The first ten-lap heat race features seven of the top ten finishers and nine of the top 12 finishers from the St. Petersburg season opener two weeks ago.
Felix Rosenqvist starts on pole position for the first heat race after the Swede ran a 98.5831-second lap in the group one qualifying session. This is the third consecutive year Rosenqvist is starting on pole position for the second event of the IndyCar season. He started on pole position the previous two years at Texas Motor Speedway, both of which counted toward the championship. Rosenqvist's seventh at St. Petersburg was Meyer Shank Racing's best finish in 24 races.
Scott McLaughlin was 0.0237 seconds off Rosenqvist and McLaughlin will start second. McLaughlin has finished on the podium in the last two races dating back to last season. The only other time McLaughlin has had consecutive podium finishes was in 2022. He went second, third and first between Nashville, Gateway and Portland.
Rinus Veekay was only 0.0452 seconds off and VeeKay will start third. VeeKay has not had a top five finish in his last 24 starts. The Dutchman was 10th at St. Petersburg, only his third top ten finish in his last 22 starts.
Christian Lundgaard made it four cars within a tenth of a second in heat race one's qualifying session. Lundgaard was 0.0563 seconds behind Rosenqvist. Lundgaard had the fastest time overall from the two test days at Thermal Club.
Josef Newgarden rounds out the top five, 0.2095 seconds slower than the top time. Newgarden is coming off winning the season opener, his first victory on a road or street course since Road America in 2022. Three times has Newgarden won consecutive races. Only once were both races on a road and street course, that was in 2017 at Toronto and Iowa.
Will Power makes it an all-Team Penske row three. Power was 0.2225 seconds from pole position. Power led the opening 16 laps of IndyCar's most recent exhibition race in 2008 at Surfers Paradise before clipping a barrier to end his race.
Romain Grosjean leads an all-Juncos Hollinger Racing row four and be the first driver starting outside the bubble for the main event. Grosjean was 0.2943 seconds behind Rosenqvist. In the last 14 races, Grosjean has one top ten finishes and six results outside the top twenty.
Agustín Canapino will start eighth, but he was 1.0163 seconds off Rosenqvist's pole-winning time. Canapino was 14th in the overall test results, faster than three Ganassi cars, two of three Rahal Letterman Lanigan racing cars, both Meyer Shank Racing cars, and both A.J. Foyt Racing entries.
Scott Dixon ended up ninth in qualifying. Dixon was second in the 2008 Surfers Paradise race behind Ryan Briscoe. Dixon does have a non-championship race victory. He won the first heat race at 2013 Iowa weekend.
Santino Ferrucci starts tenth two weeks after he finished 11th at St. Petersburg. Ferrucci had one top fifteen finish on a road/street course throughout the entire 2023 season, an 11th at Long Beach. His best finish on a permanent road course was 16th at Road America and Portland.
Colton Herta was unable to put together a truly representative lap in qualifying, and Herta will start 11th. Three of Herta's seven career IndyCar victories have come in his home state of California. This event falls on the fifth anniversary of Colton Herta's first career victory in his third career start at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas.
Nolan Siegel takes 12th on the grid. Siegel participates in his first IndyCar event this weekend driving the #18 Honda for Dale Coyne Racing. Siegel won the Indy Lights season opener at St. Petersburg two weeks ago.
Kyle Kirkwood starts 13th. Kirkwood won at the 12 Hours of Sebring in the GTD Pro class last week driving the #14 VasserSullivan Lexus with Jack Hawksworth and Ben Barnicoat. Kirkwood did have a practice accident, but the damage was minor to the attenuator.
Sting Ray Robb rounds out the grid in 14th. Robb ended 26th after a mechanical issue led to his retirement at St. Petersburg. It was the 13th time in 18 starts Robb has finished outside the top twenty.
The first heat race will take place at 12:30 p.m. ET.
Álex Palou set the fastest time for heat two, as well as the fastest time between the two groups, with a lap at 98.5675 seconds. Palou was the fastest driver over Friday's test sessions from Thermal. The pole-sitter for the main event will be the heat winner with the better qualifying time. If Palou wins the second heat, he will start on pole position for the final.
Marcus Armstrong swept the front row for heat two for Chip Ganassi Racing, but Armstrong was 0.19 seconds slower than his teammate Palou. Armstrong's accident at St. Petersburg gave him his worst career finish in IndyCar in 27th.
Graham Rahal leapt up to third on the final lap of qualifying, 0.4048 seconds behind Palou. Rahal was ninth in the 2008 Surfers Paradise race. Rahal also won two of the Iowa heat races over 2012 and 2013.
Linus Lundqvist makes its three Chip Ganassi Racing entries in the top four for heat two. Lundqvist was just over a half-second slower than Palou. Lundqvist was 21st in the combined test results.
Tom Blomqvist takes fifth on the grid, 0.5145 seconds behind Palou. Blomqvist ended up 17th at St. Petersburg and he completed all 100 laps, Blomqvist's first lead lap finish in his IndyCar career.
Pietro Fittipaldi made it a Honda sweep of the top six positions in the heat two starting grid. Fittipaldi was 0.5442 seconds off Palou. Fittipaldi's grandfather Emerson won the 1992 Marlboro Challenge from Nazareth Speedway, the penultimate exhibition race in IndyCar history prior to this weekend's festivities.
Alexander Rossi was not only the top Chevrolet qualifier, but the first of three consecutive Arrow McLaren entries on the grid, as Rossi has car #7 starting seventh for heat two. Since winning the 2019 Long Beach race, Rossi has not finished in the top five of the last seven California races.
Callum Ilott starts next to Rossi in eighth. Ilott was the fastest driver in Saturday morning's test session ahead of qualifying. He had the fourth-best combined time over the four test sessions.
Patricio O'Ward finds himself starting ninth. O'Ward has gone 609 days since his most recent IndyCar victory at Iowa. All three McLaren cars were in the top seven of the overall test. O'Ward was seventh.
Kyffin Simpson rounds out the top ten on the grid. Simpson was the top finishing rookie at St. Petersburg in 14th. He is the third-best starting rookie in heat two as five of the six rookies entered this weekend are in heat two.
Christian Rasmussen will start 11th. Rasmussen completed 91 laps over the two test sessions and he was 19th fastest in the test.
Colin Braun makes it 12th starting spot for both Dale Coyne Racing entries between the two heat races. Braun was faster than Siegel in the test, but the DCR cars were 25th and 26th respectively
Marcus Ericsson had an accident in qualifying and that leaves Ericsson 13th on the grid. Ericsson ended up 25th after his car broke down 33 laps into St. Petersburg. In each of the previous three seasons, Ericsson has had exactly only one result outside the top twenty.
The second heat race is scheduled for a 1:05 p.m. ET start. The 20-lap final race will begin at 1:59 p.m. ET. The race will have a ten-minute intermission after lap ten. NBC's coverage begins at 12:30 p.m. ET.
