Grosjean leads Andretti qualifying sweep for IndyCar opener

Sat, Mar 4, 2023
Other News (AP)

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) - Romain Grosjean opened his third season in IndyCar by winning the pole in qualifying on Saturday on the downtown streets of St. Petersburg.

The Frenchman led an all-Andretti Autosport front row in qualifying and surged to the second pole of his IndyCar career in the waning moments of the session. He beat teammate Colton Herta for the top starting position in Sunday's race.

His wife and three children raced to pit road, with the kids jumping into their father's arms in celebration. Grosjean moved to IndyCar in 2021 after his nearly fatal fiery crash in a Formula One race ended his European career. He joined Andretti last season but didn't have the success he expected to achieve with one of IndyCar's top teams.

It's been an incredible opening weekend for Andretti, which had a difficult 2022, with only two wins among its four drivers. But three of its four cars have been fast all weekend in St. Petersburg and, along with Kyle Kirkwood, the team put three cars into the Fast Six qualifying shootout.

"We've done a lot of work, for sure, it's a pretty good feeling," team owner Michael Andretti said before the last qualifying group. "We know the competition has done so, too, but so far so good. Feels good to have three in the top six."

The Andretti group stumbled at the start of the final shootout when Kirkwood crashed to bring out a red flag.

"Sorry, I hit the wall," Kirkwood radioed.

Kirkwood, in his second IndyCar season but first with Andretti, said after he locked his brakes that the wind made his qualifying lap "kind of sketchy."

"Disappointed, it was less than ideal," Kirkwood said. "Ultimately, we are in the Fast Six with three cars, happy with that."

Pato O'Ward of McLaren was the highest-qualifying Chevrolet driver in third and followed by Indianapolis 500 winner Marcus Ericsson of Chip Ganassi Racing and then Kirkwood, as Honda drivers took four of the top five spots.

Scott McLaughlin of Team Penske went off course in the Fast Six and qualified sixth in a Chevy.

Marcus Armstrong, a rookie for Chip Ganassi Racing, was the highest qualifier among the newcomers at 13th. The biggest qualifying disappointment was Penske driver Josef Newgarden, who missed out on advancing in qualifying by a tick - under .04 seconds to teammate Will Power.

Newgarden will start 14th and stalked down pit road in anger.

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