Will Power claimed his second consecutive pole position of the 2019 NTT IndyCar season ahead of the inaugural IndyCar Classic at the Circuit of the Americas.
The Australian driver hit the track early on in the Firestone Fast Six to set his time of 1:46:018 to beat Andretti Autosport's Alexander Rossi. Power clinched his 56th career pole and is now just 11 shy of all-time record holder Mario Andretti.
Rossi waited in the pit-lane late into the session, risking the chances of getting caught out by a red flag. However, he made the most of his single lap and nailed his run which challenged Power for the pole.
Ryan Hunter-Reay will head the second row in what was a stealthy qualifying session for the #28 DHL entry, similar to Power; it took a second run to get his best time of the session which secured the position.
Harding Steinbrenner Racing's Colton Herta looked set to shock the paddock with pole position in only his third IndyCar qualifying session, but was eventually bumped down to the fourth spot and will join Hunter-Reay on the second row of the grid.
The 18-year old looked to have been going for a second run but abandoned it as he crossed the timing beam as the clock hit zero.
Chip Ganassi Racing's Felix Rosenqvist will start ahead of reigning series champion and team-mate Scott Dixon on the third row, the Swedish driver clocked the fastest time of the weekend in the Fast 12 which ran into the 1:45s, but was unable to replicate the time in the final session.
Dixon was unable to get the best from the #9 PNC Bank entry and had to settle for sixth on the grid.
Josef Newgarden was the shock departure from the Fast 12 after previous sessions in the weekend looked to have put the #2 Penske in a good position in the build-up to qualifying, the 2017 series champion nearly didn't make the Fast 12, but was put through thanks to Tony Kanaan's spin at the end of the session and dropped from the top 6 who went through.
After a turbulent start to his 2019 season, Patricio O'Ward impressed on his Carlin debut and was able to get himself to on the fourth row alongside Newgarden in the #31 entry.
Andretti Autosport's Zach Veach and Rahal-Letterman-Lanigan Racing's Graham Rahal completed the top 10.
