Herta Back on Top in Morning Warmup at St. Petersburg
MAR 10, 2024
Colton Herta returned to the top of the time sheets Sunday for the morning warmup before the season-opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg presented by RP Funding.
Herta paced the 30-minute session on the 14-turn, 1.8-mile temporary street circuit with a time of 59.9267 seconds. He led practice Saturday morning at 1:00.1331 before qualifying fourth at 59.8189 in the No. 26 Gainbridge Honda fielded by Andretti Global.
SEE: Warmup Results | Starting Lineup
Two Chip Ganassi Racing champion drivers who had disappointing qualifying results Saturday rebounded to take the second and third spots in the final practice. Six-time NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion Scott Dixon, who qualified 11th, was second at 59.9734 in the No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. Two-time and reigning series champion Alex Palou jumped to third at 1:00.0292 in the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda after qualifying 13th.
Next came two Team Penske teammates. Scott McLaughlin was fourth at 1:00.1673 in the No. 3 DEX Imaging Chevrolet. NTT P1 Award winner and two-time series champion Josef Newgarden slipped to fifth at 1:00.2893 in the No. 2 PPG Team Penske Chevrolet.
Up next is the 100-lap race at noon ET on NBC, Peacock, Universo and the INDYCAR Radio Network.