QUALIFYING REPORT: Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach

• After finishing second this morning on the Practice 2 leaderboard, Colton Herta claimed P2 once again as he advanced through the first round of qualifying. 
• Joining both of his teammates in Round 2, Herta went on to make his third consecutive Firestone Fast Six appearance of the season. Despite a drive-thru penalty, Herta kept the momentum and went on to score a front-row start for tomorrow’s race.
• Tomorrow’s second-place starting position marks the second time the California native has started on the front row in Long Beach and his 24th career front-row start.

“That was a difficult qualifying session. I didn’t have a prep lap, which is when we get the temperatures in the right window and try to get the front and rear as equal as we can, so the tires started off a little bit cold. We got there in the end after maybe three or four corners, so I’m guessing the time loss to Kyle is probably in those first few corners. It’s unfortunate, this is a pole I feel like I should’ve gotten without getting that penalty and going off in the first round. But, I still can’t be mad about starting in the front row. We have an Andretti 1-2 and Marcus right there in fifth. All of us in the Fast Six shows that we have a strong program here to go into the race with tomorrow.”

• Sporting a brand new PreFab livery on the Streets of Long Beach, Kyle Kirkwood took on this afternoon’s qualifying session in Group 2 determined to capitalize on this morning’s practice session that found him take the checkered in the top 5.
• Utilizing his previous success on the Streets of Long Beach, Kirkwood swept each segment of qualifying, including the Firestone Fast Six that saw the Florida native secure his third career INDYCAR pole position.
• Kirkwood will make his fourth front-row start of his career when he leads the field the green for the second time at the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach tomorrow.

“When you’re in an Andretti Global car in Long Beach, you know you’re going to be quick, and I’m happy to have capitalized on that here today. The team has a great front-row lockout tomorrow with Colton and me. After that first quali run, he was super quick, then I was super quick, and I knew it was going be a dog fight between us. But you got to be so happy with that, right? A front-row lockout for Andretti Global here at Long Beach. We had such a good lap there at the end of qualifying. Fortunately, I didn’t put any wheel wrong and hit anything, that’s always a variable here on street courses. You’ve got to send it to get that top spot. I’m super happy today that the No. 27 PreFab Honda was on rails. So, we’ll get through this afternoon and celebrate a little bit, but not too much because we have to prep for the race tomorrow. We’ll hopefully get most of our running done in the morning to know exactly what the race is going to be like.”

• Following yesterday’s practice session that saw Marcus Ericsson capture the second-fastest lap, the Swede came into qualifying determined to capture a strong starting position for his 100th INDYCAR career start tomorrow. 
• After advancing through the first two rounds of qualifying, Ericsson went on to make his 13th career Firestone Fast Six appearance.
• After four impressive laps, Ericsson was able to claim a top-five starting position for tomorrow’s Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.
  

“Things are going very well. I think the team has obviously done a tremendous job with the 1-2 and then me in fifth. Being a racing driver, it’s not fun to be P5 when your teammates are 1-2, so I’m a bit disappointed and I want a bit more, but the team has done a great job. The No. 28 Bryant Honda was really good. We can definitely fight from there tomorrow.”

“It was an exciting qualifying session. A little bit more exciting than we would have liked it to be for the No. 26 Gainbridge Honda. The No. 27 guys did great and executed perfectly. To have all three cars in the top five is a testament to all the teamwork going on behind the scenes with drivers, engineers and crews. I’m really happy obviously, with qualifying today and hope that tomorrow is just as good.”