IndyCar: O’Ward tops Practice 2 at Road America
Pato O’Ward was the quickest driver during practice Saturday morning for the Sonsio Grand Prix at Road America presented by AMR, turning a top lap of 1 minute, 45.2681 seconds in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet.
“We did a lot of really good work overnight,” O’Ward said. “We got her in the window. It feels a lot better than it did yesterday. Yesterday was really messy.
“It’s such a long track where if you’re really struggling with a balance issue, you’re going to lose so much. But if you have something you’re comfortable with and you can hustle, it’s obviously rewarding. We’re looking forward to qualifying. Who knows what reds (Firestone alternate tires) are going to do?”
Will Power was second quickest at 1:45.3849 in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet, followed by reigning series champion Alex Palou at 1:45.4062 in the No. 10 The American Legion Honda.
Alexander Rossi, quickest Friday at 1:45.6027, was fourth this morning at 1:45.5576 in the No. 27 NAPA AUTO PARTS/AutoNation Honda. He spent a considerable amount of time in the pits during the 45-minute session with a clutch problem.
Two-time series champion Josef Newgarden was fifth at 1:45.5744 in the No. 2 PPG Team Penske Chevrolet.
Practice 2 Times
| Pos | No | Name | Time | Diff | Gap | Laps | Speed | Engine | Team |
| 1 | 5 | Pato O’Ward | 1:45.2681 | 0.000s | 0.000s | 12 | 137.272 | Chevy | Arrow McLaren SP |
| 2 | 12 | Will Power | 1:45.3849 | 0.1168 | 0.1168 | 14 | 137.120 | Chevy | Team Penske |
| 3 | 10 | Alex Palou | 1:45.4062 | 0.1381 | 0.0213 | 11 | 137.093 | Honda | Chip Ganassi Racing |
| 4 | 27 | Alexander Rossi | 1:45.5576 | 0.2895 | 0.1514 | 10 | 136.896 | Honda | Andretti Autosport |
| 5 | 2 | Josef Newgarden | 1:45.5744 | 0.3063 | 0.0168 | 13 | 136.874 | Chevy | Team Penske |
| 6 | 26 | Colton Herta | 1:45.7664 | 0.4983 | 0.1920 | 14 | 136.626 | Honda | Andretti Autosport w/Curb-Agajanian |
| 7 | 8 | Marcus Ericsson | 1:45.8079 | 0.5398 | 0.0415 | 12 | 136.572 | Honda | Chip Ganassi Racing |
| 8 | 28 | Romain Grosjean | 1:46.0022 | 0.7341 | 0.1943 | 15 | 136.322 | Honda | Andretti Autosport |
| 9 | 3 | Scott McLaughlin | 1:46.0373 | 0.7692 | 0.0351 | 15 | 136.277 | Chevy | Team Penske |
| 10 | 9 | Scott Dixon | 1:46.0617 | 0.7936 | 0.0244 | 14 | 136.245 | Honda | Chip Ganassi Racing |
| 11 | 7 | Felix Rosenqvist | 1:46.0998 | 0.8317 | 0.0381 | 14 | 136.196 | Chevy | Arrow McLaren SP |
| 12 | 30 | Christian Lundgaard | 1:46.1046 | 0.8365 | 0.0048 | 16 | 136.190 | Honda | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing |
| 13 | 06 | Helio Castroneves | 1:46.2389 | 0.9708 | 0.1343 | 11 | 136.018 | Honda | Meyer Shank Racing |
| 14 | 60 | Simon Pagenaud | 1:46.2553 | 0.9872 | 0.0164 | 10 | 135.997 | Honda | Meyer Shank Racing |
| 15 | 18 | David Malukas | 1:46.2816 | 1.0135 | 0.0263 | 11 | 135.963 | Honda | Dale Coyne Racing with HMD |
| 16 | 77 | Callum Ilott | 1:46.4851 | 1.2170 | 0.2035 | 13 | 135.703 | Chevy | Juncos Hollinger Racing |
| 17 | 20 | Conor Daly | 1:46.5240 | 1.2559 | 0.0389 | 14 | 135.654 | Chevy | Ed Carpenter Racing |
| 18 | 29 | Devlin DeFrancesco | 1:46.5438 | 1.2757 | 0.0198 | 12 | 135.629 | Honda | Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport |
| 19 | 15 | Graham Rahal | 1:46.6307 | 1.3626 | 0.0869 | 15 | 135.518 | Honda | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing |
| 20 | 21 | Rinus VeeKay | 1:46.6619 | 1.3938 | 0.0312 | 10 | 135.479 | Chevy | Ed Carpenter Racing |
| 21 | 45 | Jack Harvey | 1:46.8522 | 1.5841 | 0.1903 | 14 | 135.237 | Honda | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing |
| 22 | 51 | Takuma Sato | 1:46.9109 | 1.6428 | 0.0587 | 13 | 135.163 | Honda | Dale Coyne Racing w/RWR |
| 23 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | 1:47.8402 | 2.5721 | 0.9293 | 14 | 133.998 | Honda | Chip Ganassi Racing |
| 24 | 4 | Dalton Kellett | 1:47.9272 | 2.6591 | 0.0870 | 15 | 133.890 | Chevy | AJ Foyt Enterprises |
| 25 | 14 | Kyle Kirkwood | 1:48.1562 | 2.8881 | 0.2290 | 5 | 133.607 | Chevy | AJ Foyt Enterprises |
| 26 | 11 | Tatiana Calderon | 1:48.1969 | 2.9288 | 0.0407 | 14 | 133.557 | Chevy | AJ Foyt Enterprises |
| 27 | 16 | Simona De Silvestro | 1:48.4582 | 3.1901 | 0.2613 | 13 | 133.235 | Chevy | Paretta Autosport |
Qualifying Groups
Group 1
12 Power, Will
27 Rossi, Alexander
26 Herta, Colton
28 Grosjean, Romain
9 Dixon, Scott
30 Lundgaard, Christian
60 Pagenaud, Simon
77 Ilott, Callum
29 DeFrancesco, Devlin
21 VeeKay, Rinus
51 Sato, Takuma
4 Kellett, Dalton
11 Calderon, Tatiana
Group 2
5 O’Ward, Pato
10 Palou, Alex
2 Newgarden, Josef
8 Ericsson, Marcus
3 McLaughlin, Scott
7 Rosenqvist, Felix
06 Castroneves, Helio
18 Malukas, David
20 Daly, Conor
15 Rahal, Graham
45 Harvey, Jack
48 Johnson, Jimmie
14 Kirkwood, Kyle
16 De Silvestro, Simona