{"id":205106,"date":"2026-03-14T23:47:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-14T23:47:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/205106\/"},"modified":"2026-03-14T23:47:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-14T23:47:08","slug":"ericsson-scores-first-career-pole-on-streets-of-arlington-where-sundays-start-time-is-moved-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/205106\/","title":{"rendered":"Ericsson Scores First Career Pole On Streets Of Arlington, Where Sunday’s Start Time Is Moved Up"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Matt Crider, Staff Writer<\/p>\n

ARLINGTON, Texas \u2014 On a weekend full of new experiences, Marcus Ericsson got into the act Saturday by storming to his first career NTT IndyCar Series pole at the inaugural Java House Grand Prix of Arlington.<\/p>\n

The Swedish racer posted a lap of 1 minute, 34.36 seconds around the 14-turn, 2.73-mile temporary street circuit that weaves through Arlington\u2019s entertainment district. That time was good for an average speed of 104.158 mph in Andretti Global\u2019s No. 28 Honda.<\/p>\n

Now in his eighth season, Ericsson\u2019s first pole comes in his 117th start. He narrowly missed the accomplishment two races ago in the season opener at St. Petersburg, Fla.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was really close in St. Pete already \u2014 obviously second there, just two hundredths of a second off pole \u2014 so it was frustrating,\u201d Ericsson said. \u201cIt got me really fired up because I knew we were going to have a good shot here in Arlington. It just feels amazing. I think the team has done a really good job.<\/p>\n

\u201cReally, really good to finish qualifying in P1 and then start from pole tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ericsson, who switched to Indy cars after making 97 starts in Formula One between 2014 and 2018, said his last pole was in GP2 in 2013.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been like a lifetime since last pole position,\u201d he said. \u201cI think I\u2019ve been second four or five times in qualifying in IndyCar and been close a few times, been in Fast Six a lot of times. But it\u2019s just been not my time, I guess. Worked really hard this winter to be better; it\u2019s an important year for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Four-time and defending series champion Alex Palou qualified second at 1:34.82. The Chip Ganassi Racing star is looking to bounce back from a 24th-place finish at Phoenix Raceway that followed his victory at St. Petersburg.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnly having an out lap just doesn\u2019t allow you to warm up the brakes or the tires or anything,\u201d Palou said. \u201cI was slower than what I did on old tires in the previous sessions. I think tire temp made a difference. Having said that, I don\u2019t know if I would have matched his lap time. He was pretty fast, so I\u2019m happy with P2.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"MarcusEricsson Scores First Career Pole On Streets Of Arlington, Where Sunday’s Start Time Is Moved Up 2<\/p>\n

Saturday\u2019s qualifying utilized a new one-lap, single-car format for the six-driver pole shootout. The top six from the second round were inverted for the final round, with the slowest \u2014 Ericsson \u2014 running first and Palou going last.<\/p>\n

The track features a long backstretch on Randol Mill Road and twists around and between AT&T Stadium, Globe Life Field, the Ballpark in Arlington and the Arlington Convention Center.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt looks spectacular,\u201d Ericsson said. \u201cI think it looks really well made. It looks great on TV. I think it\u2019s a fantastic track to drive because it\u2019s very technical, it\u2019s very tricky. It\u2019s bumpy, but it\u2019s bumpy in that sort of characteristic way that I think really is IndyCar racing for me. It\u2019s supposed to be bumpy and different concrete, asphalt \u2014 different surfaces.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need more tracks like this. I think it really raises the standard of IndyCar racing. I think the race tomorrow is going to be fantastic. I really believe it\u2019s going to be a good show.\u201d<\/p>\n

The start time for the 70-lap race has been moved up to 11 a.m. Central because of forecasted high winds later Sunday afternoon. Television coverage will start at 10:30 a.m. on Fox. Morning warmup was moved to 8:30 on FS1.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s not much you can do as a driver,\u201d Palau said of the North Texas wind. \u201cJust trying to adapt. If obviously we have tailwind, just going to have to brake earlier because we\u2019re going to get so much more top speed. If we have just headwind, it\u2019s going to be fine.\u201d<\/p>\n

McLaren\u2019s Pato O\u2019Ward was right behind Palou at 1:34.85, the only Chevrolet driver in the top seven.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Will Power, 22nd in the standings two races into his first season with Andretti, qualified fourth in the No. 26 Honda. Felix Rosenqvist was fifth in Meyer Shank\u2019s No. 60 Texas A&M Honda, and teammate Marcus Armstrong qualified sixth.<\/p>\n

Ericsson nipped teammate Kyle Kirkwood for the final spot in the third round. Kirkwood will start seventh, followed by Christian Rasmussen, David Malukas and Alexander Rossi.<\/p>\n

Phoenix winner Josef Newgarden qualified 11th and North Texas resident Santino Ferrucci 12th.<\/p>\n

Penske\u2019s Scott McLaughlin clipped the inside wall in Turn 8 and careened into the outside wall while trying to head northbound on Collins Street, and the No. 3 Chevrolet will start last in the 25-car field.<\/p>\n

Ericsson\u2019s best finish this year was sixth at St. Petersburg, where he scored his most recent victory in 2023. His four career wins include the 2022 Indianapolis 500.<\/p>\n

\u201cRacing is always fun,\u201d Ericsson said. \u201cI\u2019m very lucky to have this as a job. I think we all are in IndyCar.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s more fun to sit here and talk about a pole position than P22 or something like that.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Matt Crider, Staff Writer ARLINGTON, Texas \u2014 On a weekend full of new experiences, Marcus Ericsson got…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":205107,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[150,152,151],"class_list":["post-205106","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arlington","tag-arlington","tag-arlington-headlines","tag-arlington-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205106","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=205106"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205106\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/205107"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=205106"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=205106"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=205106"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}