Qualifying for both races of IndyCar’s double-header weekend in Milwaukee took place on Saturday afternoon.
Drivers took to the historic one mile oval one at a time, with the first lap setting the grid for Saturday’s race while times of the second lap set the grid for Sunday’s event.
Times were incredibly tight near the top of the field, with drivers separated by only a couple ten thousandths of a second in some cases.
READ MORE: IndyCar Milwaukee – Full Qualifying Results
For the first race, Scott McLaughlin, Alex Palou, and David Malukas were the fastest three drivers, but all three have grid penalties to apply from excessive engine usage.
McLaughlin technically earns pole for his efforts, but he will start a few rows back for Saturday’s race.
The three quick drivers will move back to ninth, 10th and 11th respectively after the penalties are applied.
Starting from the top spot instead will be Pato O’Ward. The popular Mexican driver set a time of 22.2779 seconds and an average speed of 164.019 MPH.
Starting alongside on the front row will be Josef Newgarden, who set a lap just below the 164 MPH barrier on his run.
The second row will be filled by Will Power and Dennis Hauger.
Race two
Qualifying for the second race of the weekend was determined by each driver’s second flying lap, and no penalties were in place to mess up the order.
The fastest driver was the final one to hit the track, and Alex Palou claimed his eighth pole of the year.
The points leader completed his second lap in 22.1915 seconds at an average speed of 164.658 MPH.
Palou’s lap was barely good enough to secure the pole, as he was only three ten thousandths of a second faster than O’Ward.
With his strong run, O’Ward narrowly earned the outside front row starting spot. He was a little disappointed to be so close to earning a double pole for the weekend, but was still smiling from ear to ear after the runs were complete.
Josef Newgarden was third quick, and rookie Mick Schumacher was fourth quick to give him a very respectable starting position for the second race.
On the other end of the scale, Nolan Siegel was slowest on both of his laps. He will start in 23rd on Saturday on account of others’ penalties, but from the back in 25th on Sunday.
No driver crashed during his run, however, meaning crews will be able to work at a reasonable pace to get cars ready for race one.
Drivers will return to the track in just a couple hours’ time for the first race of the weekend, with green flag just after 1:30 PM central time.
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