FORT WORTH, Texas — Felix Rosenqvist won his second straight NTT P1 Award as the Arrow McLaren driver won Saturday’s pole for Sunday’s PPG 375 at Texas Motor Speedway.
The Arrow McLaren driver from Sweden went on track early in the session, whipped off a two-lap average of 220.264 miles per hour in the No. 6 Chevrolet and the speed stood for the pole for the remainder of the session.
It was Rosenqvist’s fourth career NTT IndyCar Series pole.
Click here for qualifying results.
“It was a good run, very happy the way it went down, happy with the balance,” Rosenqvist said afterwards. “The Arrow McLaren cars have been great. It’s weirdly similar to last year, going out early and then waiting a while.
“All of my teammates are up there as well. That’s a good thing to see. At Texas, you want to be top-five or top-six to start the race. Maybe you don’t want to lead, but we will see tomorrow.
“We’ll celebrate a little bit and refocus on the race.”
Five-time Texas Motor Speedway winner Scott Dixon of Chip Ganassi Racing was second at 219.972 mph for a two-lap average in the No. 9 PNC Bank Honda. Arrow McLaren driver Alexander Rossi was third in the No. 7 Chevrolet at 219.960 mph over two laps.
Defending PPG 375 winner Josef Newgarden of Team Penske was fourth at 219.801 mph with another Arrow McLaren driver, Pato O’Ward from Monterrey, Mexico rounding out the top five at 219.619 mph in the No. 5 Chevrolet.
“I think the car is quick,” Rosenqvist said. “The track was fairly consistent. It’s about nailing the run and being confident in your balance. The Arrow McLaren guys did a phenomenal job simulating that.
“I’m really stoked. I’m really happy the way it went down.”
Gavin Ward is Arrow McLaren Racing Director and celebrated the pole in just the second race of the 2023 season.
“We have to get straight to business, here,” Ward said. “I love the attitude the team took when these rules came out. It’s a challenge for us. We worked pretty hard at what we can do here in this little window.
“Let’s see what we have here in practice this afternoon.”
Ward believes there is more grip on the track with the new aerodynamic rules that IndyCar has implemented for this race.
“For us, pole is nice, get a point for us and pit out at Long Beach, but our goal was to get everybody in the top six,” Ward said. “We can win from there.”