IndyCar Gateway: Power and Sato take pole positions

Team Penske-Chevrolet’s Will Power will lead the field to the green flag for this afternoon’s race at World Wide Technology Raceway, while last week’s Indy 500 winner Takuma Sato of Rahal Letterman Lanigan-Honda heads the grid for tomorrow’s race.

The Bommarito Automotive Group 500 – this year split into two 250-mile races – saw IndyCar again adopt the oval qualifying system whereby each car gets a two-lap run, with everyone’s first lap deciding the grid for Saturday’s race, the second deciding the grid for Sunday’s round. Parc ferme rules also apply, so the cars qualified with the same setup with which they will race.

Power, who finished yesterday’s practice in second place, showed huge confidence on his opening lap to nail the first lap in the 182mph bracket, and actually went marginally quicker on his second lap, but was surpassed in that by thousandths in teammate Josef Newgarden’s case and hundredths in Sato’s case. Nonetheless, Power has now claimed the 59th pole of his IndyCar career.

Patricio O’Ward’s Arrow McLaren SP ensured it was a Chevrolet lockout for this afternoon’s race, beating the Chip Ganassi Racing Hondas of Scott Dixon and Marcus Ericsson. Sato was marginally quicker than Newgarden who had a slightly wild moment on his first lap which resulted in sixth on the grid, but he will join Sato on the front row for tomorrow’s event.

Jack Harvey’s impressive pace in the Meyer Shank Racing-Honda continues, and he beat all his semi-teammates from Andretti Autosport to nail seventh and fifth on the grid.

After a lot of trouble in practice, Ryan Hunter-Reay did well to rebound and rebuild his confidence, but Graham Rahal who was slow yesterday is slow again today, feeling his car lacked rear grip.

Grids for Bommarito Automotive Group 500   
Qualifying for Race 1   
Will PowerTeam PenskeChevrolet182.394mph
Pato O’WardArrow McLaren SPChevrolet182.076mph
Scott DixonChip Ganassi RacingHonda182.006mph
Marcus EricssonChip Ganassi RacingHonda181.364mph
Takuma SatoRahal Letterman LaniganHonda181.286mph
Josef NewgardenTeam PenskeChevrolet181.222mph
Jack HarveyMeyer Shank RacingHonda180.915mph
Ryan Hunter-ReayAndretti AutosportHonda180.705mph
Alexander RossiAndretti AutosportHonda180.695mph
Colton HertaAndretti Harding Steinbrenner AutosportHonda180.650mph
Alex PalouDale Coyne Racing w/ Team GohHonda180.597mph
Felix RosenqvistChip Ganassi RacingHonda180.295mph
Simon PagenaudTeam PenskeChevrolet180.133mph
Rinus VeeKayEd Carpenter RacingChevrolet180.070mph
Oliver AskewArrow McLaren SPChevrolet180.053mph
Conor DalyCarlin RacingChevrolet179.986mph
Ed CarpenterEd Carpenter RacingChevrolet179.521mph
Charlie KimballAJ Foyt RacingChevrolet179.351mph
Marco AndrettiAndretti Herta AutosportHonda178.197mph
Santino FerrucciDale Coyne Racing w/ Vasser-SullivanHonda178.188mph
Tony KanaanAJ Foyt RacingChevrolet177.663mph
Graham RahalRahal Letterman LaniganHonda176.595mph
Zach VeachAndretti AutosportHonda176.014mph
    
Qualifying for Race 2   
Takuma SatoRahal Letterman LaniganHonda182.499mph
Josef NewgardenTeam PenskeChevrolet182.477mph
Will PowerTeam PenskeChevrolet182.474mph
Pato O’WardArrow McLaren SPChevrolet182.178mph
Jack HarveyMeyer Shank RacingHonda181.800mph
Scott DixonChip Ganassi RacingHonda181.735mph
Marcus EricssonChip Ganassi RacingHonda181.723mph
Simon PagenaudTeam PenskeChevrolet181.457mph
Felix RosenqvistChip Ganassi RacingHonda181.387mph
Colton HertaAndretti Harding Steinbrenner AutosportHonda181.164mph
Alexander RossiAndretti AutosportHonda180.825mph
Ryan Hunter-ReayAndretti AutosportHonda180.618mph
Oliver AskewArrow McLaren SPChevrolet180.579mph
Alex PalouDale Coyne Racing w/ Team GohHonda180.560mph
Conor DalyCarlin RacingChevrolet180.374mph
Santino FerrucciDale Coyne Racing w/ Vasser-SullivanHonda180.197mph
Zach VeachAndretti AutosportHonda179.791mph
Rinus VeeKayEd Carpenter RacingChevrolet178.690mph
Tony KanaanAJ Foyt RacingChevrolet178.630mph
Marco AndrettiAndretti Herta AutosportHonda178.563mph
Charlie KimballAJ Foyt RacingChevrolet178.295mph
Ed CarpenterEd Carpenter RacingChevrolet177.728mph
Graham RahalRahal Letterman LaniganHonda176.803mph


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