For the second consecutive race, two Team Penske Chevrolets will lead the field to the green flag. Josef Newgarden took pole position for the Kohler Grand Prix Saturday at Road America. He will start alongside teammate Will Power.
Having lead both of Friday’s practice sessions, Newgarden’s pace dropped significantly in Saturday’s final practice with the thirteenth fastest time. The defending series champion’s Penske team regrouped and found the grip and speed as other cars slid off course attempting to match his 1:43.2026 pace.
“We had the speed on Friday, so to be able to finish that off today is really nice, but it’s only goal one,” Newgarden said. “You normally have two races during the weekend, one’s for pole, one’s for the actual race victory. So we’ve got to still close this out tomorrow.”
Power was one of those hard chargers, fighting the reduced downforce of the new aero kit. While the field continues to adjust to the new means of handling Road America, Power very much took to the changes and was very animated upon exiting the car.
“That was close!” he exclaimed. “We were kind of off the whole time, and then I absolutely gave it everything for that last lap.”
Having come up just short of the Verizon P1 Award yet again, Power couldn’t help but take notice.
“Man, if there’s a prize for front rows, I’m going to get it this year,” he said. “I keep getting front rows every weekend, but not the pole!”
Ryan Hunter-Reay maintained his strong practice pace, taking P3. He will start ahead of pole favourite and teammate Alexander Rossi. The two were involved in a tense race finish in Detroit. Now, the pressure to win has been taken off of Hunter-Reay and his qualifying performance reflects this ease.
Robert Wickens topped the final qualifying session and hinted at the possibility of having a pole-worthy run throughout qualifying sessions. Pushing late for one last flying lap, he too struggled with the car’s light downforce and settled for P5 ahead of Sebastien Bourdais.
Running 4.048 miles, the sheer length of Road America proved troublesome for teams to manage tire degradation and number of laps in qualifying. With the benefit of starting the race from pole, Newgarden knows that half of tomorrow’s battle will be surviving the challenging track.
“We’ve just got to be smart,” he said. “Getting through those first couple laps is critical around Road America.”
The Verizon IndyCar Series takes to Road America Sunday, June 24 for the Kohler Grand Prix.
