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Chevy Racing–INDYCAR–Grand Prix of Long Beach–Fast Six

CHEVROLET IN NTT INDYCAR SERIES ACURA GRAND PRIX OF LONG BEACH STREETS OF LONG BEACH LONG BEACH, CALIFORNIA TEAM CHEVY QUALIFYING REPORT APRIL 12, 2025 SCOTT MCLAUGHLIN AND TEAM PENSKE REPRESENTED CHEVROLET IN THE FIRESTONE FAST SIX AT LONG BEACH
Scott McLaughlin and Team Penske qualified sixth in the Firestone Fast Six, representing Chevrolet in the fight for pole at the 50th Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.Team Chevy was represented by six in Round 2, including AJ Foyt Racing’s David Malukas, Arrow McLaren’s Christian Lundgaard, Pato O’Ward and Nolan Siegel, McLaughlin, and Ed Carpenter Racing’s Alexander Rossi.Team Chevy kicked off Saturday with a first practice session, where the Bowtie brand was represented by five in the top-10, including Siegel, Will Power, Newgarden, Malukas, and Lundgaard.Sunday’s Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach race day starts with warmup, live on FS1, at noon ET. The 90-lap, 177.12-mile main event takes the green flag live on FOX at 4:30 p.m. ET. Additional coverage throughout the weekend can be found via INDYCAR Radio and SiriusXM Channel 218. Firestone Fast Six Results:6th     Scott McLaughlin (1:07.0393) Second Practice Top-10 Results:1st      Nolan Siegel (1:07.1169)4th     Will Power (1:07.3407)6th     Josef Newgarden (1:07.3828)8th     David Malukas (1:07.4808)10th   Christian Lundgaard (1:07.6419)
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING  David Malukas, No. 4 AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet:“Overall, really, really happy with how things ended up turning out. We kind of had our heads twisted on setup changes from Practice 1 and Practice 2, but going into qualifying, we didn’t hit it perfect. There was a bit of understeer in the car, but we did an incredible job getting the car where it needed to be. Scraped through in Q1 and going into that Fast 12, we had a very fast car for the short four corners I did. Unfortunately, luck is always a big play into it, and we had a really unlucky red. They didn’t give us the extra lap in the end. We couldn’t really show what we had, so I ended up with a P10 in the end. We can work from there. It feels very confident that we finished P10, but we know we have a fast car, and it could’ve been a lot better. There’s always the other scenario where you got lucky and you’re in P10 and you’re not fast. Heads are forward and we know that results are not in qualifying. Results are in the race, so we’ll get it done.” Santino Ferrucci, No. 14 AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet:“We struggled all the way through the weekend. Made some pretty big changes in the car going into qualifying. It felt really good. Honestly, I think we made some solid strides. The car was very capable of advancing. I just had a slight bauble in (turn) eight, and I clipped the wall the wrong way. It unfortunately ended our session.”
How confident are you for tomorrow?“I feel really good about being able to move forward. I think the car is in a really good spot at the moment. We’re not really going to change anything going into tomorrow’s warm up, and we’re going to do what we got to do to advance. Hopefully, it’s entertaining.”Pato O’Ward, No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet:“No doubt about it, I think we had enough to transfer there, or at least a shot to try and get to the Fast-Six. Glad Christian’s (Lundgaard) alright. But, bummer for me. I think bummer for Nolan (Siegel) as well. He didn’t get his lap in to be able to move on. I think we all had the pace to be in there. We can fight from ninth. This track is really sensitive to track position but we’re no strangers to starting not in the front row in Long Beach. This hasn’t been necessarily our best place in the past, so we’ll see what we can come up with tomorrow. It’s five laps longer than last year. I say they should have done 10 laps because the two-stopper’s still very much in play. So, I think that’s what you’re going to see the leaders do, and we’ll see what we come up with.”
Nolan Siegel, No. 6 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet:“I only did a run on the used primary, and then we put the new (alternate). Made some changes from Q1 and did half a lap and was really happy. Unfortunately, didn’t get to finish it. But, we have good pace, and I’m glad that we have good pace. It’s just frustrating to not get to show that. I think that we probably could have transferred and have the pace to do that, and it would have been nice to actually make it happen. But we’ve got another day tomorrow, so that’s when it counts.”
Brian Barnhart, General Manager, Arrow McLaren:On Christian Lundgaard…“The lap times dropped a lot quicker than we thought they would, and we needed to continue to push and finish that lap. And, Christian, we’re just trying to ensure that we transferred. We were in P5 and it was going be really close, and just clipped the tire barrier at turn nine and ended the day. “We were actually just sitting talking about all three cars starting close together, because it groups everybody kind of mid pack. So, we’ll look at it as a group, figure out if we can make sure we cover everybody’s bases, maybe split strategies, and adjust as we can. Still got some unknowns on whether the alts are going to make it a full stint. We’ll see how it plays out.” 
Alexander Rossi, No. 20 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet:“It has been a rough day and a half in Long Beach. We didn’t start strong in Practice 1, but the whole team is constantly working to improve as the sessions go on. We are relieved after qualifying, considering where we were to start the weekend! Christian (Rasmussen) had a good lap as well so there is a lot of potential for both cars tomorrow.”
Christian Rasmussen, No. 21 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet:“We were lagging a little bit of fronts. We’ve just been kind of chasing the car all weekend. Really been struggling with it. I think we took a step forward in this session, which was positive, but there’s still a little bit to find. They’ve done a good job getting the car in the right direction, there’s just a little bit more to go.”
How has Alex (Rossi) been in guiding you as a two-time winner here in Long Beach?“It’s been massive, especially on a weekend like this where we kind of start off on the back foot. It’s good to have his experience to kind of lean on and work from. It’s not where I want to be. It’s definitely that qualifying this year has been the Achilles’’ Heel. We’ve been moving forward in the races but we don’t qualifying super well. So, I need to work on that. I think (we can move forward) as well. In the races, the racecar has been pretty good, so hopefully, we’ll have a good race car and move forward a little bit, and see where we end up.” Robert Shwartzman, No. 83 PREMA Racing Chevrolet:“Unfortunately, it didn’t go our way today. The first set of tires felt good, it felt like we were quite competitive. On the second set, unfortunately, we had an issue with the pit limiter engagement right at the last corner when it exited it. It compromised the main push lap and then for the second push, there was just not enough time. So I didn’t manage to do any laps on that set. The track was improving and generally everybody improved on the second set. So, I believe we could have had a battle for entering the top 12, but it is what it is. Now we have to start from towards the back and see what we can do tomorrow.” Callum Ilott, No. 90 PREMA Racing Chevrolet:“I know it doesn’t show it in the results but I think we showed a really big Improvement from where we were before. In qualifying on each set I couldn’t get both clean laps, so it was tough to get into a rhythm. Honestly I think we had a little bit more. But we are making solid improvements. I’m pretty happy and the work is paying off slowly, we just have to keep pushing. It’s going to be a long race probably with quite a bit of tire degradation on the alternates in particular.”
Josef Newgarden, No. 2 Team Penske Chevrolet:“This is a very tight series where inches and tenths of a second make a difference. It’s hard when you’re on your fast lap and get held up in Turn 10. You’ve already used up your alternates and that exit off the hairpin is crucial to the following lap. We know there is speed in the No. 2 Astemo Chevrolet. Unfortunately, we are behind a bit following qualifying, but we will rally tomorrow. The car’s too good.” Scott McLaughlin, No. 3 Team Penske Chevrolet:“Yeah, just stuffed it up a bit on my first lap in the fast six. Not a lot of tire left to make a run at it after that. Proud to carry the Chevy flag there and we will have a strong DEX Imaging Chevy to fight with tomorrow. I love racing here and would the stoked to get the win in the 50th anniversary of Long Beach. It’s a premier race on our calendar, for sure.”
Will Power, No. 12 Team Penske Chevrolet:“I don’t know how much I missed out by. Almost need to go on the first lap, I guess, but then just it’s hard to have a good out lap, then you have got to gap and let people go and then people stop at the hairpin. But no excuses, man. I mean, we’re quick at practice. Every single practice this year, we’ve been fast. Every single one, and we haven’t gotten the top-12 yet. So, you can make as many excuses you want. We just have got to get it done when it counts on the soft tires, and maybe we should have just run two sets. It’s hard to do that when you’re in the top-three in practice. We will go out tomorrow and see what we got. I think we will ok.”
“It was very difficult to get a smooth run. Just the way this track is, unfortunately.”