Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden stormed to his 15th IndyCar pole position during a chaotic qualifying session at the final round of the 2021 season in Long Beach.
The two-time series champion put in a stellar final lap of the Firestone Fast Six to put himself at the front of the grid with a time of 01:08.2241.
Mathematically, Newgarden remains in contention for a potential third IndyCar title, however at 47 points behind still requires major issues for rivals Alex Palou and Pato O’Ward.
Despite a crash in second practice, Chip Ganassi’s Scott Dixon recovered well and utilised his skills to line up alongside Newgarden on the front row.
Meyer Shank Racing’s Helio Castroneves pulled off a surprising performance to put his No.06 Honda into third place ahead of Simon Pagenaud.
Heading up the third row is Arrow McLaren SP’s Felix Rosenqvist ahead of Romain Grosjean, who looked a shoe-in for pole position before tagging the wall during the final session.
While the Fast Six shootout was a relatively quiet affair, there was carnage during the earlier sessions.
James Hinchcliffe and championship contender Pato O’Ward will line on the fourth row after confusion in the Fast 12 over a yellow flag issue regarding the stoppage for Will Power at Turn 9.
Ed Jones lost his fastest lap from the Fast 12 after going faster under the local yellow for Power and will line up ninth ahead of championship leader Alex Palou who backed off from his fastest lap under the same yellow flag.
Should Palou finish the race inside the top 11, he will clinch his maiden IndyCar title, regardless of what O’Ward and Newgarden can achieve.
Power broke down in the Fast 12 after hitting the wall on the exit of Turn 9, however, the Australian was lucky to have made it out for the Fast 12 session after a heavy crash with MSR’s Jack Harvey at the end of the first qualifying group.
The damage had clearly broken the rear left corner and smashed the rear wing off the car.
Pole position favourite Colton Herta broke his own car during his group session in Q1, after running an extra lap on the harder Firestone compound, he damaged a rear toe link. During his fastest lap it would eventually break and leave him unable to progress.
Sunday’s 85-lap Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach is set to get underway at 15:00 EDT
| # | Driver | Time | Avg. Speed (MPH) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Josef Newgarden | 01:08.2241 | 103.846 |
| 2 | Scott Dixon | 01:08.4422 | 103.515 |
| 3 | Helio Castroneves | 01:08.4827 | 103.454 |
| 4 | Simon Pagenaud | 01:08.6514 | 103.2 |
| 5 | Felix Rosenqvist | 01:08.7461 | 103.057 |
| 6 | Romain Grosjean | 01:08.7577 | 103.04 |
| 7 | James Hinchcliffe | 01:08.7143 | 103.105 |
| 8 | Pato O’Ward | 01:08.8339 | 102.926 |
| 9 | Ed Jones | 01:08.8797 | 102.858 |
| 10 | Alex Palou | 01:08.9464 | 102.758 |
| 11 | Ryan Hunter-Reay | 01:09.1330 | 102.481 |
| 12 | Will Power | 01:09.2279 | 102.34 |
| 13 | Scott McLaughlin | 01:08.8611 | 102.885 |
| 14 | Colton Herta | 01:09.1094 | 102.516 |
| 15 | Alexander Rossi | 01:08.9946 | 102.686 |
| 16 | Takuma Sato | 01:09.3814 | 102.114 |
| 17 | Marcus Ericsson | 01:09.1368 | 102.475 |
| 18 | Callum Ilott | 01:09.4360 | 102.034 |
| 19 | Graham Rahal | 01:09.3998 | 102.087 |
| 20 | Charlie Kimball | 01:09.6793 | 101.677 |
| 21 | Conor Daly | 01:09.5816 | 101.82 |
| 22 | Sebastien Bourdais | 01:09.7022 | 101.644 |
| 23 | Max Chilton | 01:09.7525 | 101.571 |
| 24 | Rinus VeeKay | 01:09.7602 | 101.559 |
| 25 | Jack Harvey | 01:10.4664 | 100.542 |
| 26 | Dalton Kellett | 01:09.9144 | 101.335 |
| 27 | Jimmie Johnson | 01:10.5127 | 100.476 |
| 28 | Oliver Askew | 01:10.0178 | 101.186 |
