FORT WORTH, Texas — Felix Rosenqvist earned a much-needed pole Saturday in qualifying at Texas Motor Speedway, the place IndyCar is desperately making an attempt to develop a second passing lane in what might be the ultimate race for the sequence on the monitor.

Rosenqvist turned two laps at 221.110 mph in his Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet, and the time stood as 16 drivers tried to knock him off the pole. Scott McLaughlin, winner of the season-opening race at St. Petersburg final month, was the ultimate driver to qualify and simply missed bumping the Swede from the highest beginning spot.

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McLaughlin went 221.096 for Group Penske, lacking the pole however giving Chevrolet a lockout of the entrance row.

Takuma Sato certified third in a Honda for Dale Coyne Racing and was adopted by Group Penske driver Will Energy as Chevrolet took three of the highest 4 spots.

5-time Texas winner Scott Dixon, who gained first race in a doubleheader final yr, certified fifth for Chip Ganassi Racing and was adopted by four-time Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves of Meyer Shank Racing.

Jimmie Johnson, the all-time winningest driver at Texas with seven wins in NASCAR, certified 18th in his IndyCar oval debut. It was his greatest qualifying effort in 14 IndyCar races.

For Rosenqvist, it was his second profession pole since becoming a member of IndyCar in 2019. He’s coming off a horrible first season with McLaren and stated the qualifying run Saturday was a confidence increase.

“It has been wanted for some time,” Rosenqvist stated. “Coming into this week, we all the time know we have now a great automotive right here, and I felt assured. There was no cause we should not be robust right here.”

IndyCar has raced at Texas for the reason that monitor opened in 1997, and Sunday will mark the thirty fifth time the highest open-wheel sequence in the US has competed on the 1.5-mile oval. Attendance has dwindled over time, and a monitor reconfiguration and lodging made for NASCAR has made Texas a poor match for IndyCar.

NASCAR and Texas officers use a traction compound within the turns to assist create a second passing lane for NASCAR, however the PJ1 compound would not match with the Firestone tires utilized in IndyCar, making a excessive line that’s far too slick and harmful for the drivers.

Few drivers dared to even coast into the second lane throughout Saturday morning apply.

The traction compound has turned current IndyCar races right into a single-groove, follow-the-leader snoozer, and Dixon routed the sector within the first race final yr. The second race was a bit extra aggressive with 12 lead adjustments amongst 9 drivers earlier than Pato O’Ward, a Mexican driver who lives in San Antonio, gained his first profession race.

IndyCar will try to make a second lane Saturday afternoon when seven drivers will exit for a 30-minute session to attempt to create grip on the monitor. Drivers remained skeptical, even those that plan to run the particular session.

“I do not assume it may be sufficient to place a grip up there,” stated Castroneves, who will run the particular session. “Proper now it’s tremendous slippery, the speeds we’re going, and there’s no method we’re going to have the ability to do two lanes. It is similar to portray a home; you possibly can’t wash it and take it away.”

The contract between Texas and IndyCar expires after Sunday’s race, and there was robust hypothesis that if the present would not enhance, the sequence will not be returning. However IndyCar proprietor Roger Penske stated early Saturday that is untimely speak.