At the end of qualifying for the Augie’s List Grand Prix of Indianapolis, it’d be Will Power topping the charts with a lap of one minute and 9.4886 seconds. The qualifying session also gave Power a brand new track record, as he posted his fastest lap in the first segment of qualifying, topping Pagenaud’s lap of 1:09.6716 from last season.
“To have a pole here at Indianapolis – at this track – is just such a great feeling and I felt like I was strong all week (in three practice sessions),” Power said. “I just missed out on pole at Barber (April 25) so I was pretty determined today and the guys did a great job with the car.”
It marks Power’s 38th career pole in the series, and continues Team Penske’s sweep of the pole position this year as a Penske driver has led the field to the green flag in each of the five races thus far this season.
“All my teammates in the Fast Six, too. We’re pushing each other hard,” Power said. “We have the Ganassi boys there knocking on the door all the time and have our work cut out for us. I think what makes it challenging is it’s quite technical. It’s a very nice surface, really smooth. What makes it great racing is the fact that you go such long straights leading into hard braking zones and that’s why you saw such good racing last year. And expect the same this year.
“Qualifying is a day where you put absolutely everything on the line. It’s my favorite part of the weekend. Well, no, actually it’s winning on Saturday is definitely my favorite part.”
Scott Dixon will start second in his Chevrolet for Chip Ganassi Racing, after coming up three tenths short of Power in the final round of qualifying. Dixon has been fast all weekend so far as he looks for his second win of the season. Team Penske drivers Helio Castroneves, Juan Pablo Montoya and Simon Pagenaud rounded out the top-five; Pagenaud won the inaugural event last year.
Tony Kanaan was sixth, followed by Sebastien Bourdais, Sebastian Saavedra, Luca Filippi and Stefano Coletti.
The drivers will have a morning warm-up session on Saturday, May 9, before the green flag flies at 3:50 pm.
