Oval IndyCar rookie Jimmie Johnson, the fifth driver to run, was the first driver to crack 220mph on a lap, reaching the 220.006mph mark on his first flyer in his Chip Ganassi Racing machine. A 219.724mph lap on his second tour left him with an average of 219.865mph.
This was immediately edged by Andretti Autosport’s rookie Devlin DeFrancesco, who breached the 220mph barrier on his second lap, and delivered an average of 219.888mph.
He was in turn usurped, with Conor Daly producing an average of 219.987mph for Ed Carpenter Racing, before Alexander Rossi was the first driver to run two 220mph laps and jumped to the top of the speed charts, his two laps just 0.01mph apart.
But Rosenqvist took that further and went into the 221s – a 221.316mph – on his opening lap, and backed it up with a 220.905mph, trimming the grass at the kink on the front straight, to set a 221.110mph average.
That put him beyond the reach of Josef Newgarden, who slotted his Team Penske-Chevy into second, and practice pacesetter Simon Pagenaud of Meyer Shank Racing, who moved into fourth.
Felix Rosenqvist, Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet
Photo by: Michael L. Levitt / Motorsport Images
Pagenaud’s team-mate, four-time Texas winner Helio Castroneves, moved into second with a 220.768mph average, while the second Arrow McLaren SP car of Pato O’Ward produced a 220.579mph average, fourth for the time being.
Dale Coyne Racing with RWR’s Takuma Sato, preparing for his 200th IndyCar start, delivered a first lap just 0.1mph off Rosenqvist’s best effort, then a second lap slightly faster than the McLaren driver’s second. Although it was not quite enough to depose Rosenqvist, he grabbed a provisional front row slot.
Scott Dixon was the third driver to set a 221mph average, the five-time Texas winner taking provisional third ahead of Castroneves, while Romain Grosjean’s first ever quali run at Texas was a very respectable 220.4, within 0.1mph of experienced team-mate Rossi. It netted him 13th, and within 0.2mph of Colton Herta, the Andretti team’s pacesetter in ninth.
Penske’s Will Power delivered two very consistent 221.0mph laps to slot into a provisional third, the first driver to deliver a 221mph lap on lap two.
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But the final car to run, Power’s team-mate McLaughlin delivered a 221.166mph lap followed by a 221.027mph to move into second, just 0.002mph faster than Sato and only 0.014mph behind Rosenqvist.
IndyCar Texas Qualifying result