Scott McLaughlin has earned his first career IndyCar pole on the streets of St. Petersburg, rocketing to the front of a competitive 26-car field.
McLaughlin moved over to IndyCar from Australian Supercars last season, and proved to be quick at the new discipline right out of the gate. A pole has eluded him, however, until this weekend’s effort.
The sophomore driver lapped the 1.8-mile street course in 59.4821 seconds, just over one tenth faster than the ‘Master of St. Pete’ Will Power.
Power has started in top six in 14 of his 15 visits to St. Pete, and looked to be the driver to beat in the early part of qualifying. But in the final seconds, McLaughlin put his Team Penske Chevy into the top spot.
Colton Herta, who also does well every time he drives on this track, will start Sunday’s race in third position alongside Rinus VeeKay.
A couple wily veterans of Romain Grosjean and Simon Pagenaud will make up the third row. Both drivers have been at the top of the timesheets all weekend, and will definitely be in the mix for a win.
Scott Dixon just missed the Fast 6 cutoff, and will start Sunday’s race from the seventh position. He was the fastest Chip Ganassi Racing entry, with the whole team struggling to find the top end of the pace all weekend.
Only one rookie advanced into the Fast 12, with Kyle Kirkwood piloting his #14 AJ Foyt Racing entry to the sixth row on the grid.
Rookie David Malukas was given a penalty for impeding Jimmie Johnson in the first session while he was on a fast lap, and as a result both drivers involved will start near the back of the field.
Some surprising names will be starting near the rear as well, with Pato O’Ward, Felix Rosenqvist, Takuma Sato, and Alexander Rossi all failing to advance past the first segment of qualifying.
There is one final warmup session Sunday morning, before the 100-lap race gets underway to start the 2022 season at noon Eastern Time.
| # | Driver | Time | Speed (MPH) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Scott McLaughlin | 00:59.4821 | 108.94 |
| 2 | Will Power | 00:59.6058 | 108.714 |
| 3 | Colton Herta | 00:59.7104 | 108.524 |
| 4 | Rinus VeeKay | 00:59.8102 | 108.343 |
| 5 | Romain Grosjean | 00:59.8116 | 108.34 |
| 6 | Simon Pagenaud | 01:00.2041 | 107.634 |
| 7 | Scott Dixon | 00:59.7579 | 108.438 |
| 8 | Marcus Ericsson | 00:59.8241 | 108.318 |
| 9 | Josef Newgarden | 00:59.8862 | 108.205 |
| 10 | Alex Palou | 00:59.9584 | 108.075 |
| 11 | Graham Rahal | 00:59.9870 | 108.023 |
| 12 | Kyle Kirkwood | 01:00.2616 | 107.531 |
| 13 | Alexander Rossi | 00:59.9931 | 108.012 |
| 14 | Dalton Kellett | 00:59.9521 | 108.086 |
| 15 | Christian Lundgaard | 01:00.0276 | 107.95 |
| 16 | Pato O’Ward | 01:00.0021 | 107.996 |
| 17 | Helio Castroneves | 01:00.1426 | 107.744 |
| 18 | Devlin DeFrancesco | 01:00.0850 | 107.847 |
| 19 | Callum Ilott | 01:00.2121 | 107.62 |
| 20 | Conor Daly | 01:00.1921 | 107.655 |
| 21 | Felix Rosenqvist | 01:00.3918 | 107.299 |
| 22 | Takuma Sato | 01:00.2930 | 107.475 |
| 23 | Jack Harvey | 01:00.5333 | 107.049 |
| 24 | David Malukas | 01:00.4601 | 107.178 |
| 25 | Tatiana Calderon | 01:00.9391 | 106.336 |
| 26 | Jimmie Johnson | 01:01.0273 | 106.182 |
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