QUALIFYING REPORT: Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio

• After sustaining floor damage early in Practice 1, Colton Herta was able to return to the track following quick repairs by the Gainbridge team and clock the seventh-fastest time during yesterday’s practice session. Herta carried that pace into Group 1 of Qualifying this afternoon, where he went on to advance to Round 2, after securing a third-place result in the opening round.
• After easily advancing out of Round 2 in fourth, Herta went on to make his sixth Firestone Fast Six appearance of the season. Fighting for the pole, Herta ran as high as second during the final session, but unfortunately, he went wide in Turn 1 toward the end of the session, ultimately taking the checkered flag in fifth.
• Taking tomorrow’s start at the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio from the top five for the sixth time in his career and with one win, four top-10 finishes and 99 laps led at Mid-Ohio, Herta will be looking to add to his impressive record at the Ohio road circuit tomorrow.

“I’m happy with how qualifying went. Going into the session, we definitely would’ve taken a top-six result. Unfortunately, a small mistake on the Q3 lap spoiled our chances of going for pole. It would have been nice to try to get a little further up, but overall, I’m pretty happy. We made some big overnight changes, and I’m fairly happy with the car. It’s going to be a long race and a tough one. It’s a very physical track, and it’s going to be hot out there. There are so many different strategy options, so we’ll definitely be reviewing everything tonight. The No. 26 Gainbridge Honda feels fast, and we’re happy to get another top-six result.”

• Sporting a special Honda-inspired livery on the No. 27 Andretti INDYCAR Honda this weekend, Kyle Kirkwood was the last of the Andretti lineup to take on qualifying after topping the charts in yesterday’s practice and finishing ninth in this morning’s practice session.
• After posting the fourth-fastest lap in Round 1, Kirkwood went on to join his teammates in the second round, where he climbed as high as P2 on the leaderboard. Unfortunately, the Florida native got caught in traffic as the session progressed and missed out on advancing to the Firestone Fast Six by just 0.0361 seconds.
• Rolling off the grid from his second-best starting position at Mid‑Ohio tomorrow, Kirkwood will look to add his first road course win to his record.

“Overall, a reasonable qualifying for the No. 27 team. Seventh is nothing to complain about, and it puts us in a position to have an extra set of tires for tomorrow’s race. So I’m quite happy about that. We definitely should have been in the Firestone Fast Six, but we got held up in traffic at the end of our last run, so I’m a bit disappointed with that. Nonetheless, we still got a good result out of it, so hopefully we can move forward in the race tomorrow.”

• Representing FOX Sports this weekend in the No. 28 FOX INDYCAR Honda, Marcus Ericsson’s morning practice was cut short after contact with the Turn 13 tire barrier caused right rear suspension damage. Following repairs by the No. 28 crew, he returned to the track for Group 1 of qualifying and clocked the second-fastest lap just ahead of teammate Herta.
• Making his third Fast 12 appearance of the season, Ericsson ran as high as sixth during Round 2. Unfortunately, the Swede struggled to find the speed he had in the opening round, ultimately taking the checkered in 11th.
• With four top-10 finishes at Mid-Ohio, including a second-place result, Ericsson will look to claim the top step of the podium during tomorrow’s race.
  

“First off, a big thank you goes to the No. 28 crew for getting the car back together after the crash in Practice 2. They did a great job. Honestly, Qualifying was a bit disappointing because we’ve had really strong pace in both practice sessions, and I felt we had more in it. Still, starting 11th puts us in a good position for tomorrow. The car has felt great all weekend, which gives me a lot of confidence heading into the race. The team’s been doing a great job all weekend long. Now we just need to carry that into race day.”

“We’re happy to get all three cars into the Fast 12. However, it’s a bit disappointing that we only got one car in the Fast Six. Kyle has been the quickest car most of the weekend, so it’s tough not to see him progress. But he got caught in traffic on his final lap, and sometimes that’s all it takes not to make it. It was a good recovery by the No. 28 crew after Marcus went off this morning, and they still managed to get into the Fast 12. For the No. 26, it has been a challenging weekend, especially yesterday. So, we’re happy to get Colton into the Fast Six. It’s always a challenging race here, but we’re looking forward to seeing what we can do tomorrow.”