Rosenqvist, Palou convert poles to wins before Thermal feature

Felix Rosenqvist earned Meyer Shank Racing’s first IndyCar pole position and held onto it for the entirety of the first heat race and captured the team’s first win, albeit in a non-points heat race, as the Swede held off Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin to claim victory with the No. 60 Honda.

With the heat race transfer moving the top six drivers into the $1 Million Challenge, it was Rosenqvist, McLaughlin, Penske’s Josef Newgarden, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Christian Lundgaard, Juncos Hollinger Racing’s Agustin Canapino, and Andretti Global’s Colton Herta playing through to the finale.

Contact happened before the 14 drivers arrived at Turn 1 as Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon tipped JHR’s Romain Grosjean into a spin, who pirouetted across the Turn 1 apex and hit Ed Carpenter Racing’s Rinus VeeKay who in turn hit Lundgaard. Grosjean and VeeKay were out on the spot.

“Who’s going to pay for the damage?” Grosjean asked. “We do nothing wrong and the car is completely smashed.”