ELKHART LAKE, Wis. — Colton Herta overcame some problems during Saturday’s practice session, when he ran through the grass on three separate occasions but came back to win the pole for Sunday’s Sonsio Grand Prix of Road America NTT IndyCar Series race.
It was Herta’s 10th Verizon P1 Award.
The driver of the No. 26 Gainbridge Honda for Andretti Autosport had a fast time of 1:40.1945 around the 14-turn, 4.014-mile Road America road course.
“That was a really good job,” Herta said to his crew. “The car was great.”
Herta’s Indy Lights teammate, Pato O’Ward of Arrow McLaren, was second with a fast time of 1:40.3643 in the No. 5 Chevrolet.
“It’s a front row start, we just missed pole by a tad, I got a little wide in Canada Corner and that is where we lost it a bit,” O’Ward said. “Colton did a good lap. It’s a long race and will be interesting tomorrow with the Reds and the Blacks.
“We’re happy. I’m happy with the car. We are ready to flow with it tomorrow.”
Alex Palou, who slammed his car into the turn 14 tire barrier in Saturday morning’s practice, was third at 1:40.4930 in the No. 10 American Legion Honda.
“It hurts because we could have been fighting for pole even more without that crash, but good recovery, amazing job by Ganassi team to have that car on track,” Palou said. “They had to do a big rebuild on the right side, but everything felt like normal.
“Pretty happy starting P3. Also, happy to drive an Indy car at Road America.”
Josef Newgarden of Team Penske was fourth in a Chevrolet at 1:40.9530, followed by Alexander Rossi’s No. 7 Chevrolet at 1:41.1854.
Kyle Kirkwood did not take a lap in the qualification session because his car was on fire at the end of the second segment. But he will start sixth on Sunday.
For Herta, it was a heroic effort to whip the car around the newly repaved road course for his first pole of the season.
“It was a great car,” Herta said. “We’ve been working at it full time.
“This place with the repave is not easy. To have a car that was capable enough to attack in the Fast Six is impressive. It’s been way too long this year to have a pole so it’s nice to get this one.
“I hope it’s big, but I really don’t know yet. But this doesn’t make it easier. We have a lot less work to do in the race so that is nice.”
Romain Grosjean spun out into the gravel during the first group of the first segment, but the track remained green.
Scott Dixon, who was driving a new car after he was involved in a crash with Will Power in Saturday morning’s practice session, spun off during one of his fast laps with 1:50 left in the segment.
Dixon was unable to advance into the top six drivers in that session, but there were several names that made it to the next round.
Herta was the fastest with a lap at 1:40.5881 in a Honda followed by rookie Benjamin Pedersen’s 1:41.2255 in the No. 55 Chevrolet. Devlin DeFrancesco was third at 1:41.2443 in the No. 29 Honda followed by Newgarden’s 1:41.3132 in a Chevrolet. Kirkwood’s Honda was fifth at 1:41.4400 with Santino Ferrucci putting the second A.J. Foyt Racing Chevrolet into the next round at 1:41.4723.
David Malukas of Dale Coyne Racing missed advancing with a fast time of 1:41.5204 in the No. 18 Honda. Other drivers that did not make it out of the round included Rinus VeeKay in a Chevrolet, Callum Ilott in the No. 77 Chevrolet, Romain Grosjean’s Honda, Augustin Canapino’s Chevrolet, Dixon’s Honda, and Sting Ray Robb’s Honda.
“We had to switch to another car, and it was a tight turnaround, the brake bias and the steering was off,” Dixon said. “It’s tough.”
In the second group of the first segment, Power’s No. 12 Chevrolet had been completely rebuilt after it was involved in a crash with Dixon in Saturday morning’s practice session, had to come into the pits on his first lap because of something that had been left in the cockpit of his car. It was either a tool or a bolt, but a crewmember had to reach inside and into the floor of the car to get it out as it was impeding his brake pedal.
As the session neared a conclusion, Ryan Hunter-Reay’s No. 20 Chevrolet ran off course in turn 14 and slammed into the tire barrier to bring out the red flag. Race Control gave the field one final flying lap because of RHR’s incident.
Power, who was still upset with Dixon’s role in the crash during practice, voiced his frustration to his crew on pit lane before he took to the track to make one last chance to advance into the next round.
Power went off track and his car acted like a bucking bronco as it went across the grass and hopped into the air. But he was able to maintain control and get back into the pits without any further incident, but he blew a head gasket after he took his helmet off.
“This track is terrible when you go off, they do a terrible job here,” Power said. “They need to pick up their game. Anywhere you go off, you almost break your back every time. I went off a couple of times this weekend. They need a kick in the butt at this place.
“I’m just pissed what Dixon did this morning. It ruined our whole weekend. Just a terrible move.
“The guys did a great job, but we had a screwdriver in the cockpit. Everyone thrashed. I did what I could.
“It’s so hard in this field if you are behind the 8-ball and aren’t sure with a new front wing, new floor and what the aero balance will be. Man, frustrating because we were really quick this morning. I’m disappointed with what happened. Really disappointed
“And Grosjean is a piece of crap what he did to me in practice. He needs a punt in the face.”
Power was referring an earlier incident with Romain Grosjean in Saturday’s practice.
Power didn’t advance into the next round and will start near the back of the field with Dixon.
Alexander Rossi was the fastest in this group at 1:40.5881 in the No. 7 Chevrolet. He was followed by Jack Harvey’s Honda at 1:41.2255, Graham Rahal’s Honda at 1:41.2443, Alex Palou’s Honda at 1:41.2868, Christian Lundgaard’s Honda at 1:41.3132 and Pato O’Ward’s Chevrolet.
Failing to advance were Marcus Armstrong, Felix Rosenqvist, Scott McLaughlin, Simon Pagenaud, Marcus Ericsson, Power, and Helio Castroneves.
In the second segment, Herta was the fastest at 1:40.5476 followed by Palou’s 1:40.5572, Kirkwood at 1:40.9322, O’Ward’s 1:40.9393, Newgarden’s 1:40.9716 and Rossi’s 1:40.9948.
Christian Lundgaard was the first out at 1:41.0480 followed by Armstrong’s 1:41.1737, Ericsson’s 1:41.2202, Pedersen’s 1:41.4989, Ferrucci’s 1:41.6314 and DeFrancesco’s 1:41.8277.
Kirkwood’s Honda ran off course near the end of qualifications with a fire under the car. Although he advanced to the Fast Six, there were five cars that actually hit the track in the final round.