Drivers spent the session either scrubbing sets of tires or testing how long their tires last on the abrasive WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. Pato O’Ward saw a drop off of around 2.5 seconds running a dozen laps on the Firestone alternates on his Arrow McLaren SP-Chevrolet, Rinus VeeKay saw seven second fall-off in his Ed Carpenter Racing-Chevrolet over 18 laps also on the softer rubber.
On alternate tires, Alex Palou ahead of probably his final event for Chip Ganassi Racing-Honda, set a best time of 1min12.9318sec. The outgoing champion will be starting the race from 11th, having received a six-place grid drop due to an early change to a fifth Honda.
McLaughlin of Team Penske-Chevrolet finished second, with a time set on Firestone primaries, ahead of Alexander Rossi who will begin his final race for Andretti Autosport-Honda from third on the grid.
David Malukas, seeking to claim the Rookie of the Year title from sixth on the grid, was fourth fastest ahead of another Andretti car, Devlin DeFrancesco’s.
VeeKay’s best effort on his run netted sixth fastest ahead of Felix Rosenqvist (AMSP) and Chip Ganassi Racing’s main title contender today, Scott Dixon.
Colton Herta fell off the track exiting Turn 10 but got into ninth, just ahead of teammate Romain Grosjean who’ll start from fourth alongside another teammate, Rossi.
The green flag drops on the IndyCar finale at 12.30pm local (Pacific) time. Will Power starts from pole and has a 21 point lead over Scott Dixon and Josef Newgarden, who starts from 25th after a spin in qualifying.
| Cla | Driver | Team | Laps | Time | Gap | Mph |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Alex Palou |
 Chip Ganassi Racing |
17 | 1'12.9318 | 110.470 | |
| 2 |  Scott McLaughlin |
Team Penske |
23 | 1'13.4435 | 0.5117 | 109.701 |
| 3 | Alexander Rossi |
Andretti Autosport |
19 | 1'13.5703 | 0.6385 | 109.512 |
| 4 | David Malukas |
Dale Coyne Racing |
22 | 1'13.6474 | 0.7156 | 109.397 |
| 5 |  Devlin DeFrancesco |
Andretti Autosport |
17 | 1'13.7738 | 0.8420 | 109.210 |
| 6 |  Rinus van Kalmthout |
Ed Carpenter Racing |
18 | 1'13.7992 | 0.8674 | 109.172 |
| 7 |  Felix Rosenqvist |
Arrow McLaren SP |
20 | 1'13.8478 | 0.9160 | 109.100 |
| 8 | Scott Dixon |
Chip Ganassi Racing |
18 | 1'13.8854 | 0.9536 | 109.045 |
| 9 | Colton Herta |
Andretti Autosport |
14 | 1'13.9340 | 1.0022 | 108.973 |
| 10 |  Romain Grosjean |
Andretti Autosport |
18 | 1'14.0163 | 1.0845 | 108.852 |
| 11 | Simon Pagenaud |
Meyer Shank Racing |
16 | 1'14.0920 | 1.1602 | 108.740 |
| 12 | Marcus Ericsson |
Chip Ganassi Racing |
18 | 1'14.2023 | 1.2705 | 108.579 |
| 13 |  Callum Ilott |
Juncos Hollinger Racing |
20 | 1'14.2863 | 1.3545 | 108.456 |
| 14 |  Patricio O'Ward |
Arrow McLaren SP |
23 | 1'14.3414 | 1.4096 | 108.376 |
| 15 | Graham Rahal |
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing |
17 | 1'14.3951 | 1.4633 | 108.297 |
| 16 | Jack Harvey |
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing |
18 | 1'14.4042 | 1.4724 | 108.284 |
| 17 |  Christian Lundgaard |
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing |
18 | 1'14.6869 | 1.7551 | 107.874 |
| 18 |  Will Power |
Team Penske |
19 | 1'14.6983 | 1.7665 | 107.858 |
| 19 | Josef Newgarden |
Team Penske |
18 | 1'15.0707 | 2.1389 | 107.323 |
| 20 | Conor Daly |
Ed Carpenter Racing |
17 | 1'15.0733 | 2.1415 | 107.319 |
| 21 |  Takuma Sato |
Dale Coyne Racing |
19 | 1'15.0893 | 2.1575 | 107.296 |
| 22 | Kyle Kirkwood |
A.J. Foyt Enterprises |
19 | 1'15.2001 | 2.2683 | 107.138 |
| 23 |  Simona de Silvestro |
Paretta Autosport | 18 | 1'15.5574 | 2.6256 | 106.632 |
| 24 |  Helio Castroneves |
Meyer Shank Racing |
16 | 1'15.7477 | 2.8159 | 106.364 |
| 25 | Jimmie Johnson |
Chip Ganassi Racing |
17 | 1'15.8677 | 2.9359 | 106.195 |
| 26 | Dalton Kellett |
A.J. Foyt Enterprises |
17 | 1'16.1983 | 3.2665 | 105.735 |
| View full results | ||||||
