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Qualifying Report: Sonsio Grand Prix

Despite not advancing out of the first round of qualifying, both AJ Foyt Racing drivers are optimistic about their chances in tomorrow’s Sonsio Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.

Santino Ferrucci, who had to gap a car that had just exited the pits in front of him when he was beginning his run on the alternate (red) Firestone tires, said, “With how we were going so slow on those first laps, I just don’t think I got the fronts (worked) in in time. Probably could’ve taken another turn of front wing, but we were a little unsure from Free Practice 2. We actually ended up putting in almost 2% more COP from Free Practice 2 to here, so we kind of took a guess at it. Our guys did a great job. It’s a tight field. What can you say? One-tenth, two-tenths, puts you from P-8 to P-2 here.”

Santino is always happy to be back at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. (INDYCAR Photo)

Ferrucci will line up in the 16th position on the grid after posting a time of one minute, 9.2637 seconds in the Sexton Properties Chevrolet. “It’s okay. We’ll have a set of sticker reds for tomorrow,” he continued. “We think it’s going to be a red (alternate tire) race, so honestly not the end of the world. We’ll move forward. I think we’ve got a really good long-run car this year, especially working with Penske. You’ll see the Sexton Properties Chevrolet come forward.”

Sting Ray Robb was happier with his No. 41 Pray.com Chevrolet after his qualifying run where he gained over a second from his best practice time earlier today. He posted a time of one minute, 10.0399 seconds and will start 27th.

“We made a good step forward from practice to qualifying, so happy with that,” said the 22-year-old. “We’ve got room to go, obviously. Looking forward to the race tomorrow. Seems like we have a pretty good Pray.com Chevy from what I understand. I think that we have good strategists in the box there for us. Looking forward to the race and seeing what we can do.”

Reigning NTT INDYCAR Series champion Alex Palou won the NTT P-1 Award with his lap time of one minute, 9.0004 seconds. Rounding out the Firestone Fast 6 were Christian Lundgaard, Will Power, Josef Newgarden, Pato O’Ward and Scott Dixon.

The 85-lap Sonsio Grand Prix will be broadcast live on NBC and streamed on Peacock tomorrow afternoon starting at 3 p.m. ET.