SALINAS, Calif — Christian Lundgaard qualified third for Sunday’s Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey (2:30 p.m. ET, NBC, INDYCAR Radio Network). While that’s a great starting spot on a track to where track position is always key, even more so now, the Danish driver still left the track at Laguna Seca on Saturday frustrated.

“It’s frustrating. Obviously seeing the optimal lap time afterwards being a 66.1 it hurts,” Lundgaard said. “It hurts right now but I’m happy for Felix to get the pole leaving McLaren for MSR next season. To finish like that is pretty cool for him. It’s tough for us.”

What he’s upset about is the fact that his No. 45 Dallara-Honda has some good speed in it. He was quickest in Saturday morning’s practice. In the second round, he broke the track record by going 1:06.4610-seconds. He topped Helio Castroneves’ 23-year-old record by well over a second (1:07.722-seconds).

In the final round, he was four-tenths quicker than Rosenqvist’s pole speed. Unfortunately, he made a mistake in the Corkscrew that ended his chances of giving him his third pole of the season.

“We knew we were fast all weekend and it just proved that the car has been there all weekend,” Lundgaard continued. “I wanted to get the No. 45 Hy-Vee Honda on the pole so we could finish the season with the most poles. It just wasn’t meant to be today. I pushed too hard and I saw it on the dash on the delta that I was faster than my Q2 lap so I went for it and it didn’t work. I paid the price for it.”

Still, he has a great shot at a win though to rebound in Sunday’s 95 lap race. He gained 11 spots in going from 16th to 5th a year ago. Now, with 21 of the last 24 races here being won from a top three starter, I’d watch out for Lundgaard.