Will Power scored the pole for Saturday’s NTT IndyCar Series race on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway infield road course. Photo: Penske Entertainment: Chris Jones
Will Power won the NTT P1 Award for the GMR Grand Prix on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, earning his 64th career IndyCar Series pole on his final qualifying lap Friday afternoon.
Power’s best lap was 1 minute, 9.7664 seconds in the No. 12 Team Penske Chevrolet on the 14-turn, 2.439-mile road course. The Australian driver is just three poles shy of tying the all-time series pole record of 67 set by Mario Andretti.
“This series, it’s so tight,” Power said. “So, to get a pole these days, you know you’ve done a really good job. And the team has done a great job. I’m super-stoked. It’s been a long time since we’ve had a pole on a road course. I worked hard on that one.
“I feel so privileged to be so close to him (Andretti). To be up there with names like Mario Andretti and A.J. Foyt is something I wouldn’t have imagined when I started my career.”
This was Power’s first road or street course pole since the 2020 season finale at St. Petersburg, Florida, and he became the fifth different pole winner in five races this season.
Reigning series champion and current points leader Alex Palou will share the front row with Power after his best lap of 1:09.8090.
Power’s teammate, two-time series champion Josef Newgarden, will start third after a lap of 1:09.8343. Conor Daly earned his best starting spot of the season by qualifying fourth at 1:09.9063.
Pato O’Ward, who led the afternoon practice, will start fifth after a best lap of 1:10.0546, with his teammate Felix Rosenqvist rounding out the Firestone Fast Six at 1:10.0605.
Callum Ilott continued his impressive season with the one-car Juncos Hollinger Racing, qualifying seventh.
The list of drivers who failed to advance from the first round of qualifying could form a wing of an IndyCar Series Hall of Fame as some teams and drivers were flummoxed by air temperatures in the high 80s and track temperatures tickling 130 degrees.
Indianapolis 500 winners Takuma Sato (13th), Alexander Rossi (16th), Helio Castroneves (19th), Simon Pagenaud (20th), Scott Dixon (21st) and Juan Pablo Montoya (23rd) all didn’t make the second round. Series race winners Colton Herta (14th), Rinus VeeKay (15th) and Marcus Ericsson (18th) also didn’t advance from round one.
NTT IndyCar Series
Indianapolis Motor Speedway – Indianapolis, IN
GMR Grand Prix – May 13, 2022
Friday’s Qualifying Results
1. (12) Will Power, Chevrolet, 01:09.7664 (125.854 mph)
2. (10) Alex Palou, Honda, 01:09.8090 (125.777)
3. (2) Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet, 01:09.8343 (125.732)
4. (20) Conor Daly, Chevrolet, 01:09.9063 (125.602)
5. (5) Pato O’Ward, Chevrolet, 01:10.0546 (125.337)
6. (7) Felix Rosenqvist, Chevrolet, 01:10.0605 (125.326)
7. (77) Callum Ilott, Chevrolet, 01:09.6530 (126.059)
8. (30) Christian Lundgaard, Honda, 01:09.6594 (126.048)
9. (45) Jack Harvey, Honda, 01:09.6899 (125.992)
10. (28) Romain Grosjean, Honda, 01:09.7100 (125.956)
11. (3) Scott McLaughlin, Chevrolet, 01:09.7847 (125.821)
12. (15) Graham Rahal, Honda, 01:10.2950 (124.908)
13. (51) Takuma Sato, Honda, 01:09.8239 (125.751)
14. (26) Colton Herta, Honda, 01:09.8527 (125.699)
15. (21) Rinus VeeKay, Chevrolet, 01:09.9550 (125.515)
16. (27) Alexander Rossi, Honda, 01:09.9178 (125.582)
17. (29) Devlin DeFrancesco, Honda, 01:10.1306 (125.201)
18. (8) Marcus Ericsson, Honda, 01:09.9294 (125.561)
19. (06) Helio Castroneves, Honda, 01:10.1417 (125.181)
20. (60) Simon Pagenaud, Honda, 01:09.9717 (125.485)
21. (9) Scott Dixon, Honda, 01:10.1694 (125.131)
22. (14) Kyle Kirkwood, Chevrolet, 01:10.1954 (125.085)
23. (6) Juan Pablo Montoya, Chevrolet, 01:10.7610 (124.085)
24. (18) David Malukas, Honda, 01:10.4755 (124.588)
25. (11) Tatiana Calderon, Chevrolet, 01:11.0020 (123.664)
26. (4) Dalton Kellett, Chevrolet, 01:10.7187 (124.160)
27. (48) Jimmie Johnson, Honda, 01:11.4599 (122.872)
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