Felix came out on top in qualifying at The Thermal Club to snatch pole position for his heat race in Sunday’s $1 Million Challenge, continuing his early-season promise by sealing Meyer Shank Racing’s first-ever INDYCAR pole.
Felix and MSR bounced back from an issue in Saturday’s final test session, where the Bon Jovi Radio-themed car was unable to use its push-to-pass feature. The team worked through the session and during the hours leading up to qualifying to diagnose the problem, giving Felix the opportunity to have all his Honda power at his disposal in the ultra-short, 8-minute grid-decider.
Once there, Felix immediately leapt to the top of the timesheets, putting up a time of 1m38.583s to lead his session and seal MSR’s first-ever (semi) pole in INDYCAR competition. He edged out Penske’s Scott McLaughlin by 0.023 seconds.
RESULTS: Heat 1 Qualifying | Heat 2 Qualifying
“We tried to stay cool after a tough morning session, we took a deep breath and worked on the problem,” says Felix. “The team did a great job getting ready and we ended up with a quick car once again. The test sessions have been great for us as a team this weekend. We’re jelling, we are figuring out what we need to do to be fast and I feel good.
“It’s an angry pack to be ahead of (for tomorrow’s heat race), but if we can get away clean at the start, we should be OK because the (tyre) degradation isn’t too bad. With no points to lose here, everyone is going to be coming at us hard, but we’re in the best spot possible. It’s another encouraging sign for us to be this quick on a road course to go with the streets of St. Pete last time out.”
Sunday’s two heat races will be contested over 10 laps (or 20 minutes), with the top six finishers from each heat moving on to the Sprint for the Purse feature race. Sunday’s finale will consist of two 10-lap segments, with teams allowed to refuel and make small set-up changes during an in-race break.
In what marks the only non-championship round on the schedule, the final winner will take home $500,000 with $350,000 going to the runner-up and $250,000 to the third-placed driver.