Christian Lundgaard is off to his best-ever start to an NTT INDYCAR Series season to date.
After spending the previous three seasons driving for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, the 2025 season presented a new beginning for the 23-year-old Lundgaard from Hedensted, Denmark, who assumed the reigns of the No. 7 Dallara-Chevrolet entry for Arrow McLaren.
Since becoming a McLaren competitor, he has finished in the top 10 through four of the first-five scheduled events. Coupled with three podiums, he currently holds an average-finishing result of 6.4, which is his best through the first five-scheduled events of a season to date. In addition, he holds a career-best average-starting result of 8.0 and a career-high 49 laps led through the first five events. Through his on-track results, he currently sits in third place in the driver’s standings and trails the championship lead by 98 points.
As Lundgaard shifts his focus towards the upcoming 109th running of the Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, his quest to win the event for the first time ever in his career is off to a strong start as he will line up in the third row in eighth place.
This not only marks his first time starting in the top 10 for the Greatest Spectacle in Racing. It also marks his first time transferring to the event’s Top-12 qualifying session. His previous best starting spot for the event was 28th, which occurred a year ago. The 28th-place starting spot couples with his previous two Indy 500 starts of 31st and 30th (2022-23).
So with his eighth-place starting spot in 2025, how much of an advantage does it present for the Danish driver ahead of Sunday’s main event?
“I think ultimately, you want to start the race as far forward as you can from the get-go,” Lundgaard said at the DEX Imaging Media Center. “It’s a little bit of a different situation from what I’ve previously been in. Quite excited for that. I know the Arrow McLaren cars were around this area last year. At least I have a lot of good video and information to look at.”
The 2025 season marks Lundgaard’s fourth consecutive entrance into the Indy 500. His current best result of the event in 13th, which occurred in 2024, as he attempts to become the first Danish competitor to win the Greatest Spectacle in Racing. Even with the goal of winning dwelling within his mindset, Lundgaard strives to implement a fighting approach to be competitive and remain in contention when the checkered flag drops.
“At the end of the day, as Marcus [Ericsson] said, it’s a good place to start,” Lundgaard added. “Again, we’re around the cars. We want to fight. Let the fight kind of start early on and make sure we all get to the end.”
Christian Lundgaard’s attempt to win his first-ever Indianapolis 500 event is scheduled to occur this Sunday, May 25. The event’s pre-race coverage is slated to air at 10 a.m. ET on FOX and the drop of the green flag is slated to occur at 12:45 p.m. ET.
