DETROIT— A week after finishing second at the 106th Indianapolis 500, Pato O’Ward qualified fifth for the final Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix on the streets of Belle Isle.
The No. 5 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet went around the 13-turn, 2.35 mile circuit in 1 minute, 16.3301 seconds, averaging 110.834 mph.
O’Ward’s path to the final round of qualifying started in the first group of the first round. Only 12 cars turned a lap in the session as Dalton Kellett’s No. 4 A. J. Foyt Racing Chevrolet did not make it to the track for qualifying after a significant crash in the Saturday (June 4) morning practice session.
Turn 14 bites @Dalton_Kellett.
This incident brought out the red flag in practice 2 at the @DetroitGP.
The No. 4 driver has been seen and released.
WATCH LIVE on @PeacockTV: https://t.co/eI23rgv5zD#INDYCAR // #DetroitGP pic.twitter.com/Ou48XfyTbW
— NTT INDYCAR SERIES (@IndyCar) June 4, 2022
The Mexican racer turned the second fastest lap in that group to advance to second round of qualifying. In the second round of qualifying, O’Ward turned the fastest lap of the weekend at 1 minute, 14.6681 seconds.
In the Firestone Fast 6, O’Ward’s team put on used Firestone red sidewall alternate tires. Those tires produce more grip but wear out faster, on O’Ward’s car wasn’t able to replicate the earlier run.
“I think we made the wrong call on what reds to take,” O’Ward told Frontstretch. “We saw just like last year, they (the red tires) went straight from getting to warmup into falling off a cliff so I think that’s going to be interesting tomorrow in terms of strategy and who starts on what. So yeah, from the looks of it, it’s probably going to be like the past year’s race where it’s going to be a black (tire)race.”
Last year, O’Ward started on pole position and finished third in the first of two races in the Detroit doubleheader weekend. In the second race last year, the 2018 Indy Lights champion started 16th but won…
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