Marcus Armstrong to Start Career-Best P7 following IMS Road Course Qualifying

Marcus Armstrong will start Saturday's 85-lap race from the inside of the fourth row, marking his highest starting spot in his INDYCAR career to date. Armstrong piloted the No. 11 IU Simon Cancer Center Honda in its on-track debut today, where he secured a team-best P7 qualifying result with a fastest lap time of 1:10.2106. The rookie missed out on advancing to what would have been the first Firestone Fast 6 appearance of his INDYCAR career by just 0.0008 seconds.

INDYCAR points leader Alex Palou also advanced to the qualifying round of 12 and will begin the race from P8 (1:10.2974). Palou and the No. 10 American Legion team will look to go two-for-two in IMS Road Course races this season, and seize their fourth road course win across the five such races (Indy GP; Road America; Mid-Ohio).

Scott Dixon and Marcus Ericsson were unable to transfer through the opening qualifying session and will begin Saturday's race in P15 and P17. Both drivers have exhibited an exceptional ability to advance through traffic at the IMS Road Course. Over the past four seasons, Dixon (+58) and Ericsson (+48) rank 1-2 in terms of most positions gained throughout the start to finish of the eight races held at the track during that span.

Chip Ganassi Racing wrapped up the day ranking 1-2 across the final 30-minute practice session. Scott Dixon posted the fastest lap time among the field (1:10.9851) in the No. 9 PNC Bank Honda, while Alex Palou recorded the second-fastest lap time (1:11.1365) in the No. 10 American Legion Honda.

Marcus Armstrong
No. 11 IU Simon Cancer Center Honda

"That was very close. It was one thousandth of a second, so I'm pretty upset to be honest. I really thought we had it. I didn't feel that we were quick on the black tires, but on the red it just sort of came alive. It's annoying because I didn't really string together a great lap, it was quite a bland lap. But the race will be interesting and I'm ready to go."

Alex Palou
No. 10 American Legion Honda

"It was not an amazing qualifying, but not bad either. It's always a really tight qualifying here. I think we had a bit more pace than P8, but we didn't nail the lap. We'll continue to try to dial the car in even more. Starting in the top-10 here with such a long race tomorrow will be easy if you have speed."

Scott Dixon
No. 9 PNC Bank Honda

"It was an interesting day. I felt like on the primary tire we were pretty good, but qualifying was a little bit tough. We made changes and then really struggled on medium speed corners. I think we had enough to get at least out of Q1 and then we got to Turn 10 and the car wouldn't rotate. Armstrong did a great job, starting P7, but a bit of a rough day."

Marcus Ericsson
No. 8 Huski Ice Spritz Honda

"I think the car was pretty good. It was close as always here, and I just made a mistake on my last lap there and it was the difference today. We were on for a good lap there at the end to be honest. The car was better on the alternates and I made a mistake in turn 7. When it's as close as it is here at the Indy Road Course that's enough to not transfer."