Marcus Armstrong eyes late-season rebound with fifth-place qualifying effort in Washington, D.C.

Jeffrey Hrunka - INDYCAR Contributor

Riley Ogle (Motorsports Today 2026)

It’s not uncommon to be unlucky. 

Marcus Armstrong’s summer stretch is not only unlucky, but it has been a curse that turned a decent season start into one to forget. A fifth-place qualifying effort in Firestone Fast 6 on Saturday afternoon looks to be the first sign to break this spell.

“We haven't exactly had the best run lately, and it's tricky really because we've had a bit of bad luck,” Armstrong, driver of the No.66 Meyer Shank Racing Honda, said. “I feel like we've had the potential to be fast, but we haven't strung it together at all this year.” 

Over the last five races, Armstrong has found himself involved with some sort of engine issue in three of them. Most notably at Road America, he was poised to capture his first NTT INDYCAR SERIES victory before suffering an issue with three laps to go.

He faced the other two engine complications at Nashville Superspeedway and Portland International Raceway. In the two races he didn’t have issues in this stretch, he struggled to show pace with two sub-15th-place efforts. At the Markham Street Circuit last weekend.

Armstrong alluded to a decent result in the final four races as the best way to build momentum before he moves to the No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing Honda in 2027.

“I think last year we at least had some momentum from one weekend to the next,” Armstrong said. “So clearly, we need to get our momentum back and just qualify near the front, so we can fight for race wins.”

Armstrong showcased his fastest laps of the weekend in qualifying in the Firestone Fast 6 timing in fifth (58.815s), only ahead of David Malukas, driver of the No.12 Team Penske Chevrolet, in sixth (1:10.671s). Both drivers lost time due to mistakes in qualifying, with Malukas locking up his tires in Turn 1 and Armstrong brushing the wall during his run.

Alex Palou, driver of the No.10 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, took the fastest laps of the Fast 6, timing two seconds faster than the Kiwi with a 56.899s. It was Kyle Kirkwood, driver of the No.27 Andretti Global Honda, who recorded the track record during qualifying with a 56.7.

As for practice, Armstrong was 15th (58.361s) in a rain-affected first session and 12th (57.208s) in the second and final.

Now in position up front, Armstrong is going to “see how it rolls” on his approach to tackling 147 laps around the streets of Washington, D.C.

“Obviously, it's a long race, so you need to make it through the first lap. As we learned in Markham, you could be like last and arrive at the front with a lucky yellow,” Armstrong said. “It's tempting when you're going into a low-speed corner. It's almost too easy to make it three or four wide at that speed. We're just going to see how it rolls.” 

The NTT INDYCAR SERIES returns to action on the Streets of Washington, D.C., for the Freedom 250 Grand Prix of Washington, D.C., on Aug. 23. Fans can tune in to the race starting at 11:35 am EST on FOX or the FOX One app.