Pato O'Ward secured his first pole position since 2022 at The Thermal Club, leading an Arrow McLaren front-row lockout with teammate Christian Lundgaard. O'Ward's impressive lap time of 1m39.9567s around the 3.067-mile road course marked a significant turnaround from his disappointing 23rd-place qualification in St. Petersburg.

Lundgaard completed the Arrow McLaren 1-2 with a time of 1m40.1245s. Chip Ganassi Racing's Alex Palou secured third place (1m40.3092s), followed by Andretti Global's Colton Herta (1m40.3978s) and Marcus Ericsson (1m40.7435s). Alexander Rossi rounded out the Fast Six for Ed Carpenter Racing (1m41.0359s).

Team Penske faced unexpected challenges as all three drivers failed to advance from the first qualifying round. Josef Newgarden (P17), Will Power (P21), and Scott McLaughlin (P25) will start from the back of the pack for Sunday's 65-lap race.

The qualifying session, conducted under perfect weather conditions with temperatures around 84-85 degrees, saw strong performances from both Chevrolet and Honda-powered cars. Despite Honda's initial dominance with eight cars in the Firestone Fast 12, Chevrolet secured the top positions when it mattered most.

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