Alexander Rossi will start Sunday's IndyCar Grand Prix at The Glen from pole position after demoting championship contenders Scott Dixon and Josef Newgarden with his laptime of 1:22.4639 in the Firestone Fast Six.
Dixon lines up second after pipping Newgarden by the smallest possible margin, with just 0.0001 between the pair who are split by just 31 points at the head of the championship standings.
But that wasn't enough as Rossi went 0.0529s quicker to grab his first IndyCar pole with a top speed of 147.119mph in the No. 98 NAPA Auto Parts/Curb Honda.
Takuma Sato, Charlie Kimball and Helio Castroneves completed the Firestone Fast Six, with 0.8711s covering the entire field.
Rossi also led Q1, Group 1, with Newgarden and Castroneves in second and third, followed by Sato, Kimball and Will Power.
Spencer Pigot just missed out on a Q2 slot by 0.0813 from Power, with Ed Jones, Tony Kanaan and Max Chilton also knocked out in the opening qualifying round.
Group 2 saw Dixon lead ahead of Ryan Hunter-Reay, Sebastien Bourdais, Graham Rahal, Simon Pagenaud and Carlos Munoz.
Failing to make the cut were Conor Daly, by just 0.0067s, James Hinchcliffe, Jack Harvey – who made his road course qualifying debut – Marco Andretti and JR Hildebrand.
The next stage, Q2, saw the lead change hands several times before Dixon posted a time of 1:22.4171 to clear the field by 0.3790s, with a top speed of 147.202mph – that lap would have been good enough for pole had Dixon been able to recreate it in the final session.
Hunter-Reay missed out on advancing to the Fast Six by just 0.032s in seventh place, as Power, Bourdais, Rahal, Munoz and Pagenaud also missed the cut.
The Fast Six came down to the final lap from Rossi as he claimed his maiden IndyCar pole, with Dixon and Newgarden lining up behind – but the Team Penske racer almost lost it coming out of The Boot, kicking up dust as he ran wide, but escaped any serious drama.
Qualifying Result: IndyCar Grand Prix at The Glen
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