Q3
Alexander Rossi laid down the first marker in the third segment of qualifying with 66.0sec, his closest opponent being Josef Newgarden and Felix Rosenqvist after their first runs.
Palou then delivered a 65.8667sec lap to go top, but then Herta slammed in a 65.3095sec to claim the qualifying track record by nine-tenths of a second, with Grosjean 0.1960sec behind him.
Attempting to usurp his teammate, Grosjean grazed a wall with his left-rear on the run to Turn 5, breaking a toelink which sent him crabbing hard into the tire wall on the outside of the corner.
That cost him his best time, dropping him to sixth, and promoting Newgarden to the front row ahead of Palou.
With two seconds of guaranteed time remaining, IndyCar’s rule allowing cars one final flyer kicked in. Only Rosenqvist and Rossi took the option, but both failed to improve – Rossi slid into the Turn 1 run-off, and Rosenqvist was unable to edge ahead of anyone.
| P | Name | FTime | Diff | Gap | FL | Laps | Engine | Team |
| 1 | 1:05.3095 |
|
| 2 | 2 | Honda | ||
| 2 | Josef Newgarden | 1:05.7550 | 0.4455 | 0.4455 | 3 | 3 | Chevy | |
| 3 | 1:05.8667 | 0.5572 | 0.1117 | 2 | 3 | Honda | ||
| 4 | Felix Rosenqvist | 1:05.9349 | 0.6254 | 0.0682 | 3 | 5 | Chevy | |
| 5 | Alexander Rossi | 1:06.0674 | 0.7579 | 0.1325 | 1 | 4 | Honda | Andretti Autosport |
| 6 | No Time | --- | --- | -- | 2 | Honda | Andretti Autosport |
Q2
Palou was somewhat of an outlier by going straight onto used reds from the start of the session but his first effort left him only eighth fastest. Herta was fastest on the primaries on 65.9478sec, ahead of McLaughlin, Pagenaud, Grosjean and Ericsson.
First flyers on fresh reds came from Josef Newgarden and Will Power, springing into the top two spots with 65.8s. Then Felix Rosenqvist and Herta deposed both of them, and Herta kept improving delivering a 65.4057, and his closest challenger was teammate Rossi.
Rosenqvist, Palou, Newgarden and Grosjean also got through, but Will Power – only 0.0001sec behind Grosjean – called in the fact that got backed up following Pato O’Ward at the hairpin, but believing O’Ward had also been backed up.
A surprise elimination was Meyer Shank Racing’s Simon Pagenaud who had looked so quick in practice and Q1, as he had unfortunately encountered Scott McLaughlin, who himself had been stymied by Marcus Ericsson’s Ganassi-Honda which he let past on an out lap, but who then slowed up.
| P | Name | FTime | Diff | Gap | FL | Laps | FSpeed | Engine | Team |
| 1 | Colton Herta | 1:05.4057 |
|
| 6 | 6 | 108.321 | Honda | Andretti Autosport |
| 2 | Alexander Rossi | 1:05.5775 | 0.1718 | 0.1718 | 5 | 6 | 108.037 | Honda | Andretti Autosport |
| 3 | Felix Rosenqvist | 1:05.6344 | 0.2287 | 0.0569 | 6 | 7 | 107.943 | Chevy | Arrow McLaren SP |
| 4 | Alex Palou | 1:05.7662 | 0.3605 | 0.1318 | 7 | 7 | 107.727 | Honda | Chip Ganassi Racing |
| 5 | Josef Newgarden | 1:05.8194 | 0.4137 | 0.0532 | 5 | 7 | 107.640 | Chevy | Team Penske |
| 6 | Romain Grosjean | 1:05.8744 | 0.4687 | 0.0550 | 6 | 6 | 107.550 | Honda | Andretti Autosport |
| 7 | Will Power | 1:05.8745 | 0.4688 | 0.0001 | 5 | 7 | 107.550 | Chevy | Team Penske |
| 8 | Marcus Ericsson | 1:05.9548 | 0.5491 | 0.0803 | 6 | 6 | 107.419 | Honda | Chip Ganassi Racing |
| 9 | Scott McLaughlin | 1:06.0507 | 0.6450 | 0.0959 | 3 | 7 | 107.263 | Chevy | Team Penske |
| 10 | Simon Pagenaud | 1:06.0678 | 0.6621 | 0.0171 | 3 | 6 | 107.235 | Honda | Meyer Shank Racing |
| 11 | 1:06.0726 | 0.6669 | 0.0048 | 6 | 6 | 107.228 | Chevy | Arrow McLaren SP | |
| 12 | 1:06.2604 | 0.8547 | 0.1878 | 6 | 7 | 106.924 | Chevy | AJ Foyt Enterprises |
Q1 Group 2
Grosjean was the fastest driver on primaries in Group 2, with a 65.9796, and that time withstood several aces’ first efforts on reds, but the exception was Simon Pagenaud, who edged past with a 65.8908sec lap. Then Grosjean nudged past with a 65.7468sec.
Behind these two, Will Power and Josef Newgarden sent their Team Penske-Chevrolets into Q2, just ahead of Palou’s Ganassi car and Pato O’Ward in the Arrow McLaren SP-Chevy.
Those eliminated at this stage included the second Meyer Shank Racing entry of Helio Castroneves, who started third here last year, and six-time champion Scott Dixon.
| P | Name | FTime | Diff | Gap | FL | Laps | Engine | Team |
| 1 | Romain Grosjean | 1:05.7468 |
|
| 6 | 6 | Honda | Andretti Autosport |
| 2 | Simon Pagenaud | 1:05.8908 | 0.1440 | 0.1440 | 5 | 6 | Honda | Meyer Shank Racing |
| 3 | Will Power | 1:06.0788 | 0.3320 | 0.1880 | 7 | 7 | Chevy | Team Penske |
| 4 | Josef Newgarden | 1:06.0819 | 0.3351 | 0.0031 | 6 | 7 | Chevy | Team Penske |
| 5 | Alex Palou | 1:06.1452 | 0.3984 | 0.0633 | 5 | 7 | Honda | Chip Ganassi Racing |
| 6 | Pato O'Ward | 1:06.1781 | 0.4313 | 0.0329 | 6 | 7 | Chevy | Arrow McLaren SP |
| 7 | Helio Castroneves | 1:06.2467 | 0.4999 | 0.0686 | 5 | 6 | Honda | Meyer Shank Racing |
| 8 | Scott Dixon | 1:06.3241 | 0.5773 | 0.0774 | 6 | 7 | Honda | Chip Ganassi Racing |
| 9 | 1:06.4489 | 0.7021 | 0.1248 | 6 | 7 | Chevy | Ed Carpenter Racing | |
| 10 | 1:06.5049 | 0.7581 | 0.0560 | 5 | 6 | Honda | ||
| 11 | 1:06.6672 | 0.9204 | 0.1623 | 7 | 7 | Chevy | Juncos Hollinger Racing | |
| 12 | 1:06.7679 | 1.0211 | 0.1007 | 6 | 7 | Chevy | AJ Foyt Enterprises | |
| 13 | 1:07.4789 | 1.7321 | 0.7110 | 6 | 6 | Chevy | AJ Foyt Enterprises |
Q1 Group 1
Colton Herta set a 66.6653sec on primaries, but this became irrelevant when McLaughlin delivered a 66.1076sec, and then both Herta and teammate Alexander Rossi ducked under the 66sec mark, Herta produced a 65.7283sec.
Felix Rosenqvist then delivered a 66.1 to grab third in the Arrow McLaren SP-Chevrolet ahead of McLaughlin, while Kyle Kirkwood excelled with fifth fastest in group in the AJ Foyt Racing-Chevrolet.
Graham Rahal looked like he was going to graduate until Marcus Ericsson squeezed him out with his last run in the #8 Chip Ganassi Racing-Honda. Rahal had also been maddened by Jimmie Johnson emerging from pitlane into his path during a flying lap, and Johnson’s interference cost him his best laps.
Rinus VeeKay was a surprise elimination at this stage, while rookie David Malukas did a fine job in the Dale Coyne Racing with HMD-Honda to outqualify his teammate, 2013 Long Beach winner Takuma Sato.
| P | Name | FTime | Diff | Gap | FL | Laps | Engine | Team |
| 1 | Colton Herta | 1:05.7283 |
|
| 6 | 6 | Honda | Andretti Autosport |
| 2 | Alexander Rossi | 1:05.8363 | 0.1080 | 0.1080 | 5 | 6 | Honda | Andretti Autosport |
| 3 | Felix Rosenqvist | 1:06.1005 | 0.3722 | 0.2642 | 6 | 7 | Chevy | Arrow McLaren SP |
| 4 | Scott McLaughlin | 1:06.1076 | 0.3793 | 0.0071 | 5 | 6 | Chevy | Team Penske |
| 5 | Kyle Kirkwood | 1:06.4676 | 0.7393 | 0.3600 | 6 | 6 | Chevy | AJ Foyt Enterprises |
| 6 | Marcus Ericsson | 1:06.5757 | 0.8474 | 0.1081 | 6 | 6 | Honda | Chip Ganassi Racing |
| 7 | Graham Rahal | 1:06.6896 | 0.9613 | 0.1139 | 6 | 7 | Honda | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing |
| 8 | Rinus VeeKay | 1:06.7049 | 0.9766 | 0.0153 | 6 | 7 | Chevy | Ed Carpenter Racing |
| 9 | 1:06.7418 | 1.0135 | 0.0369 | 6 | 7 | Honda | Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport | |
| 10 | David Malukas | 1:06.7925 | 1.0642 | 0.0507 | 6 | 6 | Honda | Dale Coyne Racing with HMD |
| 11 | 1:06.9708 | 1.2425 | 0.1783 | 7 | 7 | Honda | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing | |
| 12 | Takuma Sato | 1:07.1001 | 1.3718 | 0.1293 | 6 | 7 | Honda | Dale Coyne Racing w/RWR |
| 13 | Jimmie Johnson | 1:09.0287 | 3.3004 | 1.9286 | 2 | 6 | Honda | Chip Ganassi Racing |
