. Of course I’m focused on the race tomorrow. I feel like there’s races coming up as a team where we’ll be strong, and that’s really where we have to maximize on the 10. We have a better chance of winning tomorrow than obviously he does, and I feel like I can speak for Pato, as well. We’re fourth and fifth in the championship; this is a good opportunity for us to score more points and catch up.
But again, we can’t really keep thinking that way. We need to be doing the best that we can and win races, and then the rest will take care of itself.
Q.  How much does it mean to you guys as a team to get one up on Alex Palou this weekend?CHRISTIAN LUNDGAARD: I mean, I don’t really know. This is what we’re here to do. It hurts losing, and at the end of the day, he’s done a tremendous job for such a long time. Still is. Just wasn’t his day, I guess.
PATO O’WARD: He’s still leading the championship. Today means nothing. I’m not focused on Alex. I’m trying to maximize my weekends. I think when you do that, that’s what’s going to take you to have a chance to win the championship, whether it’s going to be against Palou, whether it’s going to be against Newgarden, whether it’s going to be against Malukas. You don’t know.
But I think it’s important to really focus on what your packages are because a lot of the times you might get pretty close in points. No one has in the last few years. But you can be pretty close in points at the end of the year.
The good races for each of you can look very different. I think it’s just all about knowing what’s under you.
Q.  Christian, with the delay and the rain, did you feel any difference grip-wise on the track? And earlier today your driving colleagues from INDY NXT said it’s very difficult to overtake in a traffic situation. What’s your opinion about that?CHRISTIAN LUNDGAARD: I mean, on the rain delay, I love driving in the rain, so even if it was going to be wet, I wouldn’t really have cared too much. I feel like all of us would have enjoyed it.
I wouldn’t really say there was a big difference, in all honesty. I feel like the lap times were relatively similar. I think we’re all expecting a bigger speed gap compared to P2, but again, the temperature is warmer, so that slows us down.
Going into tomorrow, we have strategy as well. It’s between a three- and a two-stop, so there’s plenty of opportunity I feel like.
Yeah, it’s going to be difficult to overtake if everybody is doing the same thing, but I feel like we’ll find our way.
Q.  Pato, you mentioned at the end of Detroit that you felt like the Chevy was a little bit behind the Honda and you mentioned a couple of minutes ago that you feel like that gap is kind of closed. Obviously five of the Fast Six were Chevrolet powered. Where has that gap been made up between the two engines for you?PATO O’WARD: Everybody at Chevrolet and GM have really put on a board really what we needed, right. They’re very aware of where we’ve been lacking or where we’ve had to improve. I mean, every single — after every single weekend they’re always trying to give us more tools, more of everything just to be able to get us to that position, whether it’s a feeling, whether it’s all around just better drivability. They’re hitting every single angle, and I feel like they’ve really tried to cater, not just to all of us in the Chevy camp, but also to what the teams are specifically asking for. It’s not always what we ask for is what Penske is asking for and stuff.
I think they’ve been great to work with all this time, and obviously we put all this time and effort telling them what we need from them.
They’re doing as they should and like we are. We’re pushing each other, and we’re telling each other what we need to just have better chances at the end of the year because it’s definitely been a tough one.
Q.  Christian, you mentioned on Friday that it’s just been business as usual for you in the cockpit. But you’ve had so much success this year, particularly on the road courses. Was there a change in the off-season? Did you do anything differently to prepare? Is there any kind of a mindset change, or is it just, as you said on Friday, business as usual?CHRISTIAN LUNDGAARD: I kept playing golf. (Laughter).
No, in all honesty, I feel like we were gaining so much momentum throughout last year. At the end of the day, we had two great races in Portland and Laguna last year, two road courses, and again, they’re still yet to come. What can we do there at the end of this year.
But I feel like our road course package has been really good on Sunday, and we’ve definitely struggled in qualifying. I don’t think that’s a secret. I think that’s why today feels better as a team to be one-two because I feel like we definitely have struggled in qualifying.

Scott McLaughlin (Team Penske) is interviewed after winning the 2022 race at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course

Chevrolet at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car CourseChevrolet wins at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course: 122024 – Pato O’Ward – Arrow McLaren 2022 – Scott McLaughlin – Team Penske 2021 – Josef Newgarden – Team Penske 2020 Race #1 – Will Power – Team Penske 2017 – Josef Newgarden – Team Penske 2016 – Simon Pagenaud – Team Penske 2014 – Scott Dixon – Chip Ganassi Racing 1993 – Emerson Fittipaldi – Team Penske 1992 – Emerson Fittipaldi – Team Penske 1991 – Michael Andretti – Newman Haas Racing 1990 – Michael Andretti – Newman Haas Racing 1988 – Emerson Fittipaldi – Patrick RacingChevrolet poles at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course: 132022 – Pato O’Ward – Arrow McLaren 2021 – Josef Newgarden – Team Penske 2020 Race #1 – Will Power – Team Penske 2019 – Will Power – Team Penske 2017 – Will Power – Team Penske 2016 – Simon Pagenaud – Team Penske 2015 – Scott Dixon – Chip Ganassi Racing 2014 – Sebastien Bourdais – KV Racing Technology 2013 – Ryan Hunter-Reay – Andretti Global 2012 – Will Power – Team Penske 1991 – Michael Andretti – Newman Haas Racing 1990 – Michael Andretti – Newman Haas Racing 1988 – Danny Sullivan – Team Penske Chevrolet podiums at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course: 34Chevrolet podiums at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course by driver: Will Power (7), Emerson Fittipaldi (4), Michael Andretti (3), Josef Newgarden (3), Al Unser Jr. (3), Mario Andretti (2), Scott McLaughlin (2), Simon Pagenaud (2), Sebastien Bourdais (1), Christian Lundgaard (1), Rick Mears (1), Pato O’Ward (1), Bob Rahal (1), Danny Sullivan (1) and Paul Tracy (1). Chevrolet podiums at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course by team: Team Penske (19), Newman Haas Racing (6), Galles Racing (4), Arrow McLaren (2), Chip Ganassi Racing (1), KV Racing Technology (1) and Patrick Racing (1) Chevrolet laps led at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course: 1034Chevrolet laps led at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course by driver: Will Power (178), Emerson Fittipaldi (168), Michael Andretti (152), Scott Dixon (67), Pato O’Ward (52), Scott McLaughlin (49), Mario Andretti (44), Sebastien Bourdais (38), Ryan Hunter-Reay (30), Juan Montoya (30), Simon Pagenaud (23), Paul Tracy (23), Al Unser Jr. (11), Helio Castroneves (6), James Hinchcliffe (2), and Danny Sullivan (2) Chevrolet laps led at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course by team: Team Penske (573), Newman Haas Racing (196), Chip Ganassi Racing (67), Patrick Racing (63), Arrow McLaren (52), KV Racing Technology (38), Andretti Global (32), Galles Racing (11), and ECR (2) Manufacturer History at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car CourseWins (with competition)13 – Honda (2025, 2023, 2020 Race #2, 2019, 2018, 2015, 2013, 2012, 2001, 2000, 1999 1997, 1996)12 – Chevrolet (2024, 2022, 2021, 2020 Race #1, 2017, 2016, 2014, 1993, 1992, 1991, 1990, 1989)6 – Cosworth (1987, 1986, 1986, 1984, 1983, 1980)2 – Ford (2002, 1998)1 – Ilmor (1994)1 – Mercedes (1995)1 – Porsche (1989)Poles (with competition)13 – Chevrolet (2022, 2021, 2020 Race #1, 2019, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 1991, 1990, 1988)10 – Honda (2025, 2024, 2023, 2020 Race #2, 2018, 2001, 2000, 1999, 1998, 1996)6 – Cosworth (1987, 1986, 1985, 1984, 1983, 1980)5 – Ford (2002, 1997, 1995, 1993, 1992)1 – Ilmor (1994)1 – Porsche (1989)

Christian Lundgaard grabbed his second pole with Chevrolet power, leading an all Arrow McLaren front row, including Pato O’Ward

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Pato O’Ward during qualifying at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course

Scott McLaughlin (Team Penske) is interviewed after winning the 2022 race at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course

ARP Racing News

Christian Lundgaard grabbed his second pole with Chevrolet power, leading an all Arrow McLaren front row, including Pato O’Ward

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