Oval IndyCar rookie Jimmie Johnson, the fifth driver to run, was the first driver to crack 220mph on a lap, reaching the 220.006mph mark on his first flyer in the Chip Ganassi Racing-Honda, and a 219.724mph on his second left him with an average of 219.865mph.
This mark was immediately edged by Andretti Autosport-Honda’s rookie Devlin DeFrancesco who breached the 220mph barrier on his second lap, and delivered an average of 219.888mph.
Now it was his turn to be usurped, with Conor Daly producing an average of 219.987mph for Ed Carpenter Racing-Chevrolet, but then Alex Rossi was the first driver to run two 220mph laps and jumped to the top of the speed charts, his two laps just 0.01mph apart.
The 11th car to run, Rosenqvist in the Arrow McLaren SP-Chevrolet, went into the 221s – a 221.316mph – on his opening lap, and backed it up with a 220.905mph, trimming the grass at the kink on the front straight, to set a 221.110mph average.
That put him beyond the reach of Josef Newgarden who was next out who slotted his Team Penske-Chevy into second, and this morning’s pacesetter Simon Pagenaud of Meyer Shank Racing-Honda who moved into fourth out of the 13 who had run so far.
Pagenaud’s teammate, four-time Texas winner Helio Castroneves moved into second with a 220.768mph average, while the second Arrow McLaren SP of Pato O’Ward produced a 220.579mph average, fourth for the time being.
Dale Coyne Racing with RWR-Honda’s Takuma Sato, preparing for his 200th IndyCar start, delivered a first lap just 0.1mph off Rosenqvist’s best effort, and a second lap slightly faster than the McLaren driver’s second, but not quite enough to depose Rosenqvist, but grabbed a provisional front row slot.
Scott Dixon was the third driver to set a 221mph average, the five-time Texas winner taking provisional third ahead of Castroneves, while Romain Grosjean’s first ever quali run at Texas was a very respectable 220.4, within 0.1mph of experienced teammate Rossi, and 0.2mph of Colton Herta, the Andretti team’s pacesetter this afternoon.
Penske’s Will Power delivered two very consistent 221.0mph laps to slot into provisional third, the first driver to deliver a 221mph lap on Lap 2…. But not the last, for the final car to run, St. Petersburg-winning teammate McLaughlin delivered a 221.166mph lap and a 221.027mph to move into second, just 0.002mph faster than Sato and only 0.014mph behind Rosenqvist.
Second practice begins at 4.45pm, and will be preceded by a special session for seven cars trying to open up Texas Motor Speedway’s second lane.
Qualifying results:
| P | Name | Average | QLap1Speed | QLap2Speed | Engine | Team |
| 1 | Felix Rosenqvist | 221.110 | 221.316 | 220.905 | Chevy | Arrow McLaren SP |
| 2 | Scott McLaughlin | 221.096 | 221.166 | 221.027 | Chevy | Team Penske |
| 3 | Takuma Sato | 221.094 | 221.216 | 220.973 | Honda | Dale Coyne Racing w/RWR |
| 4 | Will Power | 221.016 | 221.024 | 221.009 | Chevy | Team Penske |
| 5 | Scott Dixon | 221.011 | 221.094 | 220.929 | Honda | Chip Ganassi Racing |
| 6 | Helio Castroneves | 220.768 | 221.048 | 220.489 | Honda | Meyer Shank Racing |
| 7 | Josef Newgarden | 220.758 | 220.796 | 220.721 | Chevy | Team Penske |
| 8 | Rinus VeeKay | 220.748 | 221.028 | 220.468 | Chevy | Ed Carpenter Racing |
| 9 | Colton Herta | 220.602 | 220.752 | 220.453 | Honda | Andretti Autosport |
| 10 | Pato O'Ward | 220.579 | 220.908 | 220.252 | Chevy | Arrow McLaren SP |
| 11 | Alex Palou | 220.571 | 220.599 | 220.544 | Honda | Chip Ganassi Racing |
| 12 | Alexander Rossi | 220.458 | 220.463 | 220.453 | Honda | Andretti Autosport |
| 13 | Romain Grosjean | 220.412 | 220.668 | 220.156 | Honda | Andretti Autosport |
| 14 | Marcus Ericsson | 220.364 | 220.494 | 220.234 | Honda | Chip Ganassi Racing |
| 15 | Simon Pagenaud | 220.338 | 220.284 | 220.392 | Honda | Meyer Shank Racing |
| 16 | Conor Daly | 219.987 | 220.104 | 219.871 | Chevy | Ed Carpenter Racing |
| 17 | Devlin DeFrancesco | 219.888 | 219.681 | 220.096 | Honda | Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport |
| 18 | Jimmie Johnson | 219.865 | 220.006 | 219.724 | Honda | Chip Ganassi Racing |
| 19 | David Malukas | 219.864 | 219.927 | 219.802 | Honda | Dale Coyne Racing with HMD |
| 20 | Callum Ilott | 219.462 | 219.637 | 219.287 | Chevy | Juncos Hollinger Racing |
| 21 | Ed Carpenter | 219.212 | 219.450 | 218.975 | Chevy | Ed Carpenter Racing |
| 22 | Dalton Kellett | 219.038 | 219.275 | 218.801 | Chevy | AJ Foyt Enterprises |
| 23 | Kyle Kirkwood | 219.013 | 219.147 | 218.880 | Chevy | AJ Foyt Enterprises |
| 24 | Jack Harvey | 218.781 | 218.820 | 218.742 | Honda | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing |
| 25 | Christian Lundgaard | 218.687 | 218.619 | 218.754 | Honda | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing |
| 26 | JR Hildebrand | 218.584 | 218.740 | 218.428 | Chevy | AJ Foyt Enterprises |
| 27 | Graham Rahal | 218.410 | 218.239 | 218.582 | Honda | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing |
