The Thermal Challenge weekend got very interesting tonight as qualifying for tomorrow’s heat races took some interesting and surprising turns.

Group 1 looked to be a team Penske front row sweep as Will Power and Scott McLaughlin held spot 1 and 2 in the early laps. But Felix Rosenquist saved the best until last and grabbed the top spot for Heat 1 tomorrow.

McLaughlin finished second, and Rinus VeeKay will start third.

The top 6 for Heat 1 features all three Penske drivers and representatives from Meyer Shank, Rahal, and Ed Carpenter Racing.

Group 2 qualifying looked to be a McLaren front row with Callum Ilott and Pato O’Ward. But a red flag with 1:19 to go caused by Marcus Ericsson’s spin and tire barrier contact set up a one flying lap scenario. Ilott and O’Ward chose not to go back out.

Palou grabbed the ole with the session’s fastest lap. Ilott and O’Ward faded to 8th and 9th, respectively.

The top six has three Ganassi cars, two Rahal machines, and a Meyer Shank entry.

The pole for the main race will be the heat winner with the fastest qualifying lap. If Palou wins his heat, he is on pole for the feature event.

Notes

I thought the qualifying was better than I expected. The eight minute periods added a sense of urgency to each group. Having push to pass available made for some different strategies. Indycar may want to look at these new wrinkles for future qualifying sessions.

I have a feeling Felix Rosenqvist is just getting started, and the rest of the grid better watch out for him. He qualified on the front row at St. Pete and won a pole today. His teammate, Tom Blomqvist, also was in the top six in his group.

What a horrible weekend for Andretti. The cars are slow, and both Kyle Kirkwood and Marcus Ericsson had contact in separate incidents. Ericsson’s car got the worst of it. If this event returns, the teams outside the top 5 are going to need much more than $23,000 each.

I hope this is not the last time we see Callum Ilott in Indycar this season. He led one of the practice sessions and nearly took the pole for one of the heat races. Someone needs to find a spot for him.

I am more enthused about the races tomorrow than I was before the weekend started. Sunday has the potential to be a lot of fun.

Results:

Tomorrow’s action begins at 12:30 pm Eastern on NBC and Peacck.