Team Penske’s Power Wins Record Eighth St. Petersburg Pole
ST. PETERSBURG, Florida (Saturday, March 9, 2019) – The streets of St. Petersburg have become Will Power’s qualifying playground.
The Team Penske veteran continued his amazing dominance of NTT P1 Award qualifying for the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, laying down the best lap Saturday in the Firestone Fast Six to earn the race’s pole position for the eighth time in 10 years. The Australian now accounts for half the pole positions in the history of the event and has won the race on two occasions (2011, 2015).
FIRESTONE GRAND PRIX OF ST. PETERSBURG: Qualifying results
Power will lead the field to the green flag for the 2019 NTT IndyCar Series opener on Sunday after speeding around the 1.8-mile, 14-turn temporary street course in 1 minute, 0.4594 of a second (107.179 mph). It earned the 2018 Indianapolis 500 winner the 55th pole position of his Indy car career, moving him within 12 of tying Mario Andretti for the most all time.
“That last run, the car felt really good,” Power said. “I have to say it was a very neat lap and I didn’t really leave anything on the table.
“Honestly, I didn’t expect to be on pole because we had used (Firestone alternate) tires,” he added about the Firestone Fast Six. “We didn’t have new (alternate tires) like a couple of the other guys so, over the moon, man, over the moon to start on pole. I really am happy.”
Twenty-four cars will start Sunday’s 110-lap race as St. Pete hosts the NTT IndyCar Series opener for the ninth straight year. Team Penske owns the front row on the starting grid. Josef Newgarden qualified second in the No. 2 Hitachi Team Penske at 1:00.5570 (107.007 mph), his best starting position in eight St. Pete races.
“We definitely found our footing this morning and made the car really good,” Newgarden, the 2017 NTT IndyCar Series champion, said. “Everyone really executed today. I’m only disappointed in myself. I didn’t put together the best lap there when it really counted. We did a great job getting into the Firestone Fast Six as a team, so you can’t be dissatisfied. It’s really positive for the whole organization.”
Chip Ganassi Racing locked down Row 2, with Felix Rosenqvist qualifying third in his first NTT IndyCar Series race. The Swede turned a lap of 1:00.6884 (106.775 mph) in the No. 10 NTT DATA Honda. Teammate Scott Dixon, the reigning and five-time series champion, was fourth in the No. 9 PNC Bank Honda at 1:00.8544 (106.484 mph).
“I’m pretty happy overall with the result,” said Rosenqvist. “I’m not even sure yet what exact feedback to give to the team in qualifying, so I didn’t want to change anything on the NTT DATA car.
“We are starting side by side tomorrow as teammates and the golden rule there is to always respect your teammate,” he added. “Other than that, I just can’t wait to get going tomorrow for the race here at St. Petersburg.”
Andretti Autosport drivers Ryan Hunter-Reay and Alexander Rossi will start in the third row. Hunter-Reay qualified fifth in the No. 28 DHL Honda with a lap of 1:01.0784. Rossi was sixth in the No. 27 NAPA AUTO PARTS Honda at 1:01.7739.
The first two rounds of qualifying featured incidents that shuffled which drivers advanced to succeeding rounds. A pair of red-flag stoppages in the first group of Round 1 limited green-flag time to a precious few minutes. It prevented Sebastien Bourdais from completing a timed lap so the two-time defending race champion from Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan will start 19th.
Takuma Sato of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing initially advanced from his group in the first round but was penalized for causing a local yellow flag that impeded the qualifying effort of another car. Per INDYCAR rules, Sato forfeited his fastest lap to that point, preventing the 2017 Indy 500 winner from advancing to the second round and allowing Dixon to move on instead.
Rookie Colton Herta of Harding Steinbrenner Racing was third fastest in Round 2 but penalized for qualifying interference, surrendering his two best laps by rule. That allowed Rosenqvist, who was seventh quick in the second round, to move up a spot and on to the Firestone Fast Six.
Sunday’s NTT IndyCar Series schedule calls for a 30-minute warmup practice starting at 9:20 a.m. ET and streaming live on INDYCAR Pass on NBC Sports Gold. Live race coverage takes place on NBCSN (12:30 p.m.) and the Advance Auto Parts INDYCAR Radio Network.
Season opener to stream live in Latin America, Canada
Latin America and Canada will get a live, free look at the NTT IndyCar Series’ season opener, Sunday’s Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.
Canadians will see the livestream of the 1:30 p.m. ET race on Sportsnet.ca. The race also can be seen on SN NOW+, Sportsnet’s direct-to-consumer streaming product.
As part of its strategy to increase engagement with fans in Latin America, INDYCAR will livestream all 2019 NTT IndyCar Series races on IndyCar.com in Mexico and select markets in Central America and South America, excluding Brazil. In Brazil, NTT IndyCar Series will air on both free-to-air TV and subscription services in 2019.
Providing Latin American fans free access to races on IndyCar.com via geofencing will increase NTT IndyCar Series exposure in important markets. INDYCAR will continue to increase exposure of the series in Latin American markets and evaluate opportunities to provide Latin American fans even more access on various platforms.
Road to Indy race recap
Zachary Claman (Belardi Auto Racing) celebrated his return to Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires by leading every lap of the season opener and winning the race by 0.7271 of a second over Toby Sowery (BN Racing/Team Pelfrey). Claman, who drove in Indy Lights from 2016-17, competed in 10 NTT IndyCar Series races in 2017 and ’18, but returned to the top level of the Road to Indy presented by Cooper Tires this season to hone his race craft in hopes of an eventual return to the NTT IndyCar Series.
Parker Thompson (Abel Motorsports) completed a weekend sweep of the Indy Pro 2000 Championship presented by Cooper Tires doubleheader at St. Petersburg. The 21-year-old Canadian won by 1.4334 seconds over Kyle Kirkwood (RP Motorsport Racing) on Saturday, one day after winning the season opener.
Braden Eves also completed a weekend sweep, his in the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship, but in most unusual fashion. Eves was running third in Saturday’s second race when the two cars ahead of him – Darren Keane (Cape Motorsports) and Christian Rasmussen (Jay Howard Driver Development) – had contact on the next-to-last turn of the final lap. Eves dodged the incident and won by 0.6338 of a second over Hunter McElrea (Pabst Racing) to collect his second win in as many days.
Sources: Curt Cavin/NTT IndyCar Series PR
Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg qualifying results
Click HERE to view and download the official qualifying results of the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.
ST. PETERSBURG, Florida – Qualifying Saturday for the Firestone Grand Prix of St Petersburg NTT IndyCar Series event on the 1.8-mile Streets of St. Petersburg, with qualifying position, car number in parentheses, driver, engine, time and speed in parentheses:
1. (12) Will Power, Chevrolet, 01:00.4594 (107.179)
2. (2) Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet, 01:00.5570 (107.007)
3. (10) Felix Rosenqvist, Honda, 01:00.6884 (106.775)
4. (9) Scott Dixon, Honda, 01:00.8544 (106.484)
5. (28) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Honda, 01:01.0784 (106.093)
6. (27) Alexander Rossi, Honda, 01:01.7739 (104.899)
7. (60) Jack Harvey, Honda, 01:00.9531 (106.311)
8. (23) Charlie Kimball, Chevrolet, 01:01.0146 (106.204)
9. (5) James Hinchcliffe, Honda, 01:01.0185 (106.197)
10. (15) Graham Rahal, Honda, 01:01.0944 (106.065)
11. (88) Colton Herta, Honda, 01:01.4182 (105.506)
12. (81) Ben Hanley, Chevrolet, 01:02.3703 (103.896)
13. (22) Simon Pagenaud, Chevrolet, 01:04.6298 (100.263)
14. (26) Zach Veach, Honda, 01:00.9061 (106.393)
15. (20) Ed Jones, Chevrolet, 01:06.1422 (97.971)
16. (21) Spencer Pigot, Chevrolet, 01:00.9495 (106.318)
17. (98) Marco Andretti, Honda, No Time (No Speed)
18. (7) Marcus Ericsson, Honda, 01:01.1345 (105.996)
19. (18) Sebastien Bourdais, Honda, No Time (No Speed)
20. (30) Takuma Sato, Honda, 01:01.1511 (105.967)
21. (14) Tony Kanaan, Chevrolet, No Time (No Speed)
22. (4) Matheus Leist, Chevrolet, 01:01.1579 (105.955)
23. (19) Santino Ferrucci, Honda, No Time (No Speed)
24. (59) Max Chilton, Chevrolet, 01:01.3785 (105.574)