Michael Jordan delivered his famous "Flu Game" on June 11, 1997, scoring 38 points to lead the Chicago Bulls to a 90-88 victory over the Utah Jazz in Game 5 of the NBA Finals.

Marcus Armstrong strives to author a memorable performance of his own while ill Sunday at Road America.

Armstrong starts third in the No. 66 Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb Agajanian Honda for the XPEL Grand Prix at Road America Presented by AMR. He also led Friday's opening practice and finished second in Saturday morning's session.

The New Zealander (photo, top) has battled a flu-like illness throughout the weekend but said he feels much better heading into the 55-lap race.

"I feel like yesterday I was feeling worse," Armstrong said. "I'm all right today. I can see out of my eyeballs, which is cool. Yesterday I woke up and thought, 'I don't know if I can go.' Tomorrow I'll be sweet."

Armstrong admitted Jordan's famous performance crossed his mind Saturday morning. But he would rather Sunday's headline focus on something else -- his first NTT INDYCAR SERIES victory in his 56th start.

"Car feels good," Armstrong said. "Tire is very fragile here this week. It's something."

Armstrong's career-best finish is third, achieved twice, most recently in the 2025 second race of the Iowa Speedway doubleheader. He has finished 11th or better in eight of nine races this season, including fifth-place results at Phoenix Raceway and the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge.

His teammate Felix Rosenqvist won that “500” and starts alongside him after qualifying fourth. Meyer Shank Racing locked out the second row, continuing a strong weekend after the duo topped Friday's practice charts.

Rosenqvist advanced to the Firestone Fast Six for the sixth time this season and aims to improve on last year's runner-up finish at Road America. He won his first career race in 2020 here with Chip Ganassi Racing.

"I feel like it was all I had," Rosenqvist said. "We were kind of on the back foot from practice and kept getting it better and better through qualifying. Second-row lockout for MSR is great, and I think we have a good shot for tomorrow."

Caio Collet

AJ Foyt Racing Showing Speed

AJ Foyt Racing has shown speed this weekend with Santino Ferrucci qualifying seventh in the No. 14 Homes For Our Troops Chevrolet and rookie Caio Collet ninth in the No. 4 Combitrans Amazonia Chevrolet.

Ferrucci will start 13th after receiving a six-position grid penalty for an unapproved engine change Friday night. Alexander Rossi has the same penalty after qualifying 21st in the No. 20 ECR Java House Chevrolet.

Knowing the penalty was inevitable, Ferrucci and his team prioritized race preparation over qualifying.

"We acted as if this was a bonus round for us, and we only used one more set of tires," Ferrucci said. "Honestly, great call from engineering."

Ferrucci narrowly missed the Firestone Fast Six by .0241 of a second after a mistake exiting Turn 14 on his push lap. He was 10th in both practices this weekend.

Despite starting deeper in the field, he remains confident. Ferrucci charged from 18th to third in last year's race.

"I tried patience last year, and it bit me until I decided to drive hard," Ferrucci said. "So, let's get after it."

Collet (photo, above) moves up one position because of Ferrucci's penalty and starts eighth. He was sixth and fifth, respectively, in practice this weekend.

"I feel pretty strong," Collet said. "We had a really good car. We probably missed out on some potential, but it's still a good starting position for tomorrow. We have a strong car."

The Brazilian won the INDY NXT by Firestone race at Road America last season and has quickly found comfort at the 14-turn, 4.014-mile circuit.

"I just like being here," Collet said. "It's one of the best tracks that we go to."

Nolan Siegel

Siegel Leads Arrow McLaren

Nolan Siegel was Arrow McLaren's top qualifier, earning the eighth position in the No. 6 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet. Teammates Pato O'Ward and Christian Lundgaard qualified 10th and 13th, respectively.

Siegel (photo, above) showed speed throughout the weekend, placing fifth and seventh in the two practice sessions. Still, he believed more was available.

"I got a little greedy on throttle and made a mistake coming onto the front straight and lost about a tenth and a half," Siegel said. "I think we could have been in the top five, for sure."

It's the third time since joining Arrow McLaren in the second half of 2024 that Siegel has outqualified both teammates, the last coming in the second race of the Iowa Speedway doubleheader last year where he qualified fifth. O’Ward started ninth and Lundgaard 22nd. Unfortunately, Siegel couldn’t compete in the race due to concussion-like symptoms suffered in a late-race crash the previous day. Qualifying that weekend took place prior to Race 1.

Siegel’s best qualifying effort is fourth last year at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, where Lundgaard started second. Siegel believes recent results show meaningful progress.

"I think our consistency has been better than our outright pace, and our outright pace hasn't been bad," Siegel said. "The past month and a half has actually been really solid for us. We're running in the top 10 pretty much everywhere. I want an INDYCAR SERIES podium. I think that would be a pretty cool thing."

Siegel's best career finish is seventh in 2024 at World Wide Technology Raceway with Dale Coyne Racing. His best finish with Arrow McLaren is eighth last season at Road America. He also won an INDY NXT race in 2023 here.

Scott McLaughlin

Odds and Ends

  • Rosenqvist admitted he had his wisdom teeth pulled during the off week between the World Wide Technology Raceway race June 7 at this event. The Indy 500 winner said Saturday that this was the first time he’s had a helmet on since the oral surgery and that squeezing his face into the helmet made him a bit sore.
  • Scott McLaughlin (photo, above) starts sixth in the No. 3 XPEL Team Penske Chevrolet. He admitted he saved a set of Firestone Firehawk alternate racing tires in the Firestone Fast Six and has multiple options for tire use in Sunday’s race. “I’m not sure if it’s going to be a red (alternate tire) race or black (primary tire) race, so it’s nice to have some options.”
  • Eight of the last nine years, the eventual season champion finished in the top four at Road America. Will Power finishing 19th in 2022 was the exception.
  • Marcus Ericsson earned his third top 10 starting spot in the last five Road America starts. He starts fifth Sunday in the No. 28 Delaware Life Honda fielded by Andretti Global.