Josef Newgarden has taken his second consecutive IndyCar Series pole position as he strives to give Team Penske a breakthrough victory this weekend at Road America.
The powerhouse squad failed to take a single win during the first half of the 16-race 2021 schedule, but are well placed for tomorrow morning’s race (AEST).
Newgarden, who was run down late by Pato O’Ward in the second leg of the recent Dual in Detroit, starred in the Fast Six to secure pole.
His biggest threats came in the form of Andretti Autosport’s Colton Herta and Jack Harvey of Meyer Shank Racing, but Newgarden’s 1:46.0186s was ultimately unrivalled.
Australia’s Will Power qualified fourth, with Simon Pagenaud making it three Penske cars in the top six.
Their team-mate Scott McLaughlin had a tougher run and will start 17th on the grid, four places behind fellow New Zealander Scott Dixon.
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Romain Grosjean, who set the pace in practice on the opening day of the event, qualified seventh while his ex-Haas Formula 1 team-mate Kevin Magnussen will start from 21st on the 25-car grid.
Magnussen is filling in for injured McLaren SP driver Felix Rosenqvist.
Series leader O’Ward will start 10th. The race will start at 02:00 AEST tomorrow.
Grid for IndyCar Series race, Round 9 at Road America
| Position | Car # | Driver | Team |
| 1 | 2 | Josef Newgarden | Team Penske |
| 2 | 26 | Colton Herta | Andretti Autosport |
| 3 | 60 | Jack Harvey | Meyer Shank Racing |
| 4 | 12 | Will Power | Team Penske |
| 5 | 10 | Alex Palou | Chip Ganassi Racing |
| 6 | 22 | Simon Pagenaud | Team Penske |
| 7 | 51 | Romain Grosjean | Dale Coyne Racing w/ Rick Ware Racing |
| 8 | 28 | Ryan Hunter-Reay | Andretti Autosport |
| 9 | 27 | Alexander Rossi | Andretti Autosport |
| 10 | 5 | Pato O’Ward | McLaren SP |
| 11 | 14 | Sebastien Bourdais | A. J. Foyt Enterprises |
| 12 | 18 | Ed Jones | Dale Coyne Racing w/ Vasser-Sullivan |
| 13 | 9 | Scott Dixon | Chip Ganassi Racing |
| 14 | 15 | Graham Rahal | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing |
| 15 | 20 | Conor Daly | Ed Carpenter Racing |
| 16 | 21 | Oliver Askew | Ed Carpenter Racing |
| 17 | 3 | Scott McLaughlin | Team Penske |
| 18 | 8 | Marcus Ericsson | Chip Ganassi Racing |
| 19 | 29 | James Hinchliffe | Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport |
| 20 | 30 | Takuma Sato | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing |
| 21 | 7 | Kevin Magnussen | McLaren SP |
| 22 | 59 | Max Chilton | Carlin |
| 23 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Chip Ganassi Racing |
| 24 | 4 | Dalton Kellett | A. J. Foyt Enterprises |
| 25 | 52 | Cody Ware | Dale Coyne Racing w/ Rick Ware Racing |
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