Christian Lundgaard picks up first pole since 2023 at Mid-Ohio

LEXINGTON, OH — Christian Lundgaard picks up his first NTT INDYCAR Series Pole since Toronto in 2023 for the Honda INDY 200 at Mid-Ohio.

This is his first pole this season and his fourth of his INDYCAR career.

Lundgaard continued to showcase why his pending exit from Arrow McLaren could bite them in the butt. He picked up right where he left off at Road America, from the top spot.

Prior to the session, he set the quickest time in second practice before the long rain delay took place. After the delay, Lundgaard picked up where he left off and continued to show immense speed for his first pole NTT P1 Pole Award of the year.

He will start alongside Pato O’Ward in an all-papaya front row. O’Ward narrowly missed out on pole by 3 hundredths of a second.

Four other drivers joined the Arrow McLaren duo in the Firestone Fast Six. In order of starting position, they include Will Power, David Malukas, Christian Rasmussen, and Rinus VeeKay.

Rasmussen delivered his first fast six performance of the season. VeeKay earned Juncos Hollinger Racing’s third ever appearance in the final portion of qualifying.

Marcus Ericsson will start seventh, but the talk of the paddock is who starts alongside him in on the fourth row.

To everyone’s surprise, Alex Palou did not advance to the Firestone Fast Six. The defending champion missed the benchmark for the first time since St. Pete in 2025.

The eight place starting position broke his streak of five consecutive poles. He officially is tied for the fourth longest in series history with Mario Andretti and Danny Sullivan.

Palou can still make up valuable points from the position. In the previous four years, he has one win and three second places to his name at Mid-Ohio.

Finally, Josef Newgarden and Kyle Kirkwood round out the top ten qualifers.

Below is the full starting lineup for the Honda INDY 200 at Mid-Ohio.

Starting Lineup