The NTT IndyCar Series completed a knockout qualifying session Portland International Raceway on Saturday afternoon to determine the order for Sunday’s race.
When all three rounds had been completed, the series had a brand new pole winner by the name of Santino Ferrucci.
The 26-year-old placed his #14 AJ Foyt Racing entry at the top of the grid with a lap of 58.2046, a full tenth of a second ahead of Will Power during a weekend where margins have been measured in thousandths of a second.
READ MORE: IndyCar Portland – Full Qualifying Results
His performance was so dominant that he actually set two separate laps that each would have been fast enough to earn the top spot.
Ferrucci earned his first ever IndyCar pole and also gave AJ Foyt Racing its first pole since Belle Isle in 2014 when Takuma Sato was at the head of the field.
Power was not able to increase his record pole number on account of Ferrucci’s pace, but still earned a position on the front row with his lap and congratulated the newest pole winner as he climbed from the car.
AJ Foyt Racing and Team Penske have a technical alliance, and both seem to be benefitting nicely from the arrangement.
The championship leader Alex Palou very nearly struck disaster during his first push lap in the second round, but he managed to save his car from damage by coming to a stop in the grass just as he touched the tire barriers at Turn 12.
He recovered to advance to the Firestone Fast 6 and qualified in the third position, just ahead of Christian Lundgaard.
Kyle Kirkwood and Graham Rahal rounded out the final round, although Rahal has a grid penalty and will start from the 12th position.
Josef Newgarden very nearly advanced to the final round, but was just below the cut line in the incredibly close field.
He was just a shade slower than his team-mate Will Power, which ended up being below the cut line.
Scott McLaughlin suffered a surprise elimination in the first round, earning the 14th starting position despite leading both practice sessions to this point.
McLaughlin was obviously disappointed after he climbed from his car, and related that it was simply his inability to find a clear space on track that caused his unexpected elimination.
David Malukas and Alexander Rossi were also eliminated in the first round after both were at the top of the field during the early sessions.
Rossi qualified 18th and Malukas qualified 19th, though the young Meyer Shank Racing driver will start even further down on account of his engine penalty.
The other two Arrow McLaren drivers also struggled to find pace around the track, with Pato O’Ward and Nolan Siegel qualifying 23rd and 24th respectively.
There is a short final practice session later in the day, followed by a 110-lap tilt around PIR Sunday at noon Pacific Time.
