GMR Grand Prix – Indianapolis Motor Speedway
NTT INDYCAR SERIES
QUALIFYING NOTES/QUOTES – May 12, 2023
LUNDGAARD WON HIS FIRST INDYCAR CAREER POLE FOR THE GMR GRAND PRIX; HARVEY AND RAHAL TO START FOURTH AND EIGHTH, RESPECTIVELY
1) Christian Lundgaard 1:09.4639 / 126.402 mph (Group 1, Round 3)
4) Jack Harvey 1:09.6899 / 125.992 mph (Group 2, Round 3)
8) Graham Rahal 1:10.2950 / 124.908 mph (Group 1, Round 2)
GRAHAM RAHAL, No. 15 Fifth Third Bank Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “I think we’re always traditionally pretty solid here but the boys and engineering staff have done a great job in just getting our cars into a better window. Obviously Christian and Jack have done a wonderful job all day. For us to close the gap (from the previous sessions) to them like that was pretty good. I’ve been struggling a lot more with the rear of my car then they have but I’m bummed. I’m not going to lie, I was on one that was a 3.0 or so, so to not make it to Round 3 is a disappointment. I guess I lost it in Turn 9 but, man, is this not the most competitive motorsport in the world? I mean, when you’re talking earlier today two-tenths was the difference between second and 15th. It’s unbelievable and you can’t miss a beat. But we’ve got a good start for the No. 15 Fifth Third Bank car.”
JACK HARVEY, No. 30 Kustom Entertainment Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “I think it was just honestly a fantastic team performance. Absolutely amazing job to everyone at Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing to dive into the problems that we’ve had and be able to come to the track with a good solution. Obviously, congrats to Christian and everyone on the No. 45 Hy-Vee car for the pole position today. I thought we were very, very close to him in P4 and hardly any time away from it. Graham and the No. 15 did a great job in P8. I just want to do these pole performances shoot outs all of the time because qualifying is much more fun when you’re doing it for all three rounds. I’m really happy for everyone on the No. 30 Kustom Entertainment car. I don’t see any reason why we can’t push for a podium tomorrow and let’s go for the win!”
CHRISTIAN LUNDGAARD, No. 45 Hy-Vee Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “The Hy-Vee Honda has been fast all day. I was hoping for this but I wasn’t quite expecting it. I can finally call this (IMS) home, I think. It feels amazing. Waking up this morning, I knew we were going to have a chance to get into the Fast Six because we’ve done that pretty much every time we’ve been here and I hoped it was going to happen, and now I can sit here and it’s a reality, which is pretty cool. Honestly, right now it feels awesome getting my first NTT P1 award, but with that said, Jack is P4 and Graham is P8. That is the best qualifying we’ve had in those two years that we’ve been teammates. I think it shows the progress that we’re on. It’s taken a little longer than we would have liked, but now we’ve got to finish it off tomorrow, but I’m just super happy for the team.
“My podium here last year, it was a big relief for me and the team. I knew my ability to be able to finish on the podium. I know what I’m capable of. But to deliver it to the team is what meant the most to me, and this, too. Everyone works so hard. We built a new facility. It hasn’t paid off until now, so we’re going to keep digging deep. Honestly, I didn’t really think that lap was good enough, but I was a little annoyed that Jack was faster than me on the first run because that used to be my number, and I saw it on top, so I was like, yes! No, wait a minute, that’s not me anymore. That just shows what it means to the team, as well, having two cars in there. I would have liked to share the front row with him, though, but we’ll save that for another time.”
RLL AT THE IMS ROAD COURSE…. The GMR Grand Prix will mark the 13th NTT INDYCAR SERIES race on the 2.439-mile road course. The team’s best finish here is second in 2015 and July 4, 2020 by Rahal and second in Race 2 in 2022 by Lundgaard. The previous best start was fourth in 2020 by Rahal until today’s POLE by Lundgaard.
NEXT UP: Warmup for the GMR Grand Prix will take place from 11:00-11:30 AM and NBC will begin coverage of the 85-lap race at 3:30 p.m. ET on Saturday.