IndyCar Road America starting lineup: Alexander Rossi back on pole position

Associated PressJun 11, 2022, 9:00 PM EDT
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ELKHART LAKE, Wisconsin — Alexander Rossi won his first pole in three years and will lead the starting lineup Sunday to the green flag at Road America, trying to snap an NTT IndyCar Series winless streak that dates nearly as long.

Rossi will start first in the Sonsio Grand Prix on the 14-turn, 4.048.-mile road course where he scored his last IndyCar Series victory 44 races ago on June 23, 2019.

“It’s pretty crazy to just think it’s been so long,” Rossi said.

TIRE DESIGNATIONS: Click here to see the starting lineup’s compound selection for the green flag

QUALIFYING RESULTS: Click here for the full report from Road America l Round 1, Group 1 l Round 1, Group 2 l Round 2 l Fast Six

INDYCAR AT ROAD AMERICA: How to watch Sunday’s race, schedules, entry list

Rossi turned a lap in Saturday qualifying of 1 minute, 44.8656 seconds, putting the Andretti Autosport driver on pole for the first time since Belle Isle in 2019, three weeks before his last win.

“It’s been a long time since we’ve been in this position,” Rossi said. “It’s amazing. It’s cool. We’ll enjoy it, but we’ve got a job to do.”

The American became the eighth different pole winner through eight qualifying sessions, the most parity since 1961 for IndyCar. There were nine different pole winners that season.

Josef Newgarden of Team Penske qualified second and was followed by Chip Ganassi Racing teammates Alex Palou, the reigning series champion, and Marcus Ericsson, the Indianapolis 500 winner.

Colton Herta of Andretti qualified fifth but will start 11th instead because he received a six-position penalty for making an unapproved engine change before the Indianapolis 500. Pato O’Ward of Arrow McLaren SP moves into the fifth spot and Romain Grosjean of Andretti will start sixth.

IndyCar points leader Will Power, who cycled back to the top following his win last weekend in Detroit, failed to advance out of the first group and qualified 15th. IndyCar has never had a winner come from farther back than 13th, done by Alex Tagliani in 2004.

Simona de Silvestro, making her first start of the season, qualified 27th and last in the field as she adapts to her first IndyCar road course race since 2015. She and Tatiana Calderon give IndyCar a pair of women in the same race for the first time since the 2013 season finale.

Rossi, meanwhile, has been on a roll the last three weeks.

He finished fifth in the Indianapolis 500 and was runner-up to Power last week in Detroit. He also confirmed last week he’s leaving Andretti Autosport at the end of his seventh season to drive for McLaren next year.

“I don’t think there’s any revelation. We’re not doing anything different,” Rossi said. “Mistakes are minimized, chaotic events, minus a clutch blowing up this morning, have been relatively under control.”

Here’s the IndyCar starting lineup for Sunday’s Sonsio Grand Prix at Road America on the 14-turn, 4.048-mile road course (qualifying position, car number in parentheses, driver, engine, time, speed):

ROW 1

1. (27) Alexander Rossi, Honda, 01:44.8656 (137.799 mph)
2. (2) Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet, 01:44.9371 (137.705)

ROW 2

3. (10) Alex Palou, Honda, 01:45.3822 (137.124)
4. (8) Marcus Ericsson, Honda, 01:45.4240 (137.069)

ROW 3

5. (5) Pato O’Ward, Chevrolet, 01:45.6826 (136.734)
6. (28) Romain Grosjean, Honda, 01:45.1543 (137.421)

ROW 4

7. (7) Felix Rosenqvist, Chevrolet, 01:45.2307 (137.321)
8. (3) Scott McLaughlin, Chevrolet, 01:45.2412 (137.307)

ROW 5

9. (9) Scott Dixon, Honda, 01:45.2446 (137.303)
10. (60) Simon Pagenaud, Honda, 01:45.2759 (137.262)

ROW 6

11. (26) Colton Herta, Honda, 01:45.5388 (136.920)**
12. (77) Callum Ilott, Chevrolet, No Time (No Speed)

ROW 7

13. (30) Christian Lundgaard, Honda, 01:45.4024 (137.097)
14. (18) David Malukas, Honda, 01:45.6017 (136.839)

ROW 8

15. (12) Will Power, Chevrolet, 01:45.4227 (137.071)
16. (06) Helio Castroneves, Honda, 01:45.6217 (136.813)

ROW 9

17. (21) Rinus VeeKay, Chevrolet, 01:45.5581 (136.895)
18. (20) Conor Daly, Chevrolet, 01:45.7234 (136.681)

ROW 10

19. (51) Takuma Sato, Honda, 01:45.7045 (136.706)
20. (45) Jack Harvey, Honda, 01:45.9420 (136.399)

ROW 11

21. (29) Devlin DeFrancesco, Honda, 01:46.0785 (136.224)
22. (15) Graham Rahal, Honda, 01:45.9951 (136.331)

ROW 12

23. (4) Dalton Kellett, Chevrolet, 01:46.9755 (135.081)
24. (14) Kyle Kirkwood, Chevrolet, 01:46.6130 (135.541)

ROW 13

25. (11) Tatiana Calderon, Chevrolet, 01:47.5661 (134.340)
26. (48) Jimmie Johnson, Honda, 01:47.3134 (134.656)

ROW 14

27. (16) Simona De Silvestro, Chevrolet, 01:48.1033 (133.672)

**–Qualified fifth but serving a grid penalty of six positions

Kyle Larson wins third consecutive High Limit Sprint race at Eagle Raceway, Rico Abreu second again

By Jun 7, 2023, 3:00 PM EDT
Larson High Limit Eagle
High Limit Racing - Twitter
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It took four attempts for Kyle Larson to win his first High Limit Sprint Car Series race in the series he co-owns with brother-in-law Brad Sweet, but once he found victory lane, he has been undefeated with his win at Eagle (Nebraska) Raceway. For the second week, Abreu led early only to fall prey to Larson.

The win was Larson’s third straight victory and the fifth consecutive top-five, giving him a perfect sweep of the season after finishing 10th in last year’s inaugural race at Lincoln Park Speedway in Putnamville, Indiana.

Larson started third behind Abreu and Brent Marks but was embroiled in a fierce battle with Anthony Macri for third during the first dozen laps. Larson slipped by Macri in traffic until a red flag waved for a flip by Lachlan McHugh.

Meanwhile at the front of the pack, Marks retook the lead from Abreu on Lap 18. Larson followed one lap later and then caution waved again. Tyler Courtney lost power and fell to 24th after starting eighth.

Marks scooted away on the restart but tragedy struck in Lap 26. Leading the race, Marks hit a pothole in Turn 1, bicycled and then flipped, handing the lead to Larson.

Abreu caught Larson again during the final laps and in a reprise of their battle at Tri-City Speedway, the two threw sliders at one another for several laps until Larson built some separation and ran away to the checkers.

“I didn’t feel like my pace in [Turns] 1 & 2 slowed down a ton,” Larson said from victory lane. “I missed it once there and then I saw his nose in 3 & 4. I didn’t know if he nailed the bottom that well behind me and I think he might have slid me in the next corner, so he was definitely on the top.

“I was nervous to move up there because my car was really pogoing up in the entry of 1. I got up just in time, made a few mistakes and he threw a couple more sliders at me but he was just a little too far back and I was able to squirt around him. Then I really had to commit to hitting my marks – back my effort down a bit to avoid mistakes.”

After leading early, Abreu fell back as far as sixth, but faith in his car kept hope alive.

“I just needed to do a few things a few laps before I did and fix some angles, then my car got a whole lot better,” Abreu said. “I’m thankful for this team; they do an amazing job. They don’t give up on me. I know my car is going to be there right at the end of these races, so it’s just the discipline of being patient.”

For Abreu, it was his third near-miss this season. He was leading at Lakeside in the 2023 opener until a tire went flat in the closing laps and he lost the lead to Larson late in the Tri-City Speedway race. Abreu has finished sixth or better in his last three High Limit races with each result being progressively better until his pair of runner-up results.

Third-place finisher Scelzi was the hard charger, advancing from 17th.

“I had a very specific plan; don’t go near [the hole in Turn 1],” Scelzi said. “It worked out. No one wanted to start on the top. I think I gained a couple of rows there on the choose cone and ran the middle, which seemed to be better than right around the bottom.”

Michael “Buddy” Kofoid in fourth and Macri rounded out the top five.

World of Outlaws star and former NASCAR driver Kasey Kahne was one of 41 entrants, but he was not among the 26 starters. He failed to advance to the Main after finishing eighth in the B Main and seventh in his heat.

Feature Results

A Feature (40 Laps): 1. 57-Kyle Larson[4]; 2. 24-Rico Abreu[1]; 3. 18-Giovanni Scelzi[17]; 4. 71-Michael Kofoid[5]; 5. 39M-Anthony Macri[3]; 6. 9-Chase Randall[9]; 7. 26-Zeb Wise[14]; 8. 1X-Jake Bubak[15]; 9. 8-Aaron Reutzel[10]; 10. 14D-Corey Day[18]; 11. 11-Cory Eliason[12]; 12. 5T-Ryan Timms[11]; 13. 88-Austin McCarl[13]; 14. 21H-Brady Bacon[22]; 15. 48-Danny Dietrich[16]; 16. 7S-Robbie Price[19]; 17. 21-Brian Brown[23]; 18. 22-Riley Goodno[26]; 19. 52-Blake Hahn[25]; 20. 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr[21]; 21. 3J-Dusty Zomer[6]; 22. 14-Cole Macedo[7]; 23. 19-Brent Marks[2]; 24. 7BC-Tyler Courtney[8]; 25. 25-Lachlan McHugh[20]; 26. 53-Jack Dover[24]

2023 High Limit Sprint Car Series

Race 1: Giovanni Scelzi wins at Lakeside Speedway
Race2: Anthony Macri wins at 34 Raceway
Race 3: Kyle Larson wins at Wayne County Speedway
Race 4: Kyle Larson wins at Tri-City Speedway

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