MADISON, Ill. — Will Power cracked a smile after Alex Palou ran a slower first lap and celebrated when the points leader ran a slower second lap to give the driver of the No. 12 Team Penske Chevrolet his first pole in two years.
“Yeah, it has been a while,” he said. “I mean, been on the front row a few times. Yeah, it’s nice to get a pole always. One point, and get to lead the field to green.”
Power earned his 71st NTT INDYCAR SERIES pole (a league record) with a two-lap average speed of 180.329 mph. It’s also the 700th career pole across all racing series for Team Penske.
Scott McLaughlin joins his teammate on the front row with a speed of 179.783 mph.
“Yeah, of course, I’d love to be up front,” he said. “Team Penske 1-2 is always good. Will, a while since he’s been on pole. He’s super quick around here. Anytime you go up one on one against Will Power in qualifying, it’s always tough.
“Felt really good. Car has been good basically since the drop. I think we’re in a really good spot for tomorrow regardless. We’ll see what we’ve got.”
Pato O’Ward clocked in third at 179.190 mph. David Malukas timed in fourth at 179.079 mph and Josef Newgarden, who topped the chart in first practice, rounded out the top five at 178.910 mph.
Marcus Armstrong, Felix Rosenqvist, Colton Herta, Palou and Kyle Kirkwood rounded out the top-10.
The NTT INDYCAR Series Bommarito Automotive Group 500 goes green, on Sunday, at 8 p.m. ET on FOX.
