Scott McLaughlin has qualified on pole ahead of teammate Will Power for this weekend’s IndyCar race at Barber Motorsports Park.
The Kiwi’s 1:05.9490 on his final lap in the Fast 6 session was one-tenth of a second faster than Power’s best and delivered Penske their 300th pole.
Marcus Armstrong will start on the third row in sixth, while Meyer Shank Racing’s rookie Tom Blomqvist impressed to qualify 12th, having progressed to Round 2 for the first time this season.
Long Beach winner Scott Dixon was eliminated in the Group Stages and starts from 13th.
Armstrong and Dixon qualified in Group 1, which was topped by defending champion Alex Palou from St Petersburg winner Pato O’Ward. Armstrong was third, ahead of Graham Rahal, Romain Grosjean and Kyle Kirkwood.
Dixon’s 1:06.1425 was one-tenth short of a berth in Round 2 as the group’s seventh-fastest time.
McLaughlin was the top qualifier from Group 2, heading home Penske teammates Power and Newgarden with a 1:05.8147. Christian Lundgaard was fourth, ahead of Felix Rosenqvist and Blomqvist.
Luungaard’s 1:05.8130 was the quickest in Round 2, 0.0635 seconds quicker than Power’s 1:05875. McLaughlin’s 1:05.9344 put him into the Fast Six in third, one place ahead of Armstrong. O’Ward and Rosenqvist were the others to qualify for the shootout for the pole.
Blomqvist’s fastest was 1:06.3871, 0.3453 seconds short of the time required to progress to the final round.
McLaughlin set the benchmark early in Fast Six qualifying, his 1:06.3295 remaining at the top until Power bettered it with a 1:06.046 with a minute to go.
The Kiwi responded with a 1:05.949-second flyer, enough to claim the pole.
The strong performance came at the end of a week in which Team Penske was penalised for illegal use of the Push to Pass system at the season-opening Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. McLaughlin and teammate Josef Newgarden were disqualified from the race, while Power received a 10-point penalty.
“It’s been tough,” McLaughlin said. “The Good Ranchers Chevy was so good today, and I just wanted to give these guys and girls on the team an opportunity to be back on the front row and back on the pole. In the last couple of races, we just haven’t hit it in qualifying.
“This means a lot. We’ve just got to keep focusing like this for the rest of the season and keep working hard.”
Tomorrow’s IndyCar race at Barber Motorsports Park begins at 5.00 am NZST and will be shown live on Sky Sport.
