Saturday afternoon on the streets of Detroit was reserved for IndyCar qualifying, and all 27 drivers put their feet to the floor as they motored around the Motor City.
The first two rounds whittled the field down to six, and the fastest of the fast completed one last push lap to see who would sit on the top spot.
It was little surprise that Colton Herta put in the fastest lap when it mattered most. He completed his lap at 1:00.477 seconds and earned his 15th career pole position.
READ MORE: IndyCar Detroit – Full Qualifying Results
Herta has been on rails all weekend in his #26 Andretti Global Honda, and he will look to use his advantageous position to earn his first win of the season.
David Malukas was the second fastest on the day, impressively placing his AJ Foyt Racing Chevy onto the front row.
He felt that he had a car fast enough for pole, but final tweaks to the front wing made before his final run did not help as expected.
Kyle Kirkwood was third fastest, but was disappointed with the result. He was up on the time delta halfway through the lap, but a small break in traction on acceleration led to him tapping the wall and bending his toe link.
Starting alongside in fourth will be Christian Lundgaard, the only representative of Arrow McLaren in the Fast 6.
Graham Rahal was fifth fastest in qualifying, but will have to take a six-place grid penalty ahead of the race.
Alex Palou will advance up to fifth on account of the penalty. The reigning champion has been on an absolute tear this season, and there is no reason to believe Palou will not be able to pull out another victory from the third row.
Advancing no further
Scott McLaughlin was the fastest Team Penske driver at Chevrolet’s home race. He put his #3 entry into the eighth position on the grid, with his team-mate Will Power lining up ninth.
Scott Dixon had just enough pace to make it out of the first round, beating out rookie Louis Foster by 0.0081 seconds.
Dixon’s run in the second round was good enough to earn him the 10th starting spot.
Josef Newgarden had poor luck during his run, clipping the wall and bending the left rear toe link on his final fast run.
He limped back to the pits but will have to fight his way to the front from 24th on the grid.
The drivers lining up just behind will be the Juncos Hollinger Racing duo, who have had poor pace all throughout the weekend.
Conor Daly will line up in 25th and Sting Ray Robb in 26th. Taking up the final position on the grid will be Nolan Siegel, who was not able to set a representative time due to an engine issue.
Sunday’s 100-lap race is scheduled for 12:30 PM, with temperatures predicted to be the warmest of the weekend.
