By: Spencer Neff
April 20, 2024
Continuing a hot start to 2024, Meyer Shank Racing’s Felix Rosenqvist won pole for Sunday’s Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.
The Varmao, Sweden racer will lead the 27-car field to the green flag in the 85-lap race. The driver of the No. 60 car posted a best lap of 1m06.0172 (107.317 mph) in the final round to earn his sixth career pole and first since the 2023 finale at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.
Rosenqvist, who started second and finished seventh in the March 10 season opener at St. Petersburg, now has two consecutive front row starts on street courses. His best start on a temporary circuit was third, which he achieved at St. Petersburg and Toronto in his rookie year of 2019.
His previous best start at the 1.968-mile, 11-turn street circuit was fourth in 2022. Last season, he earned a career-best finish of seventh, both of which he earned with Arrow McLaren.
Meyer Shank now has their first pole as an organization, having started on the front row three times. Previously, their best Long Beach start was in 2021 with Helio Castroneves (3rd).
Round 3-Fast Six
Rosenqvist was a scant .0039 of a second ahead of Team Penske’s Will Power, who earned his first front row start on a road or street course since Laguna Seca in 2022. Row 3 features 2022 Long Beach winner Josef Newgarden of Penske along with Andretti Global’s Colton Herta, who won at Long Beach in 2021.
Row 3 boasts Herta’s teammate Marcus Ericsson and Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou. Both drivers have yet to win at Long Beach.
Round 2-Fast 12
Palou would be tops among the half-dozen competing for the pole (1m05.9103-107.492 mph) with Herta, Newgarden, Ericsson, Rosenqvist and Power making the cut.
Christian Lundgaard, Scott Dixon, Marcus Armstrong, Kyle Kirkwood, Scott McLaughlin and Graham Rahal did not advance. They will start 7th-12th for Sunday.
Round 1 Group 1
Rosenqvist (1m06.3372-106.800 mph) led the six drivers advancing to the second round. Joining him would be Herta, Dixon, Power, Palou and Rahal.
Those not advancing would be Alexander Rossi, Tom Blomqvist, Linus Lundqvist, Pietro Fittipaldi, Christian Rasmussen, Jack Harvey and Sting Ray Robb. They will start on the inside of Rows 7-13 for tomorrow’s race. Blomqvist starts 15th, best among the six rookies in the field.
Round 1 Group 2
Armstrong (1m06.1509-107.101 mph) was quickest in the second group of Round 1 qualifying. He would lead a group that included Ericsson, Kirkwood, McLaughlinm Lundgaard and Newgarden.
Unable to advance would be Pato O’Ward, Romain Grosjean, Rinus VeeKay, Agustin Canapino, Théo Pourchaire, Santino Ferrucci, Kyffin Simpson and Nolan Siegel. Siegel will start 27th while the previous seven drivers will start on the outside of Rows 7-13.
Up Next
Here is the race day schedule for the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach. IndyCar1909.com will have recaps of each on-track session and updates on social media.
At-track schedule (all times local-Pacific):
Sunday, April 21
9-9:30 a.m. – NTT INDYCAR SERIES warmup, Peacock (live)
Noon – Driver introductions
Noon – USA Network on air
12:38 p.m. – Start engines command
12:45 p.m. – Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach (85 laps/167.28 miles), USA Network and Peacock(live)
Header Image By Chris Owens/INDYCAR
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