INDIANAPOLIS – It was an upside-down day of qualifications for the IndyCar Grand Prix at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Felix Rosenqvist, a rookie, won his first pole while the driver who has dominated this event, Will Power, drove hard just to finish sixth in the Firestone Fast Six.
Other drivers in the Fast Six included third-place Jack Harvey, 19-year-old rookie Colton Herta in fourth and Ed Jones fifth.
NTT IndyCar Series points leader Josef Newgarden qualified 13th for Team Penske, Ryan Hunter-Reay 16th for Andretti Autosport with teammate Alexander Rossi 17th.
With potential rain in the forecast, it could mix up Saturday’s IndyCar Grand Prix even more.
As far as Friday’s action, Rosenqvist, Harvey and Herta were the stars of an unexpected day of qualifications.
Rosenqvist lapped the 2.439-mile, 14-turn Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course in 1:08.2785 for a fast lap of 128.597 mph in the No. 10 NTT DATA Honda for Chip Ganassi Racing. It was his first pole and the 90th IndyCar pole for Chip Ganassi Racing.
“We’ve been up there all day and my car was amazing,” Rosenqvist said afterwards. “It’s a really good day. It started very solid. I was top-five all day. The first and last set of Firestone tires, didn’t feel like I had a lot of grip. On the last set, I thought this could be good but didn’t know the speed was going to hold up.
“I spent the last two races in the angry mid-pack. It’s good to be back where we were. I hope we can finish 1-2 on Saturday.”
Rosenqvist’s teammate at Chip Ganassi Racing, five-time NTT IndyCar Series champion Scott Dixon, qualified second at 1:08.2979 (128.560 mph) in the No. 9 PNC Bank Honda.
“On the first lap, I didn’t go hard enough,” Dixon said. “The second lap made the difference. The cars are similar between mine and Felix. It’s good to see what Saturday brings for Chip Ganassi Racing.
“Last year, the Firestone Reds were so good. We had two brand new sets and we were able to come through the field.
“Who knows, man? Weather – what are you going to do?”
Harvey’s No. 60 Sirius XM Honda was third at 1:08.3238 for a fast lap at 128.512 mph for Michael Shank Racing.
Herta, who won the IndyCar Classic at Circuit of the Americas in March, qualified fourth at 1:08.3743 (128.417 mph) in a Honda with Jones’ Chevrolet fifth at 1:08.4609 (128.254 mph).
Power’s sixth-place starting position was stunning considering he has started on the pole in three of the previous five races on the IMS road course, including the last two years in a row. All of Power’s three wins in the IndyCar GP have come from the pole.
“The weather is going to be mixed up so that will make for a mixed-up race,” Power said. “I don’t seem to have the ultimate pace of these guys in front of us, but you don’t know how these races will go. I hope we have a good start and see if we can move a few spots up.
“That was a serious lap I did to be sixth. We are just a little bit lost. We can’t put our finger on where we are slow. I’m not sure why, but we’ll have a good look at it tonight. It’s confusing for us because the cars don’t feel that bad. We can’t understand why we are slow.”
All segments of Friday’s qualifications included some big surprises. Newgarden, Helio Castroneves, Rossi and Patricio O’Ward were among the drivers that never advanced out of the first group in the first segment. Ryan Hunter-Reay and James Hinchcliffe did not advance out of the second group in the first segment.
The green flag is scheduled to wave at 3:30 p.m. ET.