Pato and No. 5 Arrow McLAREN Chevrolet crew claim pole in Nashville
"It was all about going out there and executing"
Pato lit up Qualifying on Saturday, storming to the seventh pole of his career - and his first ever on an oval - with a blistering two-lap average that left the field trailing by seven-tenths of a second.
Behind him, Christian and Nolan delivered strong performances of their own, qualifying P3 and P7, respectively. For Christian, it marked a career-best oval start at the perfect time, as he eyes third in the championship in Sunday’s finale.
Arrow McLaren heads into the season’s final race determined to cap their best campaign yet with some hardware.
| Location | Nashville, Tenn. |
| Qualifying Date | August 30 |
| Round | 17 out of 17 |
| Total Laps | 225 laps |
| Total Race Distance | 299.25 mi / 481.6 km |
| Length | 1.33 mi / 2.14 km |
| Number of Turns | 4 |
Pato O'Ward, Driver, No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet
| Practice 1 | 202.357 mph | 1st |
| Qualifying | 202.621 mph | 1st |
| Final Practice | 196.997 mph | 10th |
| Starting Position | P1 |
|
"The car has been great. Hats off to all the Arrow McLaren and Team Chevy guys and gals. I was super comfortable in Practice 1, and it wasn't really scaring me going into Qualifying. I was confident and happy with what I had under me. It was all about going out there and executing." |
Christian Lundgaard, Driver, No. 7 VELO Arrow McLaren Chevrolet
| Practice 1 | 201.645 mph | 3rd |
| Qualifying | 201.713 mph | 3rd |
| Final Practice | 196.370 mph | 12th |
| Starting Position | P3 |
|
“That was the best oval Qualifying of the year and safe to say of my career, too. It was the right time to do it fighting for P3 in the championship. We’re ahead of the 9 car, so let’s just carry on and make sure we focus on trying to win the race tomorrow.” |
Nolan Siegel, Driver, No. 6 NTT DATA Arrow McLaren Chevrolet
| Practice 1 | 201.491 mph | 7th |
| Qualifying | 201.375 mph | 7th |
| Final Practice | 196.129 mph | 14th |
| Starting Position | P7 |
|
“That was a good Qualifying run. I was flat for two laps, and that was what we needed to do. The No. 6 crew did a really good job and we ran a car that we could trust right out of the gate today. It's disappointing that we'll have an engine change after suffering damage in an incident in the Final Practice, and will have to take a penalty, but I know we'll be ready to race forward tomorrow." |
Remaining Session Times
| Race Tune In | Sunday, 2:00 p.m. EDT | FOX |
| Green Flag | Sunday, 2:45 p.m. EDT | FOX |