Will Power wins pole for tomorrow's Firestone 600 at Texas (VIDEO) - MotorSportsTalk

For the second straight year, Will Power will lead the Verizon IndyCar Series field to the green flag at Texas Motor Speedway.

Power, who holds a 19-point lead in the championship over Team Penske teammate Helio Castroneves, cranked out a two-lap average of 218.896 miles per hour in the No. 12 Verizon Chevrolet to take the pole for tomorrow’s Firestone 600 (8 p.m. ET, NBCSN and NBC Sports Live Extra).

Congratulations to @12WillPower and the No. 12 @Team_Penske crew on taking the #VerizonP1 Award @TXMotorSpeedway! pic.twitter.com/mTZ9pVNSR7

— Paddock Insider (@PaddockInsider) June 6, 2014

Last year, Power took the pole but faded to a seventh-place result while Castroneves buried the competition in a dominant victory on the 1.5-mile, high-banked oval.

As a result, the Australian isn’t putting too much stock in his qualifying run today and is focused on having a good race set-up.

“I remember last year starting on the pole, and it’s good for the [championship] point and that’s about it,” he told IndyCar Radio.

“You must have a good race car and a good race car in traffic as well…The tires grain a lot, so at the end of the stint, it’s pretty hard to hold on and maintain a good pace.”

Starting alongside Will Power on the front row will be Josef Newgarden of the single-car Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing team.

With his No. 67 Honda bearing the metallic Strike livery, the American turned in a two-lap average of 217.835 mph that stood atop the pylon until Power came along.

Practice 1 leader and Target Chip Ganassi Racing driver Tony Kanaan will roll off from the inside of Row 2 after his two-lap average of 217.826.

Joining him will be another Penske driver, Juan Pablo Montoya, whose average of 217.724 mph was good enough for fourth.

Ed Carpenter, always a threat on the ovals, will line up fifth in Row 3 alongside Simon Pagenaud in sixth.

As for defending race champion Castroneves, he’ll have some climbing to do. His first lap of 217.622 mph had him toward the front of the field, but his second lap was markedly slower at 215.571 mph.

That left his average at 216.591 mph, good for just 14th on the 22-car grid.

A final, 30-minute practice session is currently ongoing and is expected to run until 8:15 p.m. ET.

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The NTT IndyCar Series will head to Texas Motor Speedway this weekend for its first oval race of the season and a preview of its biggest race.

After Sunday’s PPG 375 at Texas, the next oval on the schedule is May 28 with the 107th running of the Indy 500. Chip Ganassi Racing dominated last year’s 500-miler at Indianapolis Motor Speedway after placing all four of its Dallara-Hondas in the top 10 at Texas.

The Dallara-Chevrolets of Team Penske also will be heavy favorites at Texas. Josef Newgarden passed teammate Scott McLaughlin on the final lap for the victory last year as Penske took three of the top four (with defending series champion Will Power in fourth).

Texas marks the first of five oval races for IndyCar, which also will visit Iowa Speedway and World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway. There are 28 drivers entered for the 36th IndyCar race at Texas, the series’ most at the track since 30 in June 2011.

Scott Dixon has a series-high five victories at Texas, mostly recently in May 2021. Helio Castroneves (four wins), Newgarden (two) and Power (two) also are multiple winners at Texas.

Here are the details and IndyCar start times for the PPG 375 race weekend at Texas Motor Speedway (all times are ET):

INDYCAR PPG 375 TEXAS START TIMES

TV: Sunday, noon ET on NBC and streaming on Peacock, the NBC Sports App and NBCSports.com. Leigh Diffey is the announcer with analysts Townsend Bell and James Hinchcliffe (whose first career IndyCar victory came at St. Petersburg 10 years ago).

Marty Snider and Dave Burns are the pit reporters. Telemundo Deportes on Universo will provide a Spanish-language telecast. Click here for the full NBC Sports schedule for IndyCar in 2023.

Peacock also will be the streaming broadcast for both practices and qualifying and Indy NXT races. (Click here for information on how to sign up for Peacock.)

COMMAND TO START ENGINES: 12:10 p.m. ET

GREEN FLAG: 12:15 p.m. ET

POSTRACE SHOW ON PEACOCK: After the race’s conclusion, an exclusive postrace show will air on Peacock with driver interviews, postrace analysis and the podium presentation. To watch the extended postrace show, click over to the special stream on Peacock after the race ends.

Peacock also will be the streaming broadcast for practices and qualifying.

INDYCAR RADIO NETWORK: The IndyCar and Indy Lights races and all practices and qualifying sessions will air live on network affiliates, SiriusXM 160, racecontrol.indycar.com and the IndyCar app.

PRACTICE: Saturday sessions at 9 a.m., 1:45 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. (Peacock Premium), 1:45 p.m.

PRACTICE RESULTS: Session I l Session II

QUALIFYING: Saturday, 12:15 p.m. (Peacock Premium)

STARTING LINEUP: Click here for the grid at Texas

RACE DISTANCE: The race is 250 laps (375 miles) on a 1.5-mile oval in Fort Worth, Texas

TIRE ALLOTMENT: Eleven primary sets to be used during practice, qualifying and the race. An extra set will be available to cars in the high-line practice session.

FORECAST: According to Wunderground.com, it’s expected to be 67 degrees with a 71% chance of rain at the green flag.

ENTRY LIST: Click here for the 28 cars entered