By Jerry Jordan, Editor
AUSTIN, TX – Continuing his dominance, Will Power put his No. 12 Team Penske Version Chevrolet on the pole for today’s IndyCar Classic in Austin – this after dominating with a best combined practice time earlier in the weekend.
“I thought, when I looked at the Firestone Fast Six and where we stacked up, I thought the only chance we have at getting pole is if we do one lap of fuel, and one lap on our tires, and do that twice,” Power said, after his lap. “And that’s what we did, so it paid off.”
Power has won 49 poles in his IndayCar career and a combined career total of 56 if you include his top starting spot in a 2008 exhibition race in Australia. It’s something he said he never takes for granted.
“Whenever you feel like that, you never ever win pole,” he said. “I always feel like I don’t have a chance, I don’t know why, but the last two races I thought our best chance was a top three (starting position) if we’re lucky.”
Winning the pole also gives Power a shot to win an additional $100,000 should he be able to close out the 3.41-mile, 20-turn Circuit of the Americas with a stop in Victory Lane. It’s something he has done many times before and as he said, wants to do again.
“Yeah, it’s time to win another one,” he said. “Kind of disappointing when you win the pole and can’t complete (the sweep). Didn’t have as good a car on new tires. Came in well on used tires, but very good qualifying sessions. Really happy to get poles. Never held my breath so much. Really had to dig deep, but yeah, good battle.”
Although Power’s Chevrolet was the fastest, it was the Hondas that would make up the next five starting positing with Alexander Rossi on the outside of Row 1. Ryan Hunter-Reay, Colton Herta, Felix Rosenqvist and Scott Dixon made up the remainder of the Fast 6, respectively.
“I’d like to say I’m satisfied for second, but I know we had the speed for the pole position,” Rossi said. “We only went out for one lap in the (Firestone) Fast Six and I think the thing that is bothersome is it was a good lap. Power just put together what he needed to secure pole which is why he has almost 60 poles – he’s good at that. I missed it a bit into the final corner to open the lap. I knew I was in an uphill battle from there. A front row start is good – it’s a big turnaround for us from St. Pete where we weren’t really that competitive, we were just floating around in fifth and sixth. To be challenging for the pole this weekend is great and a testament to Andretti Autosport and everything the NAPA AUTO PARTS team has done.”
Green flag for today’s IndyCar Classic is shortly after noon and the race will be broadcast on NBCSN.
1. (12) Will Power, Chevrolet, 1:46.0177 (115.792)
2. (27) Alexander Rossi, Honda, 1:46.1761 (115.619)
3. (28) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Honda, 1:46.3228 (115.460)
4. (88) Colton Herta, Honda, 1:46.3594 (115.420)
5. (10) Felix Rosenqvist, Honda, 1:46.5680 (115.194)
6. (9) Scott Dixon, Honda, 1:46.9375 (114.796)
7. (2) Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet, 1:46.3438 (115.437)
8. (31) Patricio O’Ward, Chevrolet, 1:46.3807 (115.397)
9. (26) Zach Veach, Honda, 1:46.5421 (115.222)
10. (15) Graham Rahal, Honda, 1:46.9676 (114.764)
11. (19) Santino Ferrucci, Honda, 1:47.3956 (114.306)
12. (4) Matheus Leist, Chevrolet, 1:48.0634 (113.600)
13. (59) Max Chilton, Chevrolet, 1:46.8253 (114.917)
14. (30) Takuma Sato, Honda, 1:47.7109 (113.972)
15. (5) James Hinchcliffe, Honda, 1:46.8670 (114.872)
16. (7) Marcus Ericsson, Honda, 1:48.4259 (113.220)
17. (18) Sebastien Bourdais, Honda, 1:47.0702 (114.654)
18. (20) Ed Jones, Chevrolet, 1:48.4523 (113.193)
19. (21) Spencer Pigot, Chevrolet, 1:48.4895 (113.154)
20. (98) Marco Andretti, Honda, 1:48.6521 (112.984)
21. (32) Kyle Kaiser, Chevrolet, 1:48.6343 (113.003)
22. (22) Simon Pagenaud, Chevrolet, 1:48.9030 (112.724)
23. (60) Jack Harvey, Honda, 1:49.1795 (112.439)
24. (14) Tony Kanaan, Chevrolet, 1:50.0743 (111.525)