2024 XPEL Grand Prix

Qualifying Notes

• Qualifying for the NTT P1 Award consists of three segments. In the first round, each group receives 12 minutes of track time. The fastest six cars from each group advance to Round 2 while the remaining cars are assigned positions 13 to 27. Group 1 drivers will occupy the odd-numbered positions while Group 2 drivers will occupy the even-numbered positions based on their fastest lap times. During Round 2, the 12 advancing cars receive 12 minutes of track time with the fastest six advancing to the Firestone Fast Six while the remaining cars are ranked in positions seven through 12 based on their fastest laps. During the Firestone Fast Six, the six cars receive eight minutes of guaranteed green-flag time. At the end of session, cars are ranked one through six based on their fastest laps.
• Qualifying at Road America began on time at 2:25 p.m. CDT. The ambient temperature was 57 degrees with 92% humidity and cloudy skies. The track temperature was 71 degrees according to Firestone engineers.
• Due to wet track conditions and rain continuing to fall at Road America, the Race Director declared qualifying to be a wet session which allowed teams to use rain tires.
• Group 1 qualifying proceeded without incident while Group 2 featured a red flag for the No. 66 Meyer Shank Racing Honda of Helio Castroneves which was stopped in the Turn 5 runoff. Castroneves was penalized his two fastest laps and lost the ability to advance out of Round 1.
• Colton Herta, Kyle Kirkwood, Marcus Armstrong, Will Power, Linus Lundqvist and Josef Newgarden were fastest in Round 2 and advanced to the Firestone Fast Six.
• At the start of Round 3, all cars but the No. 8 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda of Lundqvist left pit lane on Firestone Firehawk alternate red tires after using rain tires in all other segments of qualifying. Lundqivst later switched to alternate tires.
• Four minutes into the eight-minute session, Power caused a red flag when his No. 12 Team Penske Chevrolet stopped off course in Turn 12 after a spin in the corner. Power lost his two fastest laps and ended the session without an official time.
• After the checkered flag, the red flag flew again when the No. 2 Team Penske Chevrolet of Newgarden spun off track and made hard right-side contact with the barrier in Turn 11. Newgarden climbed from his race car without assistance from the AMR INDYCAR Safety Team and was later checked and released from the INDYCAR Medical Unit. He was stripped of his two fastest laps and had no official lap time in the Firestone Fast Six.
• Lundqvist ended the final round of qualifying with the fastest lap: 1:45.1519. The achievement marked Lundqvist's first NTT IndyCar Series pole and his first pole for a rookie since Romain Grosjean.
  

Session Notes

• Practice 2 at Road America started on time at 10:10 a.m. CDT and consisted of 45 minutes of track time in a one-hour window. Due to weather conditions at the track, INDYCAR allowed the use of wet tires. Team-transported wet tires were used first. Rain lights were also illuminated.
• Four red flags slowed the action:
  • At 10:22 a.m., the first red flag period began when the No. 10 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda of Alex Palou went off course in Turn 14. The resulting stoppage was four minutes long and Palou was assessed a five-minute time penalty for causing a red flag during practice.
  • At 10:33 a.m., the No. 30 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda of Pietro Fittipaldi went off course at Turn 12. Like Palou, Fittipaldi was also assessed a five-minute time penalty. The second red flag period lasted for eight minutes.
  • At 11:02 a.m, the No. 27 Andretti Global Honda of Kyle Kirkwood went off course at Turn 14. The red flag was four minutes long and Kirkwood was also assessed a five-minute time penalty.
  • At 11:07 a.m., minutes before the end of the session, Palou again brought a red flag when his race car lost power in Turn 1. The resulting red flag's duration was four minutes and Palou was issued a second five-minute penalty.
• The session went green for 30 seconds allowing interested drivers one final lap.
• At the conclusion of Practice 2, Colton Herta's 2:3027 in the No. 26 Andretti Global Honda was fastest.
  

Session Notes

• The first practice of the XPEL Grand Prix race weekend at Road America started at 3 p.m. CDT Friday afternoon and was 75 minutes in duration.
• Prior to the start of Practice 1, Juncos Hollinger Racing revealed via press release that driver Augustin Canapino was taking a "leave of absence" and was replaced by Nolan Siegel, who will drive the No. 78 Chevrolet in the XPEL Grand Prix.
• The session slowed at 3:19 p.m. when the No. 77 Juncos Hollinger Chevrolet of Romain Grosjean made contact with the tire barrier in Turn 14. The resulting red flag was eight minutes long. Grosjean was later seen and released from the INDYCAR Medical Unit.
• At 5:17 p.m., the red and checkered flags were displayed when the No. 11 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda of Marcus Armstrong stopped off course in Turn 12.
• Alex Palou was fastest in the session with a 1:43.1709 in the No. 10 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda.