MADISON, Ill. (AP) — Alexander Rossi will be making his return to IndyCar this weekend at World Wide Technology Raceway near St. Louis.
He hopes it begins a memorable finish to his time with Arrow McLaren.
Rossi has been sidelined since breaking his thumb during a practice crash on the streets of Toronto last month, but he has been given the green light to get back in the car for Saturday night’s oval race. It’s the start of a post-Olympics sprint to the finish for the series, which has five races remaining with the finale on Sept. 15 at Nashville Superspeedway.
“It’s been a long summer break, but it obviously came at just the right time for me after the injury in Toronto,” said Rossi, who qualified 15th on Friday but will move up the starting grid due to penalties that affected other teams. “I’m thrilled to be back in the car for St. Louis and looking forward to kicking off this final stretch in a positive way.”
In a strange coincidence, Rossi was busy testing for Arrow McLaren at the track formerly known as Gateway last month when news leaked that the former Indy 500 winner would be replaced by Christian Lundgaard next season. Rossi joined the team last season but has struggled mightily, landing on the podium just twice while driving for the team.
“We’re elated that Alexander was given the thumbs up to return to racing this weekend,” Arrow McLaren team principal Gavin Ward said. “Let’s hope this turn of good fortune is the gateway to further success.”
Qualifying rundown
Scott McLaughlin qualified on the pole outside of St. Louis for the second straight year Friday with a two-lap average of 179.972 mph as Team Penske landed its three cars in the top six on the grid. Josef Newgarden was fourth and Will Power fifth.
“Straight from the truck today the guys gave me a great car,” McLaughlin said.
Felix Rosenqvist was second before a grid penalty knocked him out of the top 10, leaving Meyer Shank Racing teammate David Malukas in the second spot. The penalty also means Newgarden and Power will start side-by-side in Row 2.
“We’ve been quick on ovals this year, which is great,” Meyer Shank Racing co-owner Mike Shank said. “I’m super proud of where we ended up today.”
Rosenqvist, Alex Palou, Scott Dixon and Katherine Legge were assessed nine-spot grid penalties Friday for going beyond the permitted number of engines this season. Teams are allowed four motors per entry. The four Honda-powered teams changed their engines after Toronto to provide fresh engines for the final five races.
Points situation
Palou has a comfortable lead in the points race with three wins and three more podium finishes this season, putting him in position to win a second straight IndyCar title and third in a four-year span for Chip Ganassi Racing. But the standings are much more bunched behind him with 12 points separating second-place Power from Colton Herta in fourth.
Herta is coming off a win at Toronto, but the hottest driver in the series might be Dixon, who is third in points. He has been in the top five in three consecutive races, and led the race in Toronto before finishing third.
Juncos changes
IndyCar veteran Conor Daly is driving the No. 78 car for Juncos Hollinger Racing through the remainder of the season. He took over for Augustin Canapino, who parted with the team last week after a series of social media firestorms.
It will be the third team Daly has driven for this season — he was 10th in the Indianapolis 500 for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing, and replaced the injured Jack Harvey for Dale Coyne Racing at Iowa in July. But there is a familiarity, too, because Daly drove for team owner Ricardo Juncos in 2010 in the Star Mazda Championship series.
“I think we have a great chance at competing,” Daly said. “This team, I think it’s looked at as an underdog, but I think there’s a lot of great things going on in this race shop and with this group. It’s a very exciting opportunity.”
Odds and ends
Malukas, who will move to A.J. Foyt Racing next year, led the opening practice Friday for Meyer Shank Racing before posting the third-fastest qualifying average. ... Linus Lundqvist stopped on the backstretch when his Ganassi car had a hybrid problem in the early practice. “I was happy we were able to do the second half of practice,” Lundqvist said. ... Herta’s team was left repairing his car after he backed into the wall in qualifying. “Just broke loose. Unfortunate,” he said. “It just let go.”
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