NTT INDYCAR SERIES NEWS CONFERENCE

March 27, 2026

Will Power

Christian Lundgaard

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Good afternoon. Wrapping up practice ahead of Sunday's race, Christian Lundgaard finished second here last year. P1 in Group A today.

Something about this track you like, Christian?

CHRISTIAN LUNDGAARD: I mean, I've always loved this place. This was my first-ever INDYCAR test back in '21. I've had some good results. Also had some less good ones.

I think it's trending in the right direction looking at the last couple years. It's nice to obviously start the weekend kind of good off the trucks.

I didn't really think that pace was in the car throughout our entire primary run. Pretty positively surprised, I would say.

THE MODERATOR: Looked like Pato was pretty good out there. Maybe the start of a good weekend for Arrow McLaren?

CHRISTIAN LUNDGAARD: Yeah, we were pretty competitive last year. The 10 car had some race pace on the field. The 3 car has always been strong here in the past. He was dominating in I guess that was '23 or '24. Obviously that's the pace that we're trying to find.

Again, I didn't really think we had it in the beginning of practice. It looks like the alternates are a little stronger than I anticipated those being.

THE MODERATOR: Open it up for questions.

Q. To go a little bit more into the fact you were surprised, why did you not think you had the pace? Was there a sector that you expected to be better in?

CHRISTIAN LUNDGAARD: I mean, we were only fast on the alternates. We weren't fast on the primaries. Obviously Pato was a lot faster than we were. That's really where the surprise was, the shift from alternates to primaries on the 7 car. Every time I'd come into the box, I'd be like I don't know where I'm going to find half a second. Put on the alternates and there it was.

Q. Obviously the team is falling upon something that works pretty good. What do you do to nail it down tomorrow in qualifications?

CHRISTIAN LUNDGAARD: Yeah, I mean, I think the one focus on the 7 car for this weekend is just execution. I don't think we need to try to find a lot of pace. I think we just need to go out there and execute. Qualifying has been a struggle for us this year. We've been good on Sundays.

I think for us it's see if we can get into the Firestone Fast Six. We weren't last year. Nolan was in last year. I think that's really where we need to gain some ground to be able to fight for the win.

Q. You said you were good on the alternates. Last year it seemed like it was an alternate race. Do you anticipate the same? Shouldn't you be fine if you're good on the alternates?

CHRISTIAN LUNDGAARD: Yeah, we still have to do a stint on the primes. That's where the 10 car has always been strong. I think we've seen multiple occasions where the 10 car chooses primes over alternates.

I think that was more in reference to today. I didn't feel good on the primes. Balance was decent. Definitely some stuff to work on. I didn't really see where I was going to find half a second or 7/10ths that we were missing at the time.

I think we nailed balance for the alternates. Obviously we're in Group 1. Group 2 went a little faster. On outright pace we're right there on the alternates. I think that's definitely a positive. I think we need to find a little bit for the race.

Q. It will be cooler for the race. Do you have to be cautious about how you analyze today?

CHRISTIAN LUNDGAARD: Yes and no. I think you always have to take it with a grain of salt. I think that's what's tough, but also why I enjoy INDYCAR in general, is the different conditions you have throughout a weekend from practice one to warm-up to the race. Warm-up is never the same as the race. You always have to adapt on the fly.

I think that's just a great challenge for all of us. More often I think we've hit it right. There's definitely also cases where we haven't hit it. I think it's because it changes throughout the weekend where you have at least some references.

Q. We've heard Pato a couple times this year talk about holding that consistency, not have almost a disastrous race. Even though he hasn't won or been on the podium, he's consistently been fourth or fifth. Do you take that similar mindset, someone who doesn't want to be near the bottom half of the field, to give yourself a chance long-term in the championship race?

CHRISTIAN LUNDGAARD: Yeah, I can promise you right now we're not aiming at finishing fourth or fifth, right? Those are good points, but we're trying to win every single race.

Q. Can you explain the impact and the influence that Ryan Hunter-Reay has had?

CHRISTIAN LUNDGAARD: I mean, having him around, obviously he comes with a lot of credibility coming into the team. Obviously for him I think it's more learn how we operate versus bring some stuff to the table. Of course, he has for the ovals. I think we're all excited for the open test to see how he's going to get on and what we can learn from him.

Yes, I mean, it's great. He's a great guy.

Q. Second last year. Did well in practice today. How different is your setup this year?

CHRISTIAN LUNDGAARD: Pretty much the exact same (smiling). I mean, obviously we're trying things in session. There's things that we're adapting on the fly. I mean, us on the 7, we strongly believe don't change what's working.

Again, we do know we need to find some time to the 10 car, at least from last year. I do feel like it's nice to see he wasn't as competitive as he has been in the past right out the gate. I think this race last year was one of his absolute strongest weekends. I'm not going to sit here and say he's on the back foot. At least seeing the result of P1, it gives us a little bit of hope, I think.

Q. With three races back to back to back, week off, this race, is it difficult to compartmentalize each race so you're not doing multiple things at the same time?

CHRISTIAN LUNDGAARD: Absolutely. But I think that's life, really. You always get stuff thrown at you. I think we've done well in some areas trying to figure those things out.

But it's also difficult to really focus. If you're really good in the race, what do you really need to focus on throughout a weekend. We've struggled in qualifying, so that's where we've been putting our focus on. It's easy to lose track of some of the other areas, which is nice to have a weekend off, obviously regroup, refresh. Obviously come back to Barber where we've been strong in the past.

Q. You spoke that there are some things that you have going right, such as the balance. With the speed that McLaren also showed in practice, how confident are you feeling that by Saturday and qualifying you can get everything sorted out to maximize what you can do this weekend?

CHRISTIAN LUNDGAARD: I mean, just judging how we executed the alternate run in practice, I think we're right about there. Obviously we're still going to improve. But so is every other car on the grid. Some cars are going to hit it. Some cars are going to miss it. I think that's just the nature of the game.

As a team, I think we have three good foundations on all three cars. We're going to take the best of 'em and put 'em on for qualifying for all three of us.

THE MODERATOR: Christian, thanks for coming up. Good start to the weekend.

CHRISTIAN LUNDGAARD: Thank you.

THE MODERATOR: Also joined by Will Power for Andretti Global. Sixth quick in Group 2 this afternoon. Two-time winner here at Barber Motorsports Park, four-time pole winner as well.

What are your thoughts?

WILL POWER: Not bad, yeah. Pretty good balance. Not quite fast enough. I got a teammate that's very quick. Look closely at his setup. Yeah, found some good stuff, though. We'll have to regroup overnight and understand what we want to do before qualifying.

THE MODERATOR: Overall you feel like you have a good base?

WILL POWER: Yeah, the car has a good balance. It feels good. That's tough when you have a good balance, you're not quite on the pace. Need to find some time.

THE MODERATOR: Open it up for questions for Will.

Q. When we talked to you on Tuesday I believe we talked about how you're trying to help this team on the road courses. Kyle mentioned you guys are all going to be trying different strategies, incorporate new things. As much as you can share, how do you think those strategies went?

WILL POWER: I think we found some good stuff today. We all ran different stuff, so it was quite a test. We got to kind of pick and choose what is good from those pieces from each car.

Yeah, it's a very tight qualifying session around this track 'cause everyone has been here for so many years, it's a short track, and as you can see the times are stacked. A 10th moves you a lot of spots. Definitely important to execute well for us.

Q. What will those conversations be like about figuring out what works, what you feel like may need to be changed?

WILL POWER: Uhm, yeah, you got to pick the right philosophy. It's tough. You don't want to be out of the window. You could just go to a teammate's setup completely because he's fast. That doesn't always work out. We could work on what we've got, which is also a good balance.

We'll go back and review everything. You're a lot smarter once you look at data, video, analyze the sectors, so on, then we'll make a decision.

Q. Historically this is a track that Andretti hasn't done well. Your former team has. Is this a track were you can help them elevate their effort?

WILL POWER: It changes every year. Honestly, when I was at Penske, turn up, you'd be quick one year, turn up with the same setup, completely different.

Once again I would say the tires change, conditions change. It's never the same. You just got to understand what you want from the feel of the car.

Yeah, I can't put much stock into previous years' setups. It's never worked out. I've just seen it for so long now. You have to be very much on your toes and kind of try to understand what the track requires in this condition.

Q. Having said that, I would imagine you're not surprised your former mate Scott McLaughlin is among the fastest? What do you feel about his feel for this track?

WILL POWER: Yeah, he's very good around here. The Penske cars are really good around here. I was really quick last year. I expected them to be at the front. I know, yeah, Scott had a bad race at Arlington. He'll definitely be looking to get back some points this weekend.

Yeah, it's a tough championship. Don't count anyone out. It's all going to ebb and flow as we go. You got to try to not have what I had in the first two races.

Q. Early days still with Andretti. Do you feel your driving style more compatible with any of the teammates?

WILL POWER: More compatible?

Q. Yes.

WILL POWER: It's definitely a different feel this go. Not around here, though. I just think on the street courses the car's harder to drive, but has pace in it.

Here it's pretty similar to what I experienced last year. It's a pretty smooth track. They all kind of feel similar here. Just about balance.

Driving styles? There's no such thing quite as a driving style. These days, every corner, every condition, setup is different. You drive it differently. Now there's so much analysis and data, you can't just have a style and expect to be good because you will suffer in certain parts of the track. You got to be on top of everything, every way you need to drive to be quick, every part of the track.

Q. Since Tuesday have you had any fuel issues? You haven't had to stop and go get...

WILL POWER: No, I haven't. I have not.

I had a couple of fuel issues. My neighbor, an old guy, actually used to work for Penske as a fabricator. I was at the kart track building a go-kart to run the next day. I said, Can you go get some distilled water for the radiator?

He took off. Was taking forever. I'm like, Where is this guy?

He came back, Did you check the fuel light before you came?

He ran out of gas in my car. In the middle of the intersection. When I ran out of gas in my wife's car, I called him and said, I just ran out of gas.

He was mad, though. People were beeping. He didn't have his phone. He left it with me. It's funny knowing the guy. Mike is standing at the side of the road. He had the cap out and eventually stopped and got him the gas (laughter).

I shouldn't laugh, he was mad. He won't let me live that one down.

Yeah, two in a row. It's pretty interesting.

Q. (No microphone.)

WILL POWER: Don't believe it. That's in my future. That's what I'm good at, just not on the road. Not in street cars.

Q. You had Sebring, but this is your first race weekend with Andretti on a permanent road course. Is there anything about the car that felt particularly different than what you've driven before?

WILL POWER: Yeah, I was apprehensive driving out of the pits. How is this going to feel? At smooth tracks, the cars generally feel the same because it's not as much as it is. The one thing you can change is dampers on this car. You can do it yourself, right?

On the street courses, bumpy, that's where the biggest differences are between cars. I think when you get to the road course, they just don't matter as much. There's just not as many bumps.

The cars do generally feel similar if you've got a good balance. I think that's maybe why it's so close here. If a team spent a lot of money on dampers, they're not going to get a big gain here. It's just too smooth.

Q. You've talked a lot about balance, but lacking speed or a little bit of speed. In the past when you've had a balanced car, what have you done to gain speed?

WILL POWER: Look at the data. I mean, you just got to see where is the time, where are we lacking. I don't know yet, so...

We'll look at the sectors. Got a really fast teammate. You look at the data. It will be clear as day where we are not fast, then we'll understand is that the car or is it me.

Q. How similar is your driving style to Kyle's?

WILL POWER: Yeah, similar. I'd say when you're fast, you're fast. They're all going to look pretty similar on the steer trace. Nobody is going to be doing anything different to be fast.

It's just so close these days, you can hardly tell a difference in on-boards. You're going to see a difference in balance. Everybody drives very similarly.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you for coming up, Will.

WILL POWER: Good stuff, thank you.