Christian Lundgaard was fifth on the time charts in the second round of NTT P1 Award qualifying Saturday but found the tire barriers in his No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet, triggering a red flag just moments after the checkered flag to end the session.
Instead, he started 12th in Sunday’s 50th Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.
The Dane charged to a third-place finish in the caution-free 90-lap race.
“I told the team this morning, even before warmup, let’s try to go aggressive and see what we can do,” Lundgaard said. “We have the most tires of everybody. We had two sets of alternates, three sets of primaries. I think all options were open for us today.”
Because of that, Lundgaard was the only driver in the top 12 of the lineup to start on the harder and more durable Firestone primary tires. Everyone in front of him elected to start on the alternate tire that wore exponentially faster this weekend and pit early.
Lundgaard inherited the lead on Lap 8. He used strategy and a fast race car by passing 11 cars, most in the field, to earn his second consecutive podium.
“We went off strategy compared to what we expected most of the field to do,” Lundgaard said. “I think that showed that we had the pace, too. I think we made up a lot of pace on those pit cycles. Took advantage of the clear air.”
Lundgaard, in his first season driving for Arrow McLaren, is third in points after three races, trailing leader Alex Palou by 46. By comparison, Lundgaard was 16th in points after three races last season while in his third full season for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing.
“I was very vocal in the offseason that I wanted to get off to a strong start with Arrow McLaren,” Lundgaard said. “I think we’ve clearly done that. I’ve never been higher in the championship than where I am now. We’ve done a good job.
“We started sort of conservative in St. Petersburg. I think today we showed what we really can be and where we’re supposed to be fighting. Two back-to-back podiums, unlike this guy (Palou) who decides to either win or finish second in every race. But we’ll beat him someday, I hope.”
Rosenqvist Happy with 2025 Direction
Felix Rosenqvist earned NTT P1 Award honors last year at Long Beach. He faded to ninth after leading just one lap. In Sunday’s 90-lap race, he started and finished fourth in the No. 60 SiriusXM Honda for Meyer Shank Racing.
He enjoyed this year’s edition more than last, even with scoring MSR’s maiden NTT INDYCAR SERIES pole in the prestigious race in 2024.
“It’s a trend of the year,” Rosenqvist said. “I think last year we had really good qualifying results, and we tended to move rearwards in the races. And this year we’ve been really good in the races.”
In 17 points-paying races last season, Rosenqvist finished behind his starting position 13 times. This season, he’s gained or finished even in two of the three.
“I think there’s still stuff to do better,” Rosenqvist said. “We had a little hiccup today and gave something away, I think, essentially a podium. But it’s a good day, and I feel like we’re here.”
Robb Ties Best Career Finish
Sting Ray Robb tied his best career NTT INDYCAR SERIES finish in Sunday’s race, ninth in the No. 77 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet. That was his best road course finish, as the other ninth came last August on the World Wide Technology Raceway oval.
“That ninth-place finish, I thought was pretty cool, but it didn’t feel like it was totally on merit,” Robb said of the WWTR result. “I think that we had a great race car that day, and it just happened, like with yellow flags and strategy and all that, and attrition. That’s where we ended up.
“I think today we raced forward. I pat my guys on the back for the hard work that they did this weekend because we rolled off the truck not in that window that we needed to be in, and they nailed it.”
Robb qualified 19th and charged forward on a different strategy. He ran his first two stints on the Firestone primary tires, electing to take the Firestone alternate tires on his second pit stop.
“Great strategy,” Robb said. “We were one of six cars to start on the primary tire. It just so happened when we put the greens on, our balance was super good.
“I have a great group of guys around me, great leadership in Ricardo Juncos and Dave O’Neill, but it came down to the engineers, the young group of guys that we have, the inexperienced group of guys that might have been overlooked at different points. They stepped up and they made the right calls.”
Towriss Goes Coast to Coast
Andretti Global is part of TWG Motorsports, joining the Cadillac Formula 1 team, Spire Motorsports in NASCAR, Wayne Taylor Racing’s IMSA organization, the Andretti Formula E program and multiple INDY NXT by Firestone teams.
Dan Towriss is CEO and attended each event in which his team competed this weekend.
“It was fantastic being able to see the different series,” Towriss said. “Motorsports is really special. For those of you that cover motorsports, it’s being able to appreciate those differences.
Towriss’ journey began at Friday night’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series at Bristol (Tennessee) Motor Speedway. Then he flew to Miami to witness the Formula E race. Towriss then flew to Long Beach to monitor the IMSA program, which raced Saturday, and was on site to see Kyle Kirkwood score his third career NTT INDYCAR SERIES victory Sunday.
“To bring it home with INDYCAR … INDYCAR is the crescendo for me from that standpoint,” Towriss said. “It’s a special series. It’s so competitive. I couldn’t be more happy with how the trip went together, for us to be able to build the team and show the world what TWG Motorsports is all about.”
Sunday’s victory was the first for Towriss as an owner.
“Today is just an extra-special win for me personally from that standpoint,” he said. “To able to do it in this location, this race, with Kyle is something that I’ll think about for a long time.”
Harbaugh Visits Long Beach
Los Angeles Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh visited Sunday as a guest of Arrow McLaren. Harbaugh then met with some former coworkers: NTT INDYCAR SERIES and Indianapolis Motor Speedway President J. Douglas Boles and NTT INDYCAR SERIES Technical Director Kevin “Rocket” Blanch.
Harbaugh (main photo, center) and Boles (main photo, right) were among five co-owners of Panther Racing, a dominant INDYCAR SERIES team in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Blanch (main photo, left) was the crew chief and right front tire changer.
Together, they won two INDYCAR SERIES championships and 15 races with drivers that included Sam Hornish Jr. and Scott Goodyear.
The reunion in Long Beach was years in the making because it’s been years since their schedules aligned to be in the same place again. The trio shared hugs and stories like they never missed a beat.
Odds and Ends
- Kirkwood’s win was the fifth Andretti Global victory at Long Beach in the last seven years. He was one of three drivers not to be passed Sunday, joining Will Power (No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet) and Santino Ferrucci (No. 14 AJ FOYT RACING/ SEXTON Properties Chevrolet).
- Palou begins the season with three consecutive top-two finishes. He leads Kirkwood by 34 points in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES points standings.
- Scott McLaughlin (No. 3 DEX Imagining Team Penske Chevrolet) finished sixth for his best career Long Beach finish. His previous best was 10th in 2023.
- Scott Dixon finished eighth in the No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda for his 300th career NTT INDYCAR SERIES top-10 finish.
- All three Arrow McLaren Chevrolet cars featured a Jon Edwards memorial sticker Sunday. Edwards, who passed away this week, was a longtime publicist for Jeff Gordon and recently for Kyle Larson with Hendrick Motorsports. Edwards worked with Larson last May in Indianapolis when Larson made his Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge debut.
- Before the series’ next race at Barber Motorsports Park on Sunday, May 4, there will be a two-day, full-field Indianapolis 500 Open Test on April 23-24 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. All 34 drivers expected to compete for one of 33 starting spots in the race May 26 are expected to test next week on the IMS oval.
