From 16th on the grid, Arrow McLaren driver Rosenqvist used strategy and passing moves to work his way through the order in Sunday’s second race of the double-header weekend.
He was also helped by the timing of the yellow for Sting Ray Robb’s car losing a wheel, which elevated him to fifth. Going into the final stint, the Swede was elevated to second after gaining spots around the last bout of green-flag pitstops.
From there, he attacked race dominator Josef Newgarden in the closing stages, only for multiple backmarkers to check his charge.
But a late-race caution gave Rosenqvist hope of one last crack at victory, until he was jumped by Power at the green flag and shoved wide at Turn 1. After falling to fifth, he had to battle his way back past Power’s Penske team-mate Scott McLaughlin to finish fourth.
“The last restart, I dunno, I felt like Will kinda pushed me up into the marbles,’ he told NBC. “I was very lucky to finish the race, as I was on full lock just waiting to see how it was going to end up.
“Never been more bummed about a fourth place, but it was a good drive and those last lap things can end up either way.
“Hell of a day for us and glad we’ve got some momentum. Wish I was on the podium though.”
Rosenqvist thanked his McLaren engineers for improving his car from Saturday’s race, in which he could only finish 13th.
“We’ve been strong here previously and, as a team, we had a tough time yesterday,” he added.
Felix Rosenqvist, Arrow McLaren Chevrolet, pit stop
Photo by: Michael L. Levitt / Motorsport Images
“Today, the car was really good, we made a massive leap. Yesterday, I felt like we had a top-12 car and today we had a car to win, so that’s a phenomenal turnaround.
“It was a fun race, we were one lap behind at one point, and from there on we had two really good stints in the middle. The last stint was initially really good, and I just struggled a bit at the end.”
Power went on to finish second, just seven tenths behind Newgarden at the finish after the three-lap shootout at the end.
“It was a very good restart,” said Power. “We struggled massively at the beginning and my engineer did a really good change, just taking wing out, and it helped me so much.
“I had a really fast car but we just needed to pit a couple of laps earlier. We coulda been P2 to Josef, then I think we would’ve had a shot at it. It’s the best car I’ve had here.
“Stoked to get P2, because it’s tough to beat Josef around here, but we’ll do it one day.”