Felix Rosenqvist – Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach – By: Chris Jones

By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio

Felix Rosenqvist is determined to turn his latest NTT IndyCar Series pole position into a much-needed positive result during Sunday’s 51^st Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.

Felix Rosenqvist – Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach – Photo by Paul Hurley

Rosenqvist bagged his seventh career NTT P1 Award Saturday afternoon with a hot lap of 1-minute, 7.4635-seconds/105.017 mph around the famed 1.968-mile/11-turn Southern California street circuit. Starting P1, however, has hardly guaranteed the 34-year-old Swede a Victory Lane visit.

“Yeah, I mean, I’m aware of that stat,” said Rosenqvist, driver of the No. 60 SiriusXM/Acura Honda fielded by Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb Agajanian. “This is my seventh or eighth pole or something. I have only one win. It kind of speaks for itself.”

Rosenqvist won the 2020 REV Group Grand Prix at Road America (Race 2) in Elkhart Lake, Wisc., while driving for Chip Ganassi Racing.

Felix Rosenqvist – Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach – Photo by Paul Hurley

“I think race pace is literally the only thing I’ve been focusing on all off-season, all season,” Rosenqvist said during his post-qually presser. “Like qualifying, we always feel like the speed is there. We try to really maximize the time we have to figure out how to go quicker in the races. I’ll say we’ve done some good progress in that area, especially from second part of last year and even this year. I should say qualifying has been more of an issue this year.

“But yeah, we’re fully aware of that. I think just looking after the (Firestone Firehawk) tires has been a thing for me many times in the situation where I have to pit early. That’s definitely something you don’t want to happen. Just keep an eye on tires, I think we’ll be good.”

Rosenqvist will share the front row with good friend and former teammate Pato O’Ward, who qualified a season-best second at 1:07.5076-seconds/104.948 mph in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet.

Pato O’Ward – Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach – Photo by Chris Owens

“Stellar day for me in Long Beach,” said O’Ward, a 26-year-old native of Mexico with family ties to San Antonio, Texas. “This is by far the best qualifying day I’ve had. I’ve been happy with the car I’ve been given from Practice 1. Hats off to Arrow McLaren and Team Chevy. I know we’re leading their pack.

“It’s great when you come into these with zero expectations, and you’re kind of blowing them out of the water to what you were planning on. It’s been one of the toughest places that I’ve come to in the past. I would say Toronto has always been on the top step in terms of difficulty and challenge for us. We turned that around last year.

Pato O’Ward – Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach – (Photo by Travis Hinkle | IMS Photo)

“So going into this year, like, there was a huge emphasis. Like I told my engineer, I told my No. 5 team, ‘I’m sick and tired of sucking there (Long Beach). I know that I can be strong there.’ So we’ve just brought something completely new. It’s obviously working. I’m so much more comfortable. I mean, it just feels like a completely different car.

“Yeah, feels good to be a bit more in attack mode rather than defense. Good to be on the front row with my old pal, Fro.”

Four-time/reigning series champion Alex Palou of Spain will start third after his lap of 1:07.5289-seconds/104.915 mph in the No. 10 OpenAI Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. Palou will be joined in Row 2 by series leader and defending Long Beach winner Kyle Kirkwood, who qualified fourth at 1:07.6199-seconds/104.774 mph in the No. 27 JM Bullion/Gold.com Honda of Andretti Global.

David Malukas – Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach – Photo by Chris Owens

David Malukas will start fifth after his lap of 1:07.6508-seconds/104.726 mph in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet. Native New Zealander Scott Dixon completed the third row after qualifying a season-best sixth at 1:07.8566-seconds/104.408 mph in the No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. It marked the six-time series champion’s first Firestone Fast Six appearance since March 2025 on the Streets of St. Petersburg, Fla.

SEE: Qualifying Results

Rosenqvist’s pole capped a celebratory Saturday for Meyer Shank Racing, which won the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race from P1. Acura Meyer Shank Racing’s Nick Yelloly of the United Kingdom and Dutchman Renger van der Zande drove the team’s No. 93 Acura ARX-06 to victory in an incident-packed IMSA Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.

Felix Rosenqvist – Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach –
(Photo by Travis Hinkle | IMS Photo)

Since 2019, Acura has been title sponsor of the Grand Prix of Long Beach, held not far from Honda’s U.S. headquarters in Torrance, Calif. But Yelloly and van der Zande’s victory was the first IMSA overall win for Acura or Honda at Long Beach since 2013, before the unification of American sports car racing.

“What a day for us,” Rosenqvist said. “Meyer Shank Racing wins the IMSA race from the pole followed by pole here. Pretty lost for words.”

Rosenqvist can complete a perfect weekend for the Ohio-based team by winning today’s 90-lap/177.12-mile race, which will start at 5:30 p.m. (EDT on FOX, FOX Deportes, FOX One, FOX Sports app and INDYCAR Radio powered by OnlyBulls). A 30-minute warmup is scheduled for 1 p.m. (FS1, FOX One, FOX Sports app and INDYCAR Radio powered by OnlyBulls).

Felix Rosenqvist – Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach – (Photo by Travis Hinkle | IMS Photo)

Rosenqvist’s pole is his second with MSR, as he also claimed the team’s first top spot in 2024 at Long Beach. This one, however, was different, as each driver received one lap in the new Firestone Fast Six street course qualifying format introduced last month at the inaugural Java House Grand Prix of Arlington, Texas _ a change from the group final sessions of the past. Rosenqvist was the third driver out on the temporary circuit and had to watch and wait as three drivers unsuccessfully tried to topple his time.

“That was nerve-wracking to watch,” said Rosenqvist, whose car is sporting a livery honoring the rock group Green Day. “My old buddy Pato there at end, that was close. That was a good lap.”

Felix Rosenqvist and Scott Dixon – Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach – Photo by Chris Jones

Rosenqvist tied his career best by finishing sixth in the standings last season, his second year with MSR. But he has endured a slow start to 2026 and is 14th in the standings after four races.

“It’s been a tough start of the year,” Rosenqvist said. “We said we wanted to do a little bounce-back here, and we did. Phenomenal day for us.

“We kind of nailed our tire prep. Then we just focused on executing what I could do in the car, kind of improved and improved. Yeah, it was pretty dialed-in. Felt confident. I love the one-lap shootout. When they announced it, I was like I really want to be part of that because I think it’s such a cool thing when you’re doing the one-lap dash. Watching it…that was probably the worst part of it.”

Caio Collet – Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach – Photo by Chris Owens

Rookie Caio Collet led the two-car effort of Waller, Texas-based A.J. Foyt Racing in 20^th after stopping the clocks at 1:07.9282-seconds/104.298 mph in the No. 4 Combitrans Amazona Chevrolet.

“Maybe a couple of things could have gone a little bit better from my side on my lap; it was not really a perfect lap,” said Collet, a 24-year-old native of Brazil. “I think I had maybe one tenth-and-a-half there that I left on the table. But at the end, I think, just missing a little bit general performance. Hopefully, we can improve the car a little bit. I think the race car looks a little bit better than the one-lap pace so far. So hopefully we can maximize the strategy and put on a good result.”

Mick Schumacher – Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach – Photo by Chris Jones

Fellow-rookie Mick Schumacher was 21^st in the 25-car field after his best lap of 1:08.2471-seconds/103.811 mph in the No. 47 Liquid Death Honda fielded by Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing.

“It was not awfully easy out there with minimal driving time,” said Schumacher, the 27-year-old son of seven-time Formula One World Driving Champion Michael Schumacher of Germany. On Friday, Schumacher’s car rolled to a stop near the track’s fountain area in Practice 1. The team opted to change its Honda engine later in the day.

“I think that really hurt us in multiple ways today, unfortunately,” Schumacher said. “Nonetheless, I think we’ve got to understand and look back at this at some point when we have a little more time. We can’t do it tonight because obviously the focus us going to be more about making sure the race car is good. I think that’s what we’re focusing on now _ making the right changes that work for us and we’ll hopefully be in a better place tomorrow.” 

Santino Ferrucci – Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach – Photo by Paul Hurley

Santino Ferrucci, Collet’s Foyt Racing teammate, was 22^nd after a best lap of 1:07.9340-seconds/104.289 mph in the No. 14 Homes For Our Troops Chevrolet.

“I don’t think it’s a big shock _ we’ve been struggling all weekend long, more than we have in previous years,” said Ferrucci, a 27-year-old resident of Dallas. “We’ve just been unlucky with red flags and timing and everything else in between. It’s just been really difficult. We haven’t had the chance to really try much and make a ton of changes. 

“It’s (the run) only two-tenths off, which unfortunately, is the difference between starting in the top-10 or starting 20th. So it’s not like we’re out to lunch, but it’s just annoying, because I know we’re better than this. We’re going to make some changes for the race and hope we come through the field.”

Ferrucci did that last year when he started 27th after brushing the wall in qualifying. He went on to finish 11th in the race.

Veteran motorsports executive/race team engineer Mike O’Gara has been named vice president of competition, race engineering, INDYCAR officials announced earlier this week.

O’Gara will serve as the senior technical authority for INDYCAR, leading all aspects of vehicle performance strategy, race engineering and technical governance across the NTT IndyCar Series and INDY NXT by Firestone. He also will be charged to define and drive INDYCAR’s long-term technical roadmap, research and development initiatives and development of next-generation technologies, including the new 2028 series race car.

Indiana native O’Gara, 54, assumes his new role after over 30 years of experience leading championship-winning programs across INDYCAR, IMSA and the World Endurance Championship, including the last 12 years in executive leadership at Chip Ganassi Racing. During that time, O’Gara established the team’s Cadillac endurance program after helping win the 12 Hours of Sebring (2014), the Rolex 24 at Daytona (2015) and a class win at the 24 Hours of Le Mans (2016).

During his involvement in Ganassi’s INDYCAR program, O’Gara contributed to the team’s NTT IndyCar Series championships with Scott Dixon of New Zealand and Spaniard Alex Palou, and 2022 and 2025 Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge victories with Marcus Ericsson of Sweden and Palou.

Prior INDYCAR team experience includes roles as director of operations at Sarah Fisher Racing (2010-14) and as a race engineer at Chip Ganassi Racing (2004-10) and Dreyer & Reinbold Racing (2000-04).

“I’m thrilled to take this next step in my career and honored to join INDYCAR in this critical role for the series,” O’Gara said. “This is truly an exciting time for the sport with a new car on the horizon and the opportunity to build on a growing focus and interest in INDY NXT.

“I know my prior experience has set me up to successfully contribute and help mold the future of North America’s premier open-wheel racing series. I cannot wait to get started.”

O’Gara’s role at INDYCAR also will include:

_ Overseeing all technical rulemaking, providing objective, engineering-driven leadership in the development of regulations and technical bulletins to ensure fairness, innovation and cost-control.

_ Working closely with teams, manufacturers and suppliers to align technical direction with the broader goals of the series while fostering transparency and collaboration through technical working groups.

_ Leading ongoing safety advancements, maintaining a strong and proactive focus on the development and implementation of enhanced safety technologies.

_ Serving as the central technical voice of INDYCAR, ensuring that engineering strategy, regulatory direction and on-track performance remain aligned as the series continues to evolve.

“Mike’s vast experience in motorsports will make a substantial impact to INDYCAR’s competition and engineering team,” INDYCAR President J. Douglas Boles said. “It’s clear that his impressive list of accomplishments, engineering acumen and proven knowledge of building high-performance teams and operations have the respect of the INDYCAR paddock and will continue be a real asset for our sport in this new role.

“We look forward to working with Mike as we look toward building competition, innovation, safety initiatives and INDYCAR’s world-class racing.”

Prior to his experience with race teams, the Purdue engineering graduate served as technical director at PI Research, USA and a quality engineer for Honda of America manufacturing.

NTT IndyCar Series Point Standings _ 1, Kyle Kirkwood, Andretti Global, 156; 2, Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing, 154; 3, Christian Lundgaard, Arrow McLaren, 121; 4, David Malukas, Team Penske, 116; 5, Josef Newgarden, Team Penske, 113; 6, Pato O’Ward, Arrow McLaren, 106; 7, Scott McLaughlin, Team Penske, 99; 8, Marcus Ericsson, Andretti Global, 99; 9, Marcus Armstrong, Meyer Shank Racing, 98; 10, Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing, 85;

11, Alexander Rossi, Ed Carpenter Racing, 83; 12, Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 83; 13, Will Power, Andretti Global, 77; 14, Felix Rosenqvist, Meyer Shank Racing, 65; 15, Santino Ferrucci, A.J. Foyt Racing, 62; 16, Rinus VeeKay, Juncos Hollinger Racing, 62; 17, Dennis Hauger, Dale Coyne Racing, 57; 18, Kyffin Simpson, Chip Ganassi Racing, 55; 19, Romain Grosjean, Dale Coyne Racing, 51; 20, Caio Collet, A.J. Foyt Racing, 51;

21, Louis Foster, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 46; 22, Christian Rasmussen, Ed Carpenter Racing, 44; 23, Nolan Siegel, Arrow McLaren, 38; 24, Sting Ray Robb, Juncos Hollinger Racing, 35; 25, Mick Schumacher, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 31.

FOX SPORTS’ 2026 NTT INDYCAR SERIES BROADCAST SCHEDULE/(RACE WINNER)

Note _ All times Eastern

Sunday, March 1 _ Streets of St. Petersburg, Fla., (Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing)

Saturday, March 7 _ Phoenix Raceway, Avondale, Ariz., (Josef Newgarden, Team Penske)

Sunday, March 15 _ Streets of Arlington, Texas, (Kyle Kirkwood, Andretti Global)

Sunday, March 29 _ Barber Motorsports Park, Birmingham, Ala., (Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing)

Sunday, April 19 _ Streets of Long Beach, Calif., 5:30 p.m.

Saturday, May 9 _ Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road-Course, 4:30 p.m.

Sunday, May 24 _ 110^th Indianapolis 500, Indianapolis Motor Speedway Oval, 10 a.m.

Sunday, May 31 _ Streets of Detroit, 12:30 p.m.

Sunday, June 7 _ World Wide Technology Raceway, Madison, Ill., 9 p.m.

Sunday, June 21 _ Road America, Elkhart Lake, Wis., 2 p.m.

Sunday, July 5 _ Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Lexington, Ohio, 12:30 p.m.

Sunday, July 19 _ Nashville Superspeedway, Lebanon, Tenn., TBA

Sunday, Aug. 9 _ Portland (Ore.) International Raceway, 4 p.m.

Sunday, Aug. 16 _ Streets of Markham, Canada, Noon

Sunday, Aug. 23 _ Freedom 250 Grand Prix of Washington, D.C., TBA

Saturday, Aug. 29 _ The Milwaukee Mile Race 1, West Allis, Wis., 2:30 p.m.

Sunday, Aug. 30 _ The Milwaukee Mile Race 2, West Allis, Wis., 1 p.m.

Sunday, Sept. 6 _ WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, Monterey, Calif., 2:30 p.m.

Note _ Dates and times subject to change.

2026 INDYCAR NXT BY FIRESTONE SCHEDULE/(RACE-WINNER)

Sunday, March 1 _ Streets of St. Petersburg, Fla., (Nikita Johnson, Cape Motorsports Powered by ECR)

Sunday, March 15 _ Streets of Arlington, Texas, (Max Taylor, Andretti Global)

Saturday, March 28 _ Barber Motorsports Park, Birmingham, Ala., (Nikita Johnson, Cape Motorsports Powered by ECR)

Sunday, March 29 _ Barber Motorsports Park, Birmingham, Ala., (Alessandro de Tullio, A.J. Foyt Racing)

Friday, May 8 _ Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road-Course Race 1

Saturday, May 9 _ Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road-Course Race 2

Sunday, May 31 _ Streets of Detroit

Sunday, June 7 _ World Wide Technology Raceway, Madison, Ill.

Saturday, June 20 _ Road America, Elkhart Lake, Wis., Race 1

Sunday, June 21 _ Road America, Elkhart Lake, Wis., Race 2

Saturday, July 4 _ Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Lexington, Ohio, Race 1

Sunday, July 5 _ Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Lexington, Ohio, Race 2

Sunday, July 19 _ Nashville Superspeedway, Lebanon, Tenn.

Sunday, Aug. 9 _ Portland (Ore.) International Raceway

Sunday, Aug. 30 _ The Milwaukee Mile, West Allis, Wis.

Saturday, Sept. 5 _ Weather Tech Raceway Laguna Seca, Monterey, Calif., Race 1

Sunday, Sept. 6 _ Weather Tech Raceway Laguna Seca, Monterey, Calif., Race 2