Christian Lundgaard – Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio – By: Chris Owens

Courtesy of the NTT IndyCar Series

LEXINGTON, Ohio – Christian Lundgaard has delivered another statement about his “worthiness” as a top-tier NTT IndyCar Series driver.

Two weeks ago Lundgaard _ soon become a free-agent _ won on Road America’s daunting natural-terrain layout despite falling to last place after a first-lap contact incident. Saturday at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Lundgaard emerged as the No. 1 qualifier for Sunday’s The Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Presented by the 2027 CR-V Hybrid.

Lundgaard led an Arrow McLaren sweep of the front row, edging teammate Pato O’Ward for the fourth NTT P1 Award of his career and first since 2023 when he won the Toronto street race. Last year at Portland (Ore.) International Raceway, Lundgaard secured P1 in qualifying, but had to serve a six-grid starting position penalty for an unapproved engine change.

SEE: Qualifying Results

The combination of the above has the native of Denmark, who will turn 25 on July 23, brimming with optimism even as his future remains unsettled.

“I think everybody knows the abilities,” Lundgaard said during an interview on FOX after posting the pace-setting lap of 1-minute, 4.8396-seconds/125.368 mph around the 2.258-mile/13-turn layout in the No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet. “I don’t need to say any more than that.”

Lundgaard will be aiming for his third road-course victory of the season during Sunday’s 90-lap/203.22-mile main event (12:30 p.m. EDT, FOX, FOX One, FOX Deportes, INDYCAR Radio powered by OnlyBulls). He also won the Sonsio Grand Prix on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road-Course in May and finished second in the Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix presented by AMR at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Ala., in March.

Lundgaard is one of three drivers still with a reasonable chance of catching four-time/reigning series champion Alex Palou of Spain in the standings. Palou leads Team Penske’s David Malukas by 60 points, and Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood by 61 points. Lundgaard trails Palou by 77 points. No other driver is within 100 points of the Chip Ganassi Racing ace.

The goal Sunday for Lundgaard is to capitalize on his latest opportunity. “We’ve got two wins now and we’re going to carry that momentum,” Lundgaard said. “It’s just awesome to have a 1-2 (for the team in qualifying). We’ve got to go finish the job and that’s the most important.”

O’Ward’s lap of 1:04.8649-seconds/125.319 mph in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet earned a front-row start for the second time this season. O’Ward also held that position for the Detroit street race.

“I’ve got to thank the guys and gals at Arrow McLaren and Team Chevy,” said O’Ward, a 27-year-old native of Mexico with family ties to San Antonio, Texas. “That’s a great Fast Six for them as well. Congrats to Christian on the pole. Good to be running out and on the front row heading into Turn 1. It’s a pretty good view. I’ve been happy with my car all weekend, and we’ve got a good one to make it happen tomorrow.”

The performances of Lundgaard and O’Ward weren’t the only noteworthy developments in a qualifying session delayed nearly three hours by thunderstorms. Palou’s streak of five consecutive NTT P1 Awards ended when he qualified eighth in the No. 10 Open AI Chip Ganassi Racing Honda.

Palou’s best lap of 1:04.865-seconds was fourth-fastest of the qualifying session, but it came in the opening round. He was unable to improve in the second round, leaving him eighth on the starting grid. His streak of five consecutive poles is tied for the fourth-longest in series history with Mario Andretti (1984) and Danny Sullivan (1988).

Still, Palou can build on his hefty series point-lead in the season’s 11th race. The 28-year-old Spaniard has finished in the top-two each of the past four years _ a win in 2023 and three second-place results.

Joining the Arrow McLaren drivers as Firestone Fast Six qualifiers were Andretti Global’s Will Power of Australia (No. 26 TWG AI Honda), Malukas (No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet), Ed Carpenter Racing’s Christian Rasmussen of Denmark (No. 21 Splenda Chevrolet) and Juncos Hollinger Racing’s Rinus VeeKay of The Netherlands (No. 76 Juncos Hollinger Chevrolet). Rasmussen reached the final round of knockout qualifying for the first time this season, while VeeKay gave JHR its fourth career top-six starting position.

Team Chevy placed five drivers in the top-six. Power was the lone Honda-powered driver in that group.

Rookie Caio Collet of Brazil led the two-car contingent from Waller, Texas-based A.J. Foyt Racing in 11^th in the No. 4 Combitrans Amazonia Chevrolet.

“From where we were this morning, a good improvement,” said Collet, whose best lap was 1:05.1228-seconds/124.823 mph. “Very, very close, just a tenth (of a second) away from the Firestone Fast Six. I think we could have done a little bit better there, with maybe executing a little bit better in the last run in the Fast 12. Overall, very happy with how we progressed from this morning, and I think we have very good pace for tomorrow.”

Foyt teammate Santino Ferrucci of Dallas placed 22^nd in the No. 14 Homes For Our Troops Chevrolet.

“Honestly, this weekend we have not been competitive at all,” said Ferrucci, whose best lap was 1:05.2387-seconds/124.601 mph. “We’ve been working very diligently to close the gap and to be honest and we did kind of just that. We’ve just been struggling to find a change in the car that will give us some reaction. But what it came down to in qualifying is we were on the wrong side of one-tenth of a second, which is about the rate you blink your eyes.

“Honestly, it’s just a bit of a bummer so because instead of starting in the Fast 12, we start 22^nd _ that’s just how close it is. We’re gonna have to drive through the field and see what we can do.”

Six-time series champion Scott Dixon has won a record seven INDYCAR races at this track, including 2014 when he drove from the 22^nd/last starting position. If Dixon is to win Sunday in his final Mid-Ohio race with Chip Ganassi Racing, the native New Zealander must do so after starting 23rd. Dixon, driver of the No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, was penalized for interference with Dale Coyne Racing’s Romain Grosjean’s No. 18 BMax Honda approaching Turn 5 in the first round of qualifying.

In another bit of irony, Dixon is widely rumored to be replacing Lundgaard at Arrow McLaren at the conclusion of the 2026 season in September.

Salvador de Alba, Jack Beeton, Enzo Fittipaldi and Tymek Kucharczyk – Grand Prix at Mid-Ohio – INDY NXT Presented by Firestone – Photo by Matt Fraver

Pole-sitter Enzo Fittipaldi completed a dominant Saturday at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, leading all 35 laps to earn his third career INDY NXT by Firestone victory and cap an historic day for HMD Motorsports.

Driving the No. 67 HMD Motorsports entry, Fittipaldi controlled three restarts before pulling away to victory while helping HMD Motorsports record the first 1-2-3-4 finish in series history. Rookie Tymek Kucharczyk of Poland finished second, 1.9003-seconds behind, followed by rookie Jack Beeton of Australia and Salvador de Alba of Mexico.

SEE: Race 1 Results

The last team to sweep a podium was Andretti Global at The Milwaukee Mile last season. HMD Motorsports last finished 1-2-3 in 2024 at Barber Motorsports Park, with Christian Rasmussen of Denmark leading Nolan Siegel and Toby Sowery of Great Britain.

Australian Lochie Hughes completed the top-five on a hot and humid Ohio afternoon in the No. 26 Andretti Global entry. The race featured 133 on-track passes, including 124 for position. Both were series records for the 2.258-mile/13-turn natural-terrain layout.

Fittipaldi is the 24-year-old grandson of two-time Formula One World Driving Champion, two-time Indianapolis 500 winner and 1989 INDYCAR champ Emerson Fittipaldi of Brazil. Enzo added another family milestone at Mid-Ohio, as Emerson won three INDYCAR races at the facility.

“This was absolutely amazing,” said Fittipaldi, a native of Miami. “We had a great drive out there. Just super-happy. The car was really quick and it’s a 1-2-3-4 for HMD _ that’s absolutely amazing. So happy for them; they deserve it. They’re honestly an amazing team to work with and just super-happy about the race today.”

Fittipaldi’s biggest test came after the final restart on Lap 25 following J.M. Correa’s trip into the Turn 12 tire barriers four laps earlier. Fittipaldi quickly opened a comfortable advantage, remaining unbeaten this weekend after leading Friday’s practice and earning both poles in track-record fashion.

The first caution flew on Lap 5 when 17-year-old Nicolas Stati of Australia stalled exiting Turn 2. On the Lap 8 restart, Kucharczyk charged from fourth to second, where he remained to earn his seventh podium in 11 starts this season and second consecutive runner-up result.

Beeton earned his career-best finish with third after previously placing fourth in Race 1 at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Ala. De Alba recorded his best finish of the season in fourth.

The race’s only other caution flew on Lap 12 when Nolan Allaer of Detroit stalled the No. 76 Juncos Hollinger Racing entry in Turn 6.

Championship leader Nikita Johnson entered the race with a 26-point lead over Fittipaldi but finished seventh in the No. 21 Cape Motorsports Powered by ECR entry. Combined with Kucharczyk’s runner-up finish, the result reshuffled the championship standings.

Kucharczyk now leads the standings by seven points over Fittipaldi and eight over Johnson entering Sunday’s 30-lap/67.74-miles/50-minute Race 2. It marks the first time this season Kucharczyk has led the championship and first time since after the May 31 street race in Detroit that Johnson has not occupied the top spot. Fittipaldi was the championship leader after Detroit.

Fittipaldi will have an opportunity to complete the weekend sweep in Race 2 at 10 a.m. (EDT) Sunday (FS1, FOX One, INDYCAR Radio powered by OnlyBulls).