PORTLAND, Oregon - Colton Herta clinched the pole position for the Grand Prix of Portland Saturday afternoon in a wild qualifying session that saw all of the top three drivers in the championship standings miss the Fast Six.
On his final lap of the Firestone Fast Six, Herta posted a 57.8111 second lap, which was enough to narrowly take the top spot away from Will Power.
“I can’t believe we pulled it off,” Herta told NBC Sports. “It’s always a good day when you can beat Will Power in the Fast Six.”
"Can't believe we pulled it off."@ColtonHerta showed his strength in qualifying, putting his @FollowHSRacing car on pole for Sunday's @Portland_GP on @NBC! pic.twitter.com/1CdiAQoPVH
— INDYCAR on NBC (@IndyCaronNBC) August 31, 2019
Herta’s had plenty to smile about over the course of the weekend at Portland. On Friday, he was fastest in practice 1, and earlier in the day Saturday, he was fastest again in P3. In his relatively short career, Portland has already become one of Herta’s favorite tracks.
“I love this place,” Herta said. “I had my first IndyCar test here, so obviously it means a lot to me.
“To have a second career pole here is even cooler. Hopefully we can add a second career win.”
With Herta clinching the pole, Power would have to settle for second. Still, Power has no issue with a front-row starting position.
Power, going on a “one-and-done” strategy in the final round, locked his brakes entering Turn 1 on his lone flying lap, which flat-spotted his right front tire. Power ended the session just a mire 0.0192 seconds behind the pole.
“It was my fault for not warming the brakes a bit more,” Power said. “It’s tough when you go out and you have to pump it out straight away. You don’t get any temp in the brakes here because there’s no braking zones.
“But P2, you can definitely win from there. We’ll just go for it tomorrow.”
Scott Dixon qualified third, while Jack Harvey, Felix Rosenqvist and Ryan Hunter-Reay rounded out the top six qualifiers.
Alexander Rossi qualified seventh, which was the highest qualifying position for any of the top three championship contenders.
Fellow championship hopefuls Josef Newgarden and Simon Pagenaud fared no better, as both failed to advance from round 1. Newgarden and Pagenaud will start Sunday’s race 12th and 18th, respectfully.
"You can't make a mistake, and I made a couple of them."
— INDYCAR on NBC (@IndyCaronNBC) August 31, 2019
A few mistakes cost Josef Newgarden a spot in the Fast 12, opening the door for his closest @IndyCar competition to gain valuable points in the championship battle. pic.twitter.com/sqhl2ne6jS
“You can’t make a mistake, and I made a couple of them there,” Newgarden said. “I got wide in the curb coming off [Turn] 7, and dropped a tenth [of a second] on one lap, and then dropped another tenth on the final corner of the next.
“That’s Portland. That’s how it was last year, and I figured it was going to be that way this year.
“We’ll just go racing now.”
Live coverage of the Grand Prix of Portland begins tomorrow at 3 p.m. ET on NBC.