Santino Ferrucci shocked IndyCar as the A.J. Foyt Racing driver scored his first career IndyCar pole Saturday at Portland (Ore.) Int’l Raceway.
Ferrucci’s No. 14 Chevrolet was the fastest with a lap at 58.2046. It was the team’s first pole since Takuma Sato at Detroit’s Belle Isle 10 years ago.
“Man, I think it is no secret how hard we’ve been working this year, how hard I’ve been working, Larry Foyt and everybody on the team, it’s been a year of hard work and progression,” Ferrucci said. “It feels great to put it together, man.
“We brought it.”
This weekend’s race is at Portland Int’l Raceway, a 12-turn, 1.964-mile road course in Portland, Oregon. Sunday’s BITNILE.Com Grand Prix of Portland is 110 laps, 216.04 miles.
Team Penske’s Will Power was second at 58.3120 in the No. 12 Verizon Chevrolet. Points leader Alex Palou of Chip Ganassi Racing was third at 58.4316 in the No. 10 DHL Honda.
Christian Lundgaard of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing was fourth in the No. 45 Hy-Vee Honda at 58.5809 followed by Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood in the No. 27 Honda at 58.5960.
Graham Rahal was sixth in the No. 15 Honda at 58.6342. But he has a six grid-spot penalty for an unapproved engine change, which means he will start 12th on Sunday.
Among the drivers that came up to congratulate Ferrucci was Power. A.J. Foyt Racing and Team Penske share a technical alliance in IndyCar.
“I hope you were using my setup,” Power told Ferrucci with a laugh.
Power will start on the outside of the front row.
“He did a great job,” Power said. “I really wanted the pole because it helps going into the first corner. I have to keep finishing ahead of Palou. He’s right there.
“I have a lot to lose, but less to lose than Alex Palou does.”
Ferrucci’s future with the team is uncertain, especially after it signed David Malukas to a long-term contract on Aug. 13.
“This should help my bargaining power,” Ferrucci said.
In the “Fast Six,” Palou was the only driver that had won a pole this season. Power was looking for his first pole of 2024 and Ferrucci was in his first Firestone Fast Six.
Power was the first to complete a banker lap at 59.7946 before pulling down pit lane with five minutes left in the six-minute session.
When Palou crossed the line for the first time, he was the fastest at 58.6216. Rahal used a set of Firestone Black primary tires and was second quick at 58.6332 with two and a half minutes left in the Fast Six.
Palou maintained his lead with just one minute left.
Ferrucci, in his first Firestone Fast Fix, stunned the paddock with the fastest lap at 58.3042, knocking Palou off the No. 1 position. Power would ultimately be the second fastest at 58.3120.
Segment One, Group One
David Malukas was attempting a fast lap in the final minute before he got two of his wheels off into the grass. He had a chance for one more lap in an attempt to advance.
It didn’t work.
“We overdid the setup and that was on me,” Malukas said. “We struggled on that. I had a big mistake in Turn Six and that lap was going to be the one.
“It’s unfortunate, but we’ll have to work on that.”
Scott Dixon was seventh after the checkered flag dropped, but he still had one more lap to complete. He was able to race his way into sixth position with a lap at 58.4773.
Christian Lundgaard was the fastest in this group at 58.2063 in the No. 45 Hy-Vee Honda for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. Kyle Kirkwood of Andretti Global was second at 58.2463 in the No. 27 Honda followed by Ferrucci’s No. 14 Chevrolet from A.J, Foyt Racing at 58.2715. Colton Herta of Andretti Global was fourth in the No. 26 Gainbridge Honda at 58.3300 followed by Graham Rahal’s 58.4117 in the No. 15 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda and Dixon’s 48.4773 in the No. 9 PNC Bank Honda.
Pietro Fittipaldi of Rahal Letterman Lanigan was the first driver out, seventh at 58.4955.
A big surprise was Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward was 12th out of 13 drivers at 58.7903 in the No. 5 Chevrolet.
“I don’t know what went on with the Reds,” O’Ward said of his tires. “It never switched on, on the Reds. Maybe we were a little off-sequence. That was a handful; not pace in it at all. I don’t know how much more I could have done.
“It’s a bummer because I thought we could have had a chance at the Fast Six.”
Group Two
This group featured all three Team Penske cars, plus points leader Palou of Chip Ganassi Racing.
Palou drove the session like a real pro, putting up a banker lap of 58.3055 that was fast enough for the rest of the field to aim at with 2 minutes left.
With that lap in the bank, Palou had a chance to go even faster, if necessary, as the session entered its final minute. He turned a lap at 58.2459 and stayed on top at the conclusion of the session.
Palou’s No. 9 DHL Honda was the fastest, but the real story was the driver who didn’t advance.
It was Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin, the fastest driver in both Friday’s and Saturday’s practice session, who was seventh at 58.4489 in the No. 9 Team Penske Chevrolet. He was just seven-tenths of a second out of sixth, the final advancement position.
“I didn’t find the gap that I should have,” McLaughlin said. “I’m pretty disappointed. You just can’t afford, even if a car is one second ahead of you, it will slow it down.
“I’m pretty bummed because I had a car that could have won the pole. I just didn’t have the right gap.”
Team Penske’s Will Power was second in the No. 12 Verizon Chevrolet at 58.2552 followed by Chip Ganassi Racing’s Marcus Armstrong at 58.3407 in the No. 11 Honda. Marcus Ericsson’s No. 28 Andretti Global Honda was fourth at 58.3651 followed by Romain Grosjean’s No. 77 Juncos Hollinger Chevrolet at 58.3713 and Josef Newgarden’s No. 2 Chevrolet at Team Penske at 48.4076.
Second Segment
The top four in points all advanced into the round of 12, which would be whittled down to the Fast Six.
With 7:32 left in the session, points leader Palou went into the final turn too fast and nose-first into the tire barrier in the final corner.
It wasn’t hard enough to damage the front nose, and Palou was able to refire his No. 10 Honda and return to the track without bringing out a red flag. Had that happened, he would have lost his two fastest laps and not been able to advance. Instead, he lost his fastest lap but had the ability to advance.
Palou returned to the pints for his crew to inspect the car. The Chip Ganassi Racing team bolted on a set of Firestone Reds and he returned to the course intent on advancing into the Fast Six.
He raced his way into fourth with one minute left with a lap at 58.8528, but as other drivers went faster, Palou rotated out of the six advancing drivers.
No problem. He came back with the second-fastest lap at 58.3796 with 30 seconds left in the session. That time would drop to third as Power was the fastest at 58.1196 followed by Kirkwood’s 58.3491. Palou was third followed by Lundgaard’s 58.3917. Ferrucci put the A.J. Foyt Racing Chevrolet into the Fast Six at 58.3932.
It was the first time an A.J. Foyt car made the Fast Six since Sebastien Bourdais in 2021.
Rahal was the last driver to advance at 58.4066, giving Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing two drivers in the Fast Six.
Missing out were Newgarden at 58.4163, Grosjean’s 58.4494, Armstrong’s 58.4518, Herta’s 58.4593, Dixon’s 58.4772 and Ericsson’s 58.5044.
Newgarden reported the rev limiter spiked on one of his laps. Herta believes he still has a good car, despite his qualifying position as he enters the race second in the championship, trailing Palou by 59 points.
And Dixon was disappointed that he didn’t advance.
“That sucks,” Dixon said. “Starting position, you want to be up at the front.”
That is how they got to the Fast Six.