On the final lap of qualifying, Colton Herta took pole position with a lap of 66.3096 seconds, Herta's second consecutive pole position and the 11th pole position of his career. This is the second time Herta has had consecutive pole positions in his career. The other time was the end of his rookie season when he started first at Portland and Laguna Seca. Herta was fourth at Portland and then won at Laguna Seca. He was fifth at Road America two weeks ago. The American led 33 laps in the most recent race at Road America. Herta had only led five laps over the previous 11 races. He has not led in consecutive races since last season at Mid-Ohio and Toronto.
Graham Rahal fell 0.0432 seconds short of his first pole position since Belle Isle in 2017, but Rahal will start on the front row for the first time since Barber Motorsports Park in 2019. This is Rahal's first top five start in 27 races when he started fifth at Portland. Rahal has an average finish of 5.7 over the last ten Mid-Ohio races. Rahal has made 98 starts since his most recent victory, the second race of the 2017 Belle Isle doubleheader. Rahal holds the record for longest winless streak broken when he won at Fontana in 2015, 124 starts after he won at St. Petersburg in 2008.
Kyle Kirkwood makes it an all-American top three, as Kirkwood was 0.0597 seconds off his teammate Colton Herta. This is the third time this season Andretti Autosport has had multiple drivers qualify in the top three. It happened at St. Petersburg and Long Beach. Kirkwood is aiming for his third consecutive top ten finish. Only once did Kirkwood had three consecutive top twenty finishes last season.
Álex Palou was 0.1070 seconds off pole position and will start fourth. Palou is attempting to become the first driver to win three consecutive races since Scott Dixon won the first three races of the 2020 season at Texas, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course and Road America. Chip Ganassi Racing has had one driver win three consecutive races on seven different occasions. Palou could join Alex Zanardi, Juan Pablo Montoya and Dixon as the only drivers to do it with the Ganassi organization.
Christian Lundgaard takes fifth position, ending up 0.3181 seconds off Herta's time. Lundgaard has finished better than or equal to his starting position in seven of eight races this season. The only time he didn't was when he started on pole position at the Grand Prix of Indianapolis and finished fourth, his best result so far.
Scott Dixon rolls off from sixth position. Dixon has finished fourth in the last two races. Dixon has had at least one stretch of three consecutive top five finishes in each of the last six seasons. On race day, it will have been 329 days since Scott Dixon's most recent IndyCar victory. On average, Dixon's first 53 IndyCar victories came 147.528 days apart. This would only be the 11th time Dixon has had more than 300 days between victories.
Will Power again fell short of making it to the final round of qualifying, this time, Power was 0.1276 seconds off and Power will start seventh for second time in three races. Power has finished third in the ninth race of the season in each of the last three years, and Power has done it at three different tracks (Gateway, Road America and Mid-Ohio).
Scott McLaughlin is looking to become the eighth driver to win consecutive Mid-Ohio races, but McLaughlin will have to do it from eighth on the grid. A Mid-Ohio winner has started eighth on three occasions, Al Unser, Jr. in 1995, Juan Pablo Montoya in 1999 and Scott Dixon in 2019. The drivers that have won consecutive Mid-Ohio races are Bobby Rahal, Michael Andretti, Emerson Fittipaldi, Al Unser, Jr., Alex Zanardi, Hélio Castroneves and Scott Dixon.
For the second consecutive race, Marcus Ericsson occupies ninth on the grid. Ericsson is aiming for his tenth consecutive top ten finish. It would be the longest top ten finish streak of his career. Ericsson hasn't finished outside the top fifteen in the last 23 races.
Felix Rosenqvist rounds out the top ten on the grid and the all-Swedish row five. Rosenqvist has started in the top ten in eight of nine races this season. Unfortunately, Rosenqvist has an average finish of 24th over his last three Mid-Ohio starts after finishing in the top six in his first two starts here.
Jack Harvey is situated in 11th on the grid. This is Harvey's best starting position at Mid-Ohio since he started fifth in the first race of the 2020 doubleheader weekend. He had started 19th or worse in the last three visits to Lexington, Ohio. Harvey has finished on the lead lap in five consecutive Mid-Ohio starts.
David Malukas ended up 12th, Malukas' best starting position since he started ninth at Texas in April. This is the first time Malukas has advanced to the second round of qualifying this season. The Illinois-native has finished outside the top twenty in four consecutive races. Malukas had two finishes outside the top twenty through the entire 2022 season.
Alexander Rossi missed out on the second round of qualifying by 0.0389 seconds and Rossi will start 13th. Among tracks where Rossi has made at least three starts, Mid-Ohio ranks second in average finish at 6.875. The only track where he has a better average finish is Portland, where Rossi's average is a fifth-place finish.
Romain Grosjean missed out on advancing to the second round by 0.1564 seconds and Grosjean will join his former Andretti Autosport teammate Rossi on row seven. This will be Grosjean's best starting position at Mid-Ohio. Grosjean has not finished on the lead lap in the last three races, the longest stretch without a lead lap finish in his IndyCar career.
Josef Newgarden ended up 0.0686 seconds shy of advancing from group one, and Newgarden will start 15th. This is the second consecutive year Newgarden has failed to advance to the second round of qualifying at Mid-Ohio. He started 14th last year and finished seventh. Newgarden has won the ninth race of the season twice before in his career, but Newgarden has not finished in the top five in the nine other occasions he has run the ninth race in a season.
Rinus VeeKay joins Newgarden on row eighth. VeeKay had started 11th in the last three Mid-Ohio races. Among the tracks where VeeKay has made at least three starts, Mid-Ohio has his second-best average finish at 9.75, behind only Barber Motorsports Park at 8.333. He was fourth in this race last year.
Ryan Hunter-Reay qualified 17th, his career worst starting position at Mid-Ohio. His previous worst was 15th in 2008. Hunter-Reay matched his career worst Mid-Ohio finish in his most recent appearance in 2021. Hunter-Reay was caught in an opening lap incident. He was able to continue, but he finished two laps down in 24th.
Marcus Armstrong takes 18th on the grid, Armstrong's worst starting position since a penalty knocked him down to 26th at Barber. He had made the second round of qualifying in four of his last five appearances. Armstrong is coming off his worst IndyCar finish after ending up 24th at Road America, but Armstrong did lead five laps in that race, his first laps led in IndyCar.
Hélio Castroneves will start 19th, his best starting position since he started 16th at Long Beach in April. Castroneves has five podium finishes in 14 Mid-Ohio starts, but his most recent podium at the track was a third in 2010.
Callum Ilott rounds out the top twenty. Ilott had not made it out of the first round of qualifying yet this season. Ilott started tenth in this race last year, his second top ten starting position of the season in 2022. The Briton has finished outside the top fifteen in three of the last four races.
Agustín Canapino rolls off from the 21st position for the second consecutive race. Canapino has completed 922 laps through the first eight races. That is the eighth most the season ahead of the likes of Scott Dixon, Colton Herta, Patricio O'Ward, Graham Rahal, Rinus VeeKay, Callum Ilott, Hélio Castroneves, Romain Grosjean, Simon Pagenaud and Felix Rosenqvist. That is also 75 laps more than the next closest rookie, Benjamin Pedersen.
Sting Ray Robb has finished 22nd in the last two races, and Robb will start this one from 22nd position. Robb hasn't had a top twenty finish since he was 18th at Long Beach. He won twice at Mid-Ohio during his 2020 Indy Pro 2000 championship season.
Benjamin Pedersen finds himself 23rd on the grid. Pedersen had started in the top twenty in three consecuitv eraces entering this weekend. The Dane had finishes of seventh, eighth and sixth in three Indy Lights starts at Mid-Ohio.
Devlin DeFrancesco ended up 24th in qualifying, his worst starting position on a road/street course this season. DeFrancesco had started in the top twenty in every road/street course prior to this weekend. Since retiring from the first two races of the season, DeFrancesco has completed 614 of 615 laps.
After causing a red flag in the first round of qualifying, Patricio O'Ward will start 25th. O'Ward was fastest in his group when he spun and stalled exiting the keyhole. He had started every previous race in the top ten this season. O'Ward was third at Road America. Every time O'Ward has finished third in his career, he has been on the podium in the next race. He was third in the first race of the Gateway doubleheader in 2020 and finished second in the second race. In 2021, he was third in the first Texas race and then won the second race in the doubleheader weekend. Later that season, he was third in the first Belle Isle race and then won the second Belle Isle race.
Santino Ferrucci starts 26th. This is the third time Ferrucci is starting outside the top 25 this season. He has finished better than his starting position in five of eight races this season. However, Ferrucci has started outside the top fifteen in four of those races and outside the top twenty in three.
Due to a violent accident that sent Simon Pagenaud barrel rolling over six times in the turn five run-off during the second practice on Saturday, Pagenaud was unable to participate in qualifying and the #60 Meyer Shank Racing Honda will start 27th. Pagenaud was checked and released from the medical center but was not allowed to drive for the rest of Saturday. Pagenaud will be checked this morning and must be approved to race. Conor Daly is on standby to substitute for the Frenchman. Pagenaud has finished in the top fifteen in the last two races after having only one top fifteen result through the first six events. Pagenaud has completed every lap in 13 Mid-Ohio starts. He has finished off the lead lap in four of eight races this year.
Update (8:37 a.m. ET): Conor Daly will drive the #60 Meyer Shank Racing Honda in place of Simon Pagenaud.
USA's coverage of the Honda Indy 200 from Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course begins at 1:30 p.m. ET with green flag scheduled for 1:53 p.m. ET. The race is scheduled for 80 laps.
