There were two pole awards given out in Saturday morning’s IndyCar qualifying session, as both races of the doubleheader from Iowa were determined via consecutive laps around the short oval.
It was Team Penske’s Will Power who blistered the rest of the field, and set the fastest lap on each of his two fast laps.
His first lap time was completed in 18.0607 and his second in 18.0796, making him the only driver to top a 178 MPH average on either of his laps.
The two poles give the veteran 66 poles, and moves Power within one of Mario Andretti’s all-time IndyCar pole record.
Josef Newgarden will start alongside Power in both races, and the two-time champion wished he was able to run later in the order to take advantage of the extra grip.
Conor Daly was looking like he would take another pole at the track where he scored his only previous pole, but slipped down to the second row for both races by time running was complete.
Alexander Rossi was one of multiple drivers that struggled with a loose car in the qualifying session, partly on account of his car carrying a race setup for the fast laps.
With impound rules in place this weekend, there are next to no changes allowed between the morning qualifying session and the first race in the afternoon.
Nobody ended up touching the wall, however, and it was a clean qualifying session overall.
Colton Herta was massively faster on his second lap, allowing him to start all the way up in third for the second race on Sunday. Although, he is expecting to change an engine before the second race, which would give him a grid penalty
The first race of the weekend’s doubleheader takes place this afternoon, with the green flag flying at 3:00PM Central Time. The heat is expected to be a considerable problem for drivers and teams alike, as temperatures will near 100°F (38°C) under cloudless skies.
| Race 1 | Driver | Time | Average Speed (MPH) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Will Power | 00:18.0607 | 178.199 |
| 2 | Josef Newgarden | 00:18.1031 | 177.782 |
| 3 | Conor Daly | 00:18.1341 | 177.478 |
| 4 | Pato O’Ward | 00:18.1399 | 177.421 |
| 5 | Scott McLaughlin | 00:18.1571 | 177.253 |
| 6 | David Malukas | 00:18.1900 | 176.932 |
| 7 | Jack Harvey | 00:18.2167 | 176.673 |
| 8 | Rinus VeeKay | 00:18.2216 | 176.626 |
| 9 | Takuma Sato | 00:18.2279 | 176.564 |
| 10 | Romain Grosjean | 00:18.2378 | 176.469 |
| 11 | Felix Rosenqvist | 00:18.2595 | 176.259 |
| 12 | Marcus Ericsson | 00:18.3026 | 175.844 |
| 13 | Scott Dixon | 00:18.3207 | 175.67 |
| 14 | Alex Palou | 00:18.3667 | 175.23 |
| 15 | Jimmie Johnson | 00:18.3693 | 175.205 |
| 16 | Graham Rahal | 00:18.4166 | 174.755 |
| 17 | Colton Herta | 00:18.4183 | 174.739 |
| 18 | Devlin DeFrancesco | 00:18.4254 | 174.672 |
| 19 | Alexander Rossi | 00:18.4488 | 174.45 |
| 20 | Christian Lundgaard | 00:18.5297 | 173.689 |
| 21 | Simon Pagenaud | 00:18.5581 | 173.423 |
| 22 | Callum Ilott | 00:18.5588 | 173.416 |
| 23 | Ed Carpenter | 00:18.5599 | 173.406 |
| 24 | Kyle Kirkwood | 00:18.6436 | 172.628 |
| 25 | Helio Castroneves | 00:18.6647 | 172.432 |
| 26 | Dalton Kellett | 00:18.7049 | 172.062 |
| Race 2 | Driver | Time | Average Speed (MPH) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Will Power | 00:18.0796 | 178.013 |
| 2 | Josef Newgarden | 00:18.0907 | 177.904 |
| 3 | Colton Herta | 00:18.1293 | 177.525 |
| 4 | Conor Daly | 00:18.1536 | 177.287 |
| 5 | Takuma Sato | 00:18.1545 | 177.278 |
| 6 | Scott McLaughlin | 00:18.1550 | 177.273 |
| 7 | Jack Harvey | 00:18.1939 | 176.894 |
| 8 | Pato O’Ward | 00:18.2214 | 176.627 |
| 9 | Rinus VeeKay | 00:18.2217 | 176.625 |
| 10 | Felix Rosenqvist | 00:18.2464 | 176.385 |
| 11 | Romain Grosjean | 00:18.2550 | 176.302 |
| 12 | Alex Palou | 00:18.2737 | 176.122 |
| 13 | Jimmie Johnson | 00:18.3059 | 175.812 |
| 14 | David Malukas | 00:18.3498 | 175.392 |
| 15 | Marcus Ericsson | 00:18.3802 | 175.101 |
| 16 | Simon Pagenaud | 00:18.4469 | 174.468 |
| 17 | Christian Lundgaard | 00:18.4495 | 174.444 |
| 18 | Scott Dixon | 00:18.4514 | 174.426 |
| 19 | Ed Carpenter | 00:18.4738 | 174.214 |
| 20 | Kyle Kirkwood | 00:18.5111 | 173.863 |
| 21 | Alexander Rossi | 00:18.5224 | 173.757 |
| 22 | Callum Ilott | 00:18.5289 | 173.696 |
| 23 | Graham Rahal | 00:18.5378 | 173.613 |
| 24 | Helio Castroneves | 00:18.5881 | 173.143 |
| 25 | Devlin DeFrancesco | 00:18.6035 | 173 |
| 26 | Dalton Kellett | 00:18.6449 | 172.616 |
