Two weeks after competing at the longest circuit on the Verizon IndyCar Series schedule in Road America, the series turns to its shortest in the 0.894-mile Iowa Speedway this weekend for the Iowa Corn 300.
And in a blazing effort, Team Penske’s Simon Pagenaud earned the Verizon P1 Award and the 500th pole position in the racing history of Team Penske.
Pagenaud’s No. 22 Menards Team Penske Chevrolet earned the top spot in qualifying with a two-lap run of 34.6334 seconds (185.855 mph). It is the seventh pole of Pagenaud’s Verizon IndyCar Series career and fifth this season. It is also his second on an oval, the other coming in 2015 at Auto Club Speedway.
The additional point earned for Pagenaud extends his championship lead to 75 over teammate Helio Castroneves heading into Sunday’s 300-lap race (5 p.m. ET, NBCSN and Advance Auto Parts INDYCAR Radio Network).
Ed Carpenter Racing’s Josef Newgarden posted a two-lap run of 34.6738 seconds (185.639 mph) in the No. 21 Fuzzy’s Vodka Chevrolet to sit on the outside of Row 1 for Sunday’s race. Castroneves (No. 3 Hitachi Team Penske Chevrolet, 34.7122 seconds, 185.433 mph) and rookie Max Chilton (No. 8 Gallagher Services Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet, 34.7148, 185.419) make up the second row.
Andretti Autosport boasts winning the last six Verizon IndyCar Series races at Iowa, but will need to make a charge to make it seven in a row. Carlos Munoz (No. 26 Honda) was the best qualifier of the team’s four cars, starting 15th with a two-lap run at 35.5493 seconds (181.067 mph). Three-time race winner Ryan Hunter-Reay backed his No. 28 DHL Honda into the wall in morning practice and qualified 20th (35.7792 seconds, 179.903 mph).
Tony Kanaan, who set an unofficial track record with a lap of 17.9127 seconds (186.902 mph) in practice, qualified sixth with a two-lap run of 34.9011 seconds (184.430 mph). Castroneves’ official lap record of 17.2283 seconds (186.809 mph), set in 2014, stood through today’s qualifying session.
Below are the unofficial qualifying results:
|
Rank |
Car |
Driver Name |
C/A/E/T |
Lap 1 |
Lap 2 |
Total Time |
Avg Speed |
Comment |
|
1 |
22 |
Pagenaud, Simon |
D/C/C/F |
17.3089 |
17.3245 |
00:34.6334 |
185.855 |
|
|
2 |
21 |
Newgarden, Josef |
D/C/C/F |
17.3314 |
17.3424 |
00:34.6738 |
185.639 |
|
|
3 |
3 |
Castroneves, Helio |
D/C/C/F |
17.3605 |
17.3517 |
00:34.7122 |
185.433 |
|
|
4 |
8 |
Chilton, Max (R) |
D/C/C/F |
17.3768 |
17.3380 |
00:34.7148 |
185.419 |
|
|
5 |
83 |
Kimball, Charlie |
D/C/C/F |
17.4438 |
17.4461 |
00:34.8899 |
184.489 |
|
|
6 |
10 |
Kanaan, Tony |
D/C/C/F |
17.4720 |
17.4291 |
00:34.9011 |
184.430 |
|
|
7 |
20 |
Carpenter, Ed |
D/C/C/F |
17.4501 |
17.4681 |
00:34.9182 |
184.339 |
|
|
8 |
12 |
Power, Will |
D/C/C/F |
17.5366 |
17.4490 |
00:34.9856 |
183.984 |
|
|
9 |
7 |
Aleshin, Mikhail |
D/H/H/F |
17.6076 |
17.6135 |
00:35.2211 |
182.754 |
|
|
10 |
9 |
Dixon, Scott |
D/C/C/F |
17.6701 |
17.5716 |
00:35.2417 |
182.647 |
|
|
11 |
2 |
Montoya, Juan Pablo |
D/C/C/F |
17.5590 |
17.6840 |
00:35.2430 |
182.641 |
|
|
12 |
15 |
Rahal, Graham |
D/H/H/F |
17.6816 |
17.6364 |
00:35.3180 |
182.253 |
|
|
13 |
14 |
Sato, Takuma |
D/H/H/F |
17.7213 |
17.6556 |
00:35.3769 |
181.949 |
|
|
14 |
41 |
Hawksworth, Jack |
D/H/H/F |
17.7183 |
17.7072 |
00:35.4255 |
181.700 |
|
|
15 |
26 |
Munoz, Carlos |
D/H/H/F |
17.8024 |
17.7469 |
00:35.5493 |
181.067 |
|
|
16 |
11 |
Bourdais, Sebastien |
D/C/C/F |
17.8887 |
17.6884 |
00:35.5771 |
180.925 |
|
|
17 |
98 |
Rossi, Alexander (R) |
D/H/H/F |
17.7853 |
17.7929 |
00:35.5782 |
180.920 |
|
|
18 |
19 |
Chaves, Gabby |
D/H/H/F |
17.8346 |
17.8481 |
00:35.6827 |
180.390 |
|
|
19 |
27 |
Andretti, Marco |
D/H/H/F |
17.7837 |
17.9196 |
00:35.7033 |
180.286 |
|
|
20 |
28 |
Hunter-Reay, Ryan |
D/H/H/F |
17.9788 |
17.8004 |
00:35.7792 |
179.903 |
|
|
21 |
18 |
Daly, Conor (R) |
D/H/H/F |
18.0670 |
17.9641 |
00:36.0311 |
178.646 |
|
|
22 |
5 |
Hinchcliffe, James (R) Rookie |
D/H/H/F |
18.3330 |
18.4430 |
00:36.7760 |
175.027 |
(C)hassis: D=Dallara | (A)erokit: C=Chevy, H=Honda | (E)ngine: C=Chevy, H=Honda | (T)ire: F=Firestone