Laguna Seca, CA (September 18, 2021) – Dale Coyne Racing with RWR driver Romain Grosjean was once again quick during qualifying on Saturday for tomorrow’s Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey but traffic on his fast lap cost him a place in the Fast 12 meaning Grosjean had to settle with 13th on the starting grid of a very competitive NTT INDYCAR SERIES field.

Grosjean went out in Group 1 of qualifying and spent the first half of the session sitting in first place. However, after coming in for a fresh set of red Firestone tires, the Swiss-born Frenchman fell to fourth in his group before then registering the seventh fastest lap of the session. His time of 1:11.5303 around the 2.238-mile, 11-turn road course was only 0.0027 seconds from making it to the next round. 

“Our Nurtec ODT car was very quick again today in qualifying but unfortunately I got caught up behind another car on my fast lap and that cost us some time. The time lost meant that we were not able to make it into the Fast 12. Starting in the middle of the field isn’t ideal, but we will fight our way back up the tomorrow,” shared Grosjean.

The driver of the #51 Nurtec ODT Honda sits second, 38 points behind Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin, in the Rookie of the Year standings.

The penultimate round of the 2021 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season will be broadcast live on NBC from Noon local time (3pm ET) on Sunday, September 19, 2021.