IndyCar series leader Will Power says a “slow” Rinus VeeKay distracted him when he went off and incurred a penalty which cost him a shot at pole position in Nashville.

Power was provisionally sixth-fastest at the end of Round 2 of Qualifying, until he was stripped of his fastest lap for causing a local yellow flag which affected Pato O’Ward.

The sanction cost the #12 Team Penske entry two positions and hence locked it into eighth on the starting grid, whereas Scott McLaughlin went on to claim pole in the sister #3 Chevrolet after the squad went one-two-three in the day’s earlier practice session.

According to Power, VeeKay contributed to his tour up the Turn 4 run-off area.

“It was definitely good enough to be in the Fast Six,” said the Queenslander on the Peacock stream which is carried by Stan Sport.

“Just… I couldn’t leave a big enough gap to VeeKay.

“I mean, he was just so slow and I caught him and locked a wheel.

“I mean, I didn’t catch him-catch him, but if you have that distraction in front of you and you’ve got some dirty air… yep.”

Fittingly, O’Ward inherited sixth position due to the penalty, which came despite Power quickly flick-spinning Car #12.

“I don’t know whether it’s better to leave your car facing backwards [or not],” added the 2014 series winner.

“They’re not supposed to throw a yellow if the car’s backwards, so I spun around pretty quick, but it would have been quick thinking to sort of sit there and I spun it hoping…

“But yeah, it’s always tough in quali with track position and penalties and getting caught by reds… It’s just the way it is; it’s hard.”

For Power, there are some consolations.

Aside from his propensity to dig himself out of holes this season, such as the win from 16th on the grid at Detroit, he is still starting ahead of two of his key rivals.

Neither Marcus Ericsson nor Chip Ganassi Racing team-mate Scott Dixon, who are second and fourth respectively in the series, got out of Round 1 of the session.

“We could have a great day tomorrow,” remarked Power.

“Just got to get the Verizon 5G Chevy with a good strategy and good pit stops and see what we got.”

After morning Warm Up, race started is scheduled for tomorrow at 05:30 AEST.

All the action is live and ad-free on Stan Sport from 05:00 AEST.