DETROIT — Juan Pablo Montoya and Team Penske teammate Will Power will start on the front row for Race 2 of the scheduled 70-lap Chevrolet Dual in Detroit presented by Quicken Loans based on entrant points.
INDYCAR discontinued qualifications because of deteriorating racetrack conditions as wind-whipped rain, which affected Race 1 on May 30, continued to pelt the area. The No. 2 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet driven by Montoya, the recently-crowned Indianapolis 500 winner, leads the entrant standings by 11 points over Power’s No. 1 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet.
Helio Castroneves, driving the No. 3 Hitachi Team Penske Chevrolet, and Scott Dixon in the No. 9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet will start on Row 2. Graham Rahal, driving the No. 15 Steak ‘n Shake Honda for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, and Josef Newgarden in the No. 67 Hartman Oil CFH Racing Honda will share Row 3.
Watch the race at 3:30 p.m. (ET) on ABC. On www.RaceControl.indycar.com is real-time Timing & Scoring augmented by the Advance Auto Parts INDYCAR Radio Network broadcast. The forecast is for clearing skies during the race.
Two groups were scheduled for 20 minutes each on the 2.35-mile, 14-turn street circuit, with the quickest overall lap time earning the Verizon P1 Award for the pole position and the remainder of that group occupying the odd-numbered positions on the starting grid. The other group would occupy the even-numbered positions.
Sage Karam topped the lap time sheet in Group 1 at 1 minute, 36.4520 seconds in the No. 8 Comfort Revolution/Big Machine Records Chevrolet.
Group 2 did not receive its five-minute minimum of green-flag track time as the red flag waved with 16:50 left in the session, and the rain prevented proper track prep to resume. It was the second time this season that rain impacted qualifications, with Montoya the beneficiary both times. Karam will start 20th.
“It’s good to start at the front, especially if it starts wet,” said Power, who won Race 1 at Belle Isle and was runner-up to Castroneves in the second race in 2014. “It could be very difficult to see if you’re in the back of the pack. I think it will be kind of a mixed up race because I think it will start wet and then dry out, so there will be some mixed up strategies there.”
In Race 1, Carlos Munoz earned his first Verizon IndyCar Series victory. Severe weather prompted a red flag with 47 of 70 scheduled laps completed and the race was called after a 20-minute wait. Andretti Autosport teammate Marco Andretti was second and Simon Pagenaud clinched his first podium finish as a Team Penske driver. Power earned the Verizon P1 Award for the pole position and set the track record for Race 1 with a lap of 1:16.0941.
1. (2) Juan Pablo Montoya, Chevrolet
2. (1) Will Power, Chevrolet
3. (3) Helio Castroneves, Chevrolet
4. (9) Scott Dixon, Chevrolet
5. (15) Graham Rahal, Honda
6. (67) Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet
7. (27) Marco Andretti, Honda
8. (22) Simon Pagenaud, Chevrolet
9. (11) Sebastien Bourdais, Chevrolet
10. (5) Conor Daly, Honda
11. (26) Carlos Munoz, Honda
12. (83) Charlie Kimball, Chevrolet
13. (10) Tony Kanaan, Chevrolet
14. (28) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Honda
15. (14) Takuma Sato, Honda
16. (7) James Jakes, Honda
17. (20) Luca Filippi, Chevrolet
18. (98) Gabby Chaves, Honda
19. (41) Jack Hawksworth, Honda
20. (8) Sage Karam, Chevrolet
21. (4) Stefano Coletti, Chevrolet
22. (18) Rodolfo Gonzalez, Honda
23. (19) Tristan Vautier, Honda
