LONG BEACH, CALIF. — The IndyCar championship race tightened ahead of the Grand Prix of Long Beach after a messy qualifying session put contenders Alex Palou and Pato O’Ward in the middle of the pack.
“Maybe rules don’t apply the last race of the season? When everything’s at stake? It just sucks," O'Ward fumed after he failed to advance to the final round of qualifying.
O'Ward believed he should have been in the Fast Six after other drivers failed to slow during a local yellow and should have been disqualified. O'Ward argued he should have been moved from eighth to at least sixth, and Arrow McLaren SP even said teammate Felix Rosenqvist should have been penalized for speeding.