5 September 2026 20:00 (UTC)
"I’m proud of the team with what we pulled off in Qualifying"
It was a busy Saturday at Laguna Seca as the NTT INDYCAR SERIES completed two practice sessions plus Qualifying ahead of the season finale. Christian led the way for Arrow McLaren, advancing to the Firestone Fast 6. After a grid penalty, the Dane will start Px in the Mission Foods Grand Prix of Monterey. Pato and Nolan narrowly missed advancing out of the first round of Qualifying and will start Px and Px, respectively. The trio will take the green flag for the final time this season on Sunday as the field makes their closing push for championship positioning.
Location | Monterey, Calif. |
Race Date | Sept. 6 |
Round | 18 out of 18 |
Total Laps | 95 |
Total Race Distance | 212.6 mi / 342.1 km |
Track Length | 2.238 mi / 3.602 km |
Number of Turns | 11 |
Practice 2 | P9 | 1:10.6867 |
Practice 2 Laps | 13 | |
Qualifying - Round 1, Group 2 | P6 | 1:09.8042 |
Qualifying - Round 2 | P4 | 1:09.3244 |
Firestone Fast 6 | P5 | 1:10.2227 |
Final Practice | P8 | 1:11.0120 |
Final Practice Laps | 19 | |
Starting Position | P11 |
"We just kept improving the car through the weekend so far. I actually thought we had a chance to pull off the pole on the used Firestone Reds that were on the car. We wanted to save an extra set of new Reds for the race. I think ultimately it’s going to be a tire degradation race, and maybe the alts are faster but we don’t really know quite yet so we wanted the option. We know we need to finish ahead of the 27 car and 5 car to secure second in the championship, and we felt that was the best route to have both sets on deck for the race tomorrow. I’m proud of the team with what we pulled off in Qualifying."
Practice 2 | P17 | 1:11.0702 |
Practice 2 Laps | 8 | |
Qualifying - Round 1, Group 1 | P7 | 1:09.5544 |
Final Practice | P23 | 1:12.3537 |
Final Practice Laps | 23 | |
Starting Position | P12 |
"We're focused on the race now, starting 12th. Today was a bit underwhelming based on what I thought we could accomplish in Qualifying today. We just missed it there by a smidge to transfer, bummer."
Practice 2 | P10 | 1:10.6887 |
Practice 2 Laps | 11 | |
Qualifying - Round 1, Group 2 | P8 | 1:09.8620 |
Final Practice | P12 | 1:11.4182 |
Final Practice Laps | 20 | |
Starting Position | P15 |
"It didn't feel too bad, just missed it on the execution a little bit. It's disappointing because we've been strong all weekend up until now. I just ended up in kind of a funky spot on track, didn't get the tires in the right window and then didn't execute the session as well as we needed to. Missed it by just a couple hundredths. We'll be in it tomorrow and have the car for it. Excited to finish the season strong."
Race Tune In | Sunday, 2:30 p.m. ET | FOX |
Green Flag | Sunday, 3:05 p.m. ET | FOX |
