LONG BEACH, Calif. (Saturday, April 18, 2026) – Three down, one to go for Meyer Shank Racing this weekend at Long Beach.
Felix Rosenqvist continued the team’s California dreaming by winning the NTT P1 Award for the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach on Saturday with a lap of 1 minute, 7.4635 seconds in the No. 60 SiriusXM/Acura Honda fielded by Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb Agajanian.
SEE: Qualifying Results
MSR won the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race earlier today at Long Beach after capturing the pole for that event, too.
“What a day for us,” Rosenqvist said. “Meyer Shank Racing wins the IMSA race from the pole followed by pole here. Pretty lost for words.”
Rosenqvist can complete a perfect weekend for the Ohio-based team by winning the 90-lap race, which starts at 5:30 p.m. ET Sunday (FOX, FOX Deportes, FOX One, FOX Sports app, INDYCAR Radio powered by OnlyBulls). A 30-minute warmup is scheduled for 1 p.m. ET (FS1, FOX One, FOX Sports app, INDYCAR Radio powered by OnlyBulls).
Pato O’Ward, Rosenqvist’s good friend and former teammate at Arrow McLaren, will start from the front row after qualifying a season-best second at 1:07.5076 in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet.
Reigning and four-time series champion Alex Palou will start third after his lap of 1:07.5289 in the No. 10 OpenAI Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. He will be joined in the second row by series leader and defending Long Beach winner Kyle Kirkwood, who qualified fourth at 1:07.6199 in the No. 27 JM Bullion/Gold.com Honda of Andretti Global.
David Malukas will start fifth after his lap of 1:07.6508 in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet. Scott Dixon will round out the third row after qualifying a season-best sixth at 1:07.8566 in the No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, his first Firestone Fast Six appearance since March 2025 at St. Petersburg.
Swedish driver Rosenqvist earned his seventh career pole and the second ever for MSR, as he claimed the team’s first top spot in 2024 at Long Beach. But this one was different, as each driver received one lap in the new Firestone Fast Six street course qualifying format introduced last month at Arlington, a change from the group final sessions of the past. Rosenqvist was the third driver on the 11-turn, 1.968-mile temporary street circuit and had to watch and wait as three drivers unsuccessfully tried to topple his time.
“That was nerve-wracking to watch,” Rosenqvist said. “My old buddy Pato there at end, that was close. That was a good lap.”
Rosenqvist tied his career best by finishing sixth in the standings last season, his second year with MSR. But he has endured a slow start to 2026, 14th in the standings after four races, which he said gave the team extra focus this weekend.
“It’s been a tough start of the year,” Rosenqvist said. “We said we wanted to do a little bounce-back here, and we did. Phenomenal day for us.”
