Arrow McLaren drivers sweep front row for Thermal Club IndyCar Grand Prix

Pato O’Ward applauds his team after capturing the pole position for Sunday’s The Thermal Club Indycar Grand Prix in Thermal on Saturday, Mar. 22, 2025 in Thermal. O’Ward will start from the pole for Sunday’s race. (Photo by Will Lester, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG)

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THERMAL — The Arrow McLaren drivers will start on the front row for today’s Thermal Club IndyCar Grand Prix and the Team Penske drivers will look for ways to move up in the field after a disappointing qualifying session.

Pato O’Ward, driver of the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet, will start on the pole. It is the first time he won the pole for an NTT IndyCar Series race since 2022 at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington. It’s also the first time Arrow McLaren drivers swept the front row since joining the IndyCar Series in 2020.

“I think we’ve been a surprise this weekend,” O’Ward said. “We want to beat the big guys. We’re still the underdogs.”

After qualifying Saturday, O’Ward was asked how on edge the cars were on this track. The IndyCar Series teams are using a new hybrid engine and they are heavier than the engines that were used in the past. O’Ward said the added weight takes a lot of the edge away.

“With all this weight in the rear, they plow like pigs,” said O’Ward, whose pole-winning lap was 1:39.9567 on the 3.067-mile course. “It’s a bit of a shame. They feel like they can go a lot faster. We really can’t get them there to that edge.”

Christian Lundgaard, driver of the No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet, was second and will start on the front row with O’Ward.

“It’s just important to be there when it counts,” Lundgaard said. “We were today. Let’s keep that momentum moving forward.”

Alex Palou, winner of three of the past four IndyCar Series championships including in 2023 and 2024, will start third next to Colton Herta, who qualified fourth.

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The Andretti Global drivers continued their strong weekend at Thermal Club, with two cars starting in the top five. Herta’s teammate Marcus Ericsson starts fifth.

Alexander Rossi, driver of the No. 20 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet, will start sixth.

Palou was the top driver in the Fast 12 qualifiers, followed by O’Ward and Lundgaard, and moved on to the Fast Six qualifying session to determine the pole winner.

“I think we’re in for a treat tomorrow,” O’Ward said.

Palou was the fastest driver in the first group during qualifying at 1:39.5933. Lundgaard was fastest in the second group at 1:30.9613.

The Team Penske drivers are having a rough weekend at Thermal Club. All three drivers were in the bottom of the first group of drivers in qualifying.

Josef Newgarden was ninth in the first group. Will Power was 11th and Scott McLaughlin was 13th and last.

”I’m bummed,” McLaughlin said. “Disappointed in myself.”

Newgarden will start the race 17th, Power will start 21st and McLaughlin will start 25th. There are 27 cars entered in the race.

McLaughlin spun out before completing a lap in qualifying and was penalized to add salt to the wounds.

Rinus Veekay complained that Kyle Kirkwood interfered with him on the track during qualifying. Race officials reviewed it, determining there was no interference.

Palou was fastest in the first qualifying group at 1:39.5933. Felix Rosenqvist was second at 1:40.0628 and Scott Dixon was third at 1:40.1147.

Lundgaard was the fastest driver in the second qualifying group at 1:39.9613. Herta was second at 1:40.0622 and O’Ward third at 1:40.3884.

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The Thermal Club IndyCar Grand Prix starts at noon and will be televised on Fox.

Thermal Club brings back memories

The Thermal Club course is new, but it reminds some of the drivers of old tracks the NTT IndyCar Series used to race.

One track is Iowa Speedway. Another is Laguna Seca in Monterey, California.

The track at Thermal Club wears down tires like the one at Iowa Speedway, said Pato O’Ward, driver of the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet.

“I would see it like an Iowa, like an old Iowa, but on a road course,” he said after practice on Friday.

The Thermal Club track doesn’t leave a lot of room for passing either. That reminds Scott McLaughlin, driver of the No. Team Penske Chevrolet, of Laguna Seca.

“It’s going to race like the old Laguna Seca in some ways,” McLaughlin said after practice on Friday. “You will probably play that patience game a little bit.”

As the race unfolds, and tires start to wear down, McLaughlin said there will be more opportunities to pass on the track. It’s a matter of recognizing when those opportunities arise.

“It’s not as many as you thought on a big, big track,” he said. “I think with the tire degradation it will create opportunities that you may not normally pass on the same speed.”

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Thermal Club brings back memories

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