Winners and losers from IndyCar 2024 Bommarito Automotive Group 500 qualifying at Gateway

Scott McLaughlin of Team Penske will start on pole position for the return of IndyCar at Gateway after a lengthy Olympic break. But McLaughlin isn’t our only winner…

Here are our winners and losers from IndyCar qualifying at Gateway.

Winners and losers from IndyCar 2024 Bommarito Automotive Group 500 qualifying

Winner: Scott McLaughlin

In his fourth full season of IndyCar racing, Scott McLaughlin has truly come into his own. The New Zealander came from the Australian Supercars stock car series and has become a consistent winner and point scorer.

This year, he’s also shown massive improvement on ovals, which was truly his final hurdle in becoming an all-around exceptional IndyCar driver. His pole position is well deserved, and it bodes well for an impressive race tomorrow night.

Loser: Colton Herta

Andretti Global driver Colton Herta looked blazingly fast on his out lap for qualifying, then set a blistering 179.909 mph first lap.

Unfortunately, coming into his second lap, he lost control in a long slide. He brushed the wall with the rear wing and managed to right the machine to crawl to the finish that lap, but his pace was squandered. It’s a tough blow for Herta, who could have otherwise taken a top five — if not a pole position.

Andretti Global will have work to do to get the No. 26 back out on the track for night practice.

Winner: Juncos Hollinger Racing

The Chevy-powered Juncos Hollinger Racing team has had a season of ups and downs, but it rallied for a strong qualifying session at Gateway. Romain Grosjean qualified eighth of 27 cars before penalties, and Conor Daly — who is replacing Agustin Canapino — took 12th before penalties were applied.

When the Honda’s face their nine-spot grid drops, both JHR machines will be bumped up into the top 10, a qualifying result to be proud of.

Loser: Honda

Four Honda cars were assessed nine-place penalties for unapproved engine changes in Toronto: Meyer Shank Racing’s No. 60 (Felix Rosenqvist), Chip Ganassi Racing’s Nos. 9 (Scott Dixon) and 10 (Alex Palou), and Dale Coyne Racing’s No. 51 (Katherine Legge).

Further, CGR driver Linus Lundqvist faced a hybrid failure during practice, and Jack Harvey kicked off qualifying with a failure, too. All Honda.

These failures and penalties could have a serious impact on the championship, as Dixon and Palou are both in contention for the title.

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Winner: Meyer Shank Racing

Even though Felix Rosenqvist will face a nine-place grid penalty, both Meyer Shank Racing cars showed impressive enough speed to land them in second and third provisional positions. That makes MSR the best-placed Honda outfit, and it’ll also see David Malukas start on the front row next to Scott McLaughlin.

Loser: McLaren

Arrow McLaren has been on the back foot at Gateway, with Pato O’Ward serving as the high point of the team thanks to his 11th-place qualifying position (prior to penalties being applied).

The team has been strong this season thanks to the lineup of O’Ward and Alexander Rossi, but the former is left to carry the weight of the team as the latter still nurses a broken wrist. Further, rookie Nolan Siegel is, well, a rookie — he’s got plenty of work to do to help the team secure a better finish in the race proper.

Winner: Kyle Kirkwood

Thanks to Colton Herta’s wild ride into the wall, Kyle Kirkwood secured the honor of top-placed Andretti Global driver in qualifying — all despite a white-knuckle two-lap qualifying run around Gateway.

Kirkwood has proven to be an incredibly capable competitor in IndyCar this season; compared to his teammates, he’s more consistent than Herta and can regularly run further up the pack than Marcus Ericsson. His car may be a handful this weekend, but Kirkwood is more than capable of handling it.

Loser: Dale Coyne Racing

Dale Coyne Racing’s Nos. 18 and 51 both suffered in qualifying. Harvey was the first driver to head out for qualifying, and he suffered an MGU failure before he even had a chance to set a lap.

Further, Katherine Legge in the No. 51 didn’t pass technical inspection. Paired with her grid penalty, she’ll start the race in dead last, 27th.

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