Qualifying Tag

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer INDIANAPOLIS – Risk vs. reward is one of those deals where people have to put up with in life. Alex Palou was no exception after an attempt for a better qualifying run went totally awry Saturday. Palou was already seventh fastest with a four-lap average of 231.145 mph, but wanted to see if a better run can be achieved. Motorsports Tribune asked the Barber winner about the confidence levels on making Sunday’s Fast Nine. “We don’t want to risk a really good car that weRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer INDIANAPOLIS – It was the Honda show during Fast Friday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Whether it’s single-lap or a four-lap average, they ruled the speed charts. The stranglehold was strong that only three Chevrolet drivers cracked the top-10 on the four-lap average. One of the three also was the lone man who’s one-lap speed made the top-10. That guy was Arrow McLaren SP’s Pato O’Ward. The XPEL 375 winner was sixth fastest in single-lap speed at 232.034 mph with his four-lap average of 231.522 mphRead More

By INDYCAR INDIANAPOLIS – Talk about making an entrance. Former Formula One driver Romain Grosjean won the NTT P1 Award for the GMR Grand Prix on Friday afternoon on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, making ripples across the motorsports world by earning his first career NTT INDYCAR SERIES pole in just his third start. Rookie Grosjean turned a top lap of 1 minute, 9.4396 seconds in the No. 51 NURTEC ODT Honda during the Firestone Fast Six final round of qualifying. This was Grosjean’s first open-wheel pole since he claimedRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Josef Newgarden missed out on capturing the NTT P1 Pole Award during Friday qualifying at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course. That’s because Romain Grosjean was able to set a time of 69.4396 seconds, just 0.1269 seconds quicker than the two-time series champion. During the closing minutes of the Firestone Fast Six, Newgarden fought hard to knock the Frenchman down. However, they didn’t quite have enough mustard to set one last flyer that would’ve marked his first pole of 2021. Instead, he’ll start alongside GrosjeanRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Qualifying is crucial for an IndyCar driver’s chances of delivering an outstanding result. More so in the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg as indicated by outside pole sitter Jack Harvey. Clocking in at 01:00.5709, Harvey wasn’t able to capture that elusive NTT P1 Pole Award during Saturday’s qualifying. Instead, it was his pseudo-teammate Colton Herta (01:00.3210) who went 0.2499 seconds quicker in the Firestone Fast Six. Nonetheless, Harvey was thrilled about starting on the front row for the third time of his career. “IRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer The 63rd Daytona 500 will have a plethora of racing standouts looking to make the 40-car field. One of those being Ryan Preece, who must make the field either via qualifying or the Duels to make his third 500 appearance. That’s because Preece’s No. 37 JTG Daugherty Racing entry doesn’t have a charter as the once Todd Braun owned property was sold to Spire Motorsports. Thus, the team who won last year’s Daytona 500 pole could possibly only have Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. and not theRead More

By INDYCAR NTT INDYCAR SERIES rookie Rinus VeeKay won the NTT P1 Award for his first career NTT INDYCAR SERIES pole position Thursday, Oct. 1 at the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway. VeeKay, 20, posted a top lap of 1 minute, 9.6903 seconds, 125.992 mph in the No. 21 SONAX Chevrolet in Group 2 of qualifying for Friday’s INDYCAR Harvest GP presented by GMR. Live coverage of the 85-lap race on the 14-turn, 2.439-mile IMS road course starts at 3:30 p.m. (ET) on USA Network. “It was tough,” VeeKay said. “IRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer The race that literally got its race confirmed a week ago came and went with some captivating takeaways. This weekend’s Honda Indy 200 doubleheader at Mid-Ohio saw guys getting their grips together that brought much needed positives to this rather topsy turvy NTT IndyCar Series season. You saw Team Penske’s Will Power and Andretti Autosport’s Colton Herta setting the tone without any mistakes getting in the way. The latter team in particular, it was easily their best weekend they’ve had in a real long time andRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer A feelgood moment for both Conor Daly and Carlin as they’ll lead the field to the green flag for the first time ever in the NTT IndyCar Series after setting a blistering opening lap speed of 175.188 mph, beating outside pole sitter Josef Newgarden’s speed of 175.107 mph. Several tried, but nobody could dethrone Daly and as soon the last driver to qualify (Scott Dixon) couldn’t pull it off, nervousness quickly turned into jubilation as the NTT P1 Pole Award for tonight’s Iowa INDYCAR 250 atRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer The front row for Sunday’s REV Group Grand Prix at Road America saw a flashback to 2018 as Pato O’Ward and Colton Herta, the top-two points finishers in Indy Lights that year, will lead the field to the green flag for the second 55-lap race. O’Ward one upped his former Indy Lights teammate and rival with a time of 1:44.8971 (137.758 mph), just 0.2790 seconds quicker than Herta’s time to capture his maiden NTT P1 Pole Award and the first under the Arrow McLaren SP banner.Read More