After winning the pole yesterday, Colton Herta kept the momentum rolling by leading the warm-up on Sunday morning ahead of the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.
The 22-year-old California native waited until the end of the 30-minute session to showcase the strength of his No. 26 Andretti Autosport Honda and put down a flying lap of 1m05.8645s to go top of the leaderboard.
Six-time NTT IndyCar Series champion Scott Dixon led the majority of the way, but was relegated to second after Herta’s late pace. Dixon ended up 0.3278s behind.
Marcus Ericsson, Simon Pagenaud and Will Power completed the rest of the top five.
The most crucial drama came courtesy of championship leader Scott McLaughlin, who was on track briefly before encountering an apparent mechanical issue. The No. 3 Team Penske Chevrolet was pushed back to the paddock with engineering representatives from Chevrolet seen joining the team and taking off the engine cover while navigating the problem.
"Something in the department I have no qualifications for."
Well said, @smclaughlin93.#INDYCAR // #AGPLB pic.twitter.com/KAvui3hT1e
— NTT INDYCAR SERIES (@IndyCar) April 10, 2022
The only red flag came out with just under nine minutes remaining after Graham Rahal ended up stalled on track following a half spin exiting Turn 4, with the veteran hit with an apparent bent left rear toe-link. He returned to the pits and was able to return to the track before the end of the session.
Red flag is out for this @GrahamRahal incident.
He's heading back to the pits.#INDYCAR // #AGPLB
Watch live:
?: @peacockTV – https://t.co/Py4Niudrrg
?: INDYCAR APP powered by NTT DATA – https://t.co/vyuISIyifv pic.twitter.com/RbwhrPa7Cv— NTT INDYCAR SERIES (@IndyCar) April 10, 2022
The session restarted with roughly five minutes to go and remained fairly straightforward until Herta’s flyer in the final minute.
Up Next: The 85-lap race at 3:30 p.m. ET, with coverage on NBC and the IndyCar Radio Network.
