The REPORTER
SPEEDWAY – What a difference three months can make, especially in the world of Graham Rahal.
The 34-year-old veteran earned his first pole position of the season Friday, qualifying P1 for the Gallagher Grand Prix, which takes place this afternoon at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Not only is it Rahal’s first NTT P1 Award in six years, but it’s also the fourth of his career.
“It’s really good to be able to translate what we had in practice to qualifying,” said Rahal.
Reaching the pole made it a complete turnaround from the heartbreak Rahal suffered in May, when he was bumped out of qualifying for the Indianapolis 500.
“You move on from May as best you can,” said Rahal. He noted that the tribulations he dealt with that month are “things that build character.” After the May disappointment, Rahal said he received a message of encouragement from former Indy 500 champion Al Unser Jr. “The best have been through it,” he said.
Rahal held off his teammate Christian Lundgaard by a tenth of a second for the pole. Rahal finished his top lap in 1 minute, 10.1132 seconds during the Firestone Fast Six, with Lundgaard qualifying in 1:10.2286. That gave Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing the top two spots going into tomorrow’s Grand Prix, which begins at 2:30 p.m.
“We are strong here,” said Lundgaard. “Every time we come to this race track, we know we’ll be able to fight for a win.” Lundgaard said that claiming the top two spots means that as a team, “we’ve give ourselves the best opportunity to win the race;” it would be the first Grand Prix win for either man.
Live coverage of the 85-lap race on the 14-turn, 2.439-mile starts at 2 p.m. Saturday on USA Network, Peacock and the INDYCAR Radio Network.
Three teams – RLL, Arrow McLaren and Andretti Autosport – comprised the competitors in an ultra-competitive Firestone Fast Six session. Just .2889 of a second separated the six drivers, the third-tightest margin in the format’s history.
2016 Indianapolis 500 winner Alexander Rossi qualified third in the No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet at 1:10.2932, tying his season best set on the oval at Texas. Teammate Pato O’Ward was fourth at 1:10.3453 in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet.
Devlin DeFrancesco was another one of the stars of the three rounds of qualifying. He earned a career-best starting spot of fifth at 1:10.3938 in the No. 29 TRUBAR/Jones Soda Honda fielded by Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport after driving into the Firestone Fast Six for the first time in his two-year NTT INDYCAR SERIES career.
Romain Grosjean rounded out the Firestone Fast Six at 1:10.4021 in the No. 28 DHL Honda fielded by Andretti Autosport.
Narrow time margins were a theme of the three-round session, as rookie Marcus Armstrong qualified seventh at 1:10.2106 in the No. 11 IU Simon Cancer Center Honda fielded by Chip Ganassi Racing. He missed a spot in the Firestone Fast Six by .0008 of a second, the second-closest miss in this qualifying format’s history.
Jack Harvey completed a magical day for RLL, qualifying eighth at 1:10.2228 in the team’s No. 30 Kustom Entertainment Honda.
Championship leader Alex Palou qualified ninth at 1:10.2974 in the No. 10 The American Legion Honda fielded by Chip Ganassi Racing. It’s his second-lowest qualifying performance on a road or street course this season, with only 15th at Toronto lower. But any sting for Palou may be eased because his closest rival in the title hunt, Josef Newgarden, qualified a season-low 19th at 1:10.6150 in the No. 2 Hitachi Team Penske Chevrolet.
Palou leads Newgarden by 84 points – a gap of 1.5 races – with four races remaining.
“Confident for tomorrow, but obviously a bit bummed not being in the Fast Six,” Palou said. “We’re starting P9 tomorrow, right? So, it’s not a bad starting position. We can do a lot from there, especially being such a long race with the strategy.”
Newgarden, who has won four races this season – all on ovals, wasn’t the only star to be eliminated in a wildly unpredictable first round of qualifying. He was joined by Long Beach and Nashville race winner Kyle Kirkwood (starting 15th), six-time series champion Scott Dixon (16th), reigning series champion Will Power (17th) and St. Petersburg winner Marcus Ericsson (18th).
Daly at Pennzoil 150
Noblesville’s Conor Daly will compete in the NASCAR Xfinity Series’ Pennzoil 150 at the Brickyard today.
Daly will be driving the No. 44 car for Alpha Prime Racing. Qualifying for the Xfinity Series race runs from 10 to 11 a.m. this morning, with the 62-lap main race starting at 5:30 p.m.
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Qualifying Friday for the Gallagher Grand Prix NTT INDYCAR SERIES event on the 2.439-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, with qualifying position, car number in parentheses, driver, engine, time and speed in parentheses:
- (15) Graham Rahal, Honda, 01:10.1132 (125.232 mph)
2. (45) Christian Lundgaard, Honda, 01:10.2286 (125.026)
3. (7) Alexander Rossi, Chevrolet, 01:10.2932 (124.911)
4. (5) Pato O’Ward, Chevrolet, 01:10.3453 (124.819)
5. (29) Devlin DeFrancesco, Honda, 01:10.3938 (124.733)
6. (28) Romain Grosjean, Honda, 01:10.4021 (124.718)
7. (11) Marcus Armstrong, Honda, 01:10.2106 (125.058)
8. (30) Jack Harvey, Honda, 01:10.2228 (125.036)
9. (10) Alex Palou, Honda, 01:10.2974 (124.904)
10. (6) Felix Rosenqvist, Chevrolet, 01:10.4389 (124.653)
11. (3) Scott McLaughlin, Chevrolet, 01:10.4782 (124.583)
12. (06) Helio Castroneves, Honda, 01:10.5207 (124.508)
13. (26) Colton Herta, Honda, 01:10.4398 (124.651)
14. (60) Linus Lundqvist, Honda, 01:10.4570 (124.621)
15. (27) Kyle Kirkwood, Honda, 01:10.4869 (124.568)
16. (9) Scott Dixon, Honda, 01:10.5006 (124.544)
17. (12) Will Power, Chevrolet, 01:10.5237 (124.503)
18. (8) Marcus Ericsson, Honda, 01:10.6348 (124.307)
19. (2) Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet, 01:10.6150 (124.342)
20. (21) Rinus VeeKay, Chevrolet, 01:10.7249 (124.149)
21. (14) Santino Ferrucci, Chevrolet, 01:10.6461 (124.287)
22. (20) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Chevrolet, 01:11.0083 (123.653)
23. (18) David Malukas, Honda, 01:10.8687 (123.897)
24. (78) Agustin Canapino, Chevrolet, 01:11.0611 (123.561)
25. (51) Sting Ray Robb, Honda, 01:11.5658 (122.690)
26. (77) Callum Ilott, Chevrolet, 01:11.1027 (123.489)
27. (55) Benjamin Pedersen, Chevrolet, 01:11.2971 (123.152)
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Today at the Track
7 a.m.-8 p.m.: Public gates open
9:30-10 a.m.: Pennzoil 150 at the Brickyard presented by Advance Auto Parts NASCAR Xfinity Series Practice
10-11 a.m.: Pennzoil 150 at the Brickyard presented by Advance Auto Parts NASCAR Xfinity Series Qualifying
11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.: Verizon 200 at the Brickyard NASCAR Cup Series Practice
12:30-1:30 p.m.: Verizon 200 at the Brickyard NASCAR Cup Series Qualifying
2:30 p.m.: Gallagher Grand Prix NTT INDYCAR SERIES Race (85 laps)
5:30 p.m.: Pennzoil 150 presented by Advance Auto Parts NASCAR Xfinity Series Race (62 laps)
TICKETS: $40 for General Admission seating for Pennzoil 150 presented by Advance Auto Parts practice, qualifying and race, Gallagher Grand Prix race and Verizon 200 at the Brickyard practice and qualifying in the Paddock (9-14), Tower Terrace (75-79) and the infield viewing mounds. Flex seating locations are available in Southwest Vista (1-10), H Stand (1-6), Northwest Vista (16-20) and North Vista (Section 26-30) for $59 per adult. Children 15 and under are admitted free with a paying adult in General Admission and Flex seating locations. Reserved seats start at $64.
PUBLIC GATES OPEN (7 a.m.-8 p.m.): Public pedestrian gates open: Gate 1, Gate 2, Gate 3, Gate 4, Gate 6N, Gate 6S, Gate 7, Gate 7S, Gate 9, Gate 10, Gate 10A, Gate 11A.
PARKING: Free parking is available in Lot 7 (North 40). Race fans must enter through Gate 10 from 30th Street. Paid parking is available in Lot 1B, Lot 2, Lot 3G and Main Gate for $20, Turn 3 Infield for $25, Lot 6A for $40 and Gate 1 (Parcel B) for $75. ADA parking is $20 for outside lots. Motorcycle parking is $20 in the South Carousel Lot and is pre-purchased only.
CASHLESS OPERATIONS: All IMS concession stands and merchandise locations are cashless. Tap-to-pay phone payments will be accepted, as will credit and debit transactions. Parking and gate locations will accept cash and credit card.
INDIANAPOLIS MOTOR SPEEDWAY MUSEUM HOURS (7:30 a.m.-5 p.m.): The Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum, located inside Gate 2 of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, will be open 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Admission is $15 for adults, $14 for guests over the age of 62 and $8 for guests ages 6-15. Children 5 and under and Museum members are free. Race fans can walk to the Museum from within the Speedway’s infield. Museum visitors must possess an event ticket or credential as well as purchase a general admission Museum ticket to enter the Museum. Gate 2 will not be open for parking at the Museum.