DETROIT (June 3, 2023)–INDYCAR driver Benjamin Pedersen posted his best qualifying run on a street/road course to date in the NTT INDYCAR Series this afternoon.

Driving the No. 55 Sexton Properties Chevrolet, the 24-year-old rookie will start 19th in the 27-car field after posting a lap time of 1:03.1599.

The Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix will be run on a brand new venue in downtown Detroit. The 1.7-mile, 9-turn temporary track also features a unique, double-sided pit lane which will make the pit stops in tomorrow’s race more exciting than usual. It is the first time for this pit lane configuration in the history of INDYCAR.

“Tremendous recovery in qualifying,” said Pedersen. “Definitely the best the car has felt since we showed up. We rolled out of the truck pretty far out of the window but managed to get ourselves back in, honestly, it’s a very good car. Qualifying felt very good on my part with nailing every lap. It was the best we could get out of it. We’ll keep improving. We always seem to find even more pace for the race. It’s going to be an exciting race tomorrow.”

Santino Ferrucci will start 22nd in the 100-lap race after laying down a lap time of 1:02.9589 in the No. 14 Sexton Properties Chevrolet.

Ferrucci’s Detroit GP helmet features a special ‘city’ design by Troy Lee

“I don’t think it’s bad, we just have a lot to learn with the damping, I think,” Ferrucci said. “It’s good and bad; it’s good because we know where to look, and it’s bad because it’s really hard to adjust on a race weekend. We’re working really hard. We closed the gap now down to half, with three seconds off yesterday we’re down to 1.5. This race is going to be interesting. I don’t know necessarily how much pace you’re going to need because you could have a race like we had in Nashville in 2021. Will just work hard in the morning warm-up and see what we’ve got.”

Alex Palou won the NTT P1 Award with a time of 1:01.8592. Rounding out the Firestone Fast 6 were: Scott McLaughlin, Romain Grosjean, Scott Dixon, Josef Newgarden and Marcus Ericsson.

The Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix will be broadcast live by NBC Sunday afternoon starting at 3 p.m. ET.