Qualifying Report: Mission Foods Grand Prix of Monterey

MONTEREY, Calif. (Sept. 5, 2026) -- Driving the No. 4 Combitrans Amazonia Chevrolet, rookie Caio Collet advanced to Round 2 in qualifying for the Mission Foods Grand Prix of Monterey under sunny skies at WeatherTech Raceway/Laguna Seca Saturday afternoon.

Collet was not able to advance past the second round as he explained, "I think it was a pretty decent qualifying. Another fast 12. We were really happy in Q1 with the strategy, and I did a really good lap. Then in Q2, we tried to make the car better but I think it didn't really work well.

"Also, we got a bit out of sequence with the guys in front, so I didn't really have a clean lap, which is a bit unfortunate," he continued. "But I think it would not have changed much because I have the engine penalty anyway. So, two or three spots, I think I could have done a P8 or P7 maybe but still with the engine penalty, we will still start a little bit outside the top 10. I think we have a pretty decent race car, and hopefully we can move forward tomorrow.”

Unfortunately, the team had to perform an engine change after last weekend because the engine had 'mileaged out,' resulting in a six-grid spot penalty. Collet will start 18th instead of 12th.

Driving the No. 14 Homes For Our Troops Chevrolet, Santino Ferrucci will start 21st, inside row 11. Ferrucci seemed happy with his car's handling but the speed wasn't there.

"Just really standard qualifying," Ferrucci stated. "Nothing to really say about it. Just obviously missing speed. So, we’ll figure out what's going on and go from there.”

Scott McLaughlin won the NTT P1 award. The 2026 NTT INDYCAR Series champion Alex Palou will start outside pole. Rounding out the Firestone Fast Six were Felix Rosenqvist, Alexander Rossi, Christian Lundgaard and David Malukas.

The Mission Foods Grand Prix of Monterey will be broadcast on FOX Sunday afternoon starting at 2:30 p.m. ET.

In Race 1 of the INDY NXT doubleheader Grand Prix of Monterey, Alessandro de Tullio started 12th and finished 18th. Nicholas Monteiro started 22nd but was collected in a multi-car crash about midway through the 35-lap race. He emerged uninjured.

Race 2 will be run tomorrow at 12:30 p.m. ET and will be televised on FS1.