FORT WORTH, Texas (Saturday, April 1, 2023) – Felix Rosenqvist once again is the master of pure speed at Texas Motor Speedway, winning his second consecutive NTT P1 Award for the PPG 375 on Saturday at Texas Motor Speedway.
Rosenqvist, from Sweden, turned a two-lap average speed of 220.264 mph on the 1.5-mile oval to earn his fourth career NTT INDYCAR SERIES pole and first top spot this season in the No. 6 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet. His pole speed last year was 221.110.
With air and track temperatures climbing as the session progressed, Rosenqvist admitted that being the 10th of 28 drivers on track in the qualifying order helped him find more speed.
“I think we just built on last year,” Rosenqvist said. “Maybe it was a good thing to start early. The track kind of warmed up. We’ll take it. We’ve always been good here, but this is a whole different confidence level compared to last year. Let’s try to wrap it up tomorrow.”
The 250-lap race – the first oval event of the season – starts at noon (ET) Sunday. NBC, Peacock and the INDYCAR Radio Network will provide live coverage.
Six-time NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion Scott Dixon will join Rosenqvist on the front row after a run of 219.972 mph in the No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. Dixon has five career victories at Texas, including winning four of the last nine races on the high-banked, high-speed oval. He also earned his 10th career front-row start at Texas.
Alexander Rossi continued his strong start to the season with his new team, Arrow McLaren, by qualifying third at 219.960 in the team’s No. 7 Chevrolet. Reigning PPG 375 winner Josef Newgarden qualified fourth at 219.801 in the No. 2 PPG Chevrolet.
Pato O’Ward qualified fifth at 219.619 in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet to complete a power play for Arrow McLaren, which put all three of its cars in the first three rows of the starting grid. Two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Takuma Sato qualified sixth at 219.508 in his first start of the season in the No. 11 Niterra Honda.
Benjamin Pedersen was the fastest rookie in qualifying, earning the 13th spot at 219.100 in the No. 55 AJ Foyt Racing/Sexton Properties Chevrolet owned by four-time Indianapolis 500 winner and Lone Star legend A.J. Foyt.
Scott McLaughlin led practice this morning at 223.747 mph but dropped to 15th in qualifying at 218.765 in the No. 3 XPEL Team Penske Chevrolet. Series points leader Marcus Ericsson qualified 16th at 218.698 in the No. 8 Huski Chocolate Chip Ganassi Racing Honda.
Rank Car Driver Name C/E/T Lap 1 Lap 2 Total Time Avg Speed Comment
1 6 Rosenqvist, Felix D/C/F 23.5123 23.5585 00:47.0708 220.264
2 9 Dixon, Scott D/H/F 23.5364 23.5968 00:47.1332 219.972
3 7 Rossi, Alexander D/C/F 23.5450 23.5908 00:47.1358 219.960
4 2 Newgarden, Josef D/C/F 23.5617 23.6083 00:47.1700 219.801
5 5 O’Ward, Pato D/C/F 23.5778 23.6312 00:47.2090 219.619
6 11 Sato, Takuma D/H/F 23.6004 23.6324 00:47.2328 219.508
7 10 Palou, Alex D/H/F 23.5950 23.6439 00:47.2389 219.480
8 12 Power, Will D/C/F 23.5341 23.7318 00:47.2659 219.355
9 18 Malukas, David D/H/F 23.6111 23.6761 00:47.2872 219.256
10 26 Herta, Colton D/H/F 23.6196 23.6831 00:47.3027 219.184
11 28 Grosjean, Romain D/H/F 23.6208 23.6861 00:47.3069 219.165
12 29 DeFrancesco, Devlin D/H/F 23.6322 23.6787 00:47.3109 219.146
13 55 Pedersen, Benjamin (R) D/C/F 23.6182 23.7027 00:47.3209 219.100
14 14 Ferrucci, Santino D/C/F 23.6500 23.7158 00:47.3658 218.892
15 3 McLaughlin, Scott D/C/F 23.6761 23.7172 00:47.3933 218.765
16 8 Ericsson, Marcus D/H/F 23.6718 23.7361 00:47.4079 218.698
17 77 Ilott, Callum D/C/F 23.7364 23.7303 00:47.4667 218.427
18 33 Carpenter, Ed D/C/F 23.6818 23.7962 00:47.4780 218.375
19 78 Canapino, Agustin (R) D/C/F 23.7378 23.7419 00:47.4797 218.367
20 27 Kirkwood, Kyle D/H/F 23.7173 23.7929 00:47.5102 218.227
21 06 Castroneves, Helio D/H/F 23.7827 23.7342 00:47.5169 218.196
22 60 Pagenaud, Simon D/H/F 23.7495 23.7876 00:47.5371 218.103
23 51 Robb, Sting Ray (R) D/H/F 23.8019 23.8286 00:47.6305 217.676
24 15 Rahal, Graham D/H/F 23.8244 23.8202 00:47.6446 217.611
25 20 Daly, Conor D/C/F 23.7971 23.8813 00:47.6784 217.457
26 21 VeeKay, Rinus D/C/F 23.8705 23.9347 00:47.8052 216.880
27 45 Lundgaard, Christian D/H/F 23.9945 23.9589 00:47.9534 216.210
28 30 Harvey, Jack D/H/F 23.8894 24.0877 00:47.9771 216.103
