Pato O’Ward won the IndyCar Road America pole position Sunday morning and will start first for the first time in his NTT IndyCar Series career.
The Arrow McLaren SP Motorsports driver set the fast time toward the end of the Group 2 session and will start alongside Colton Herta, his former teammate in Indy Lights. O’Ward’s previous best start was fifth in his 2018 series debut at Sonoma.
O’Ward’s lap of 1 minute, 44.8971 seconds knocked off rookie Alex Palou, whose excellent weekend at Road America continued even without an IndyCar Road America pole. The Dale Coyne Racing rookie will start a career-best third in his fourth IndyCar race after finishing a career-best third Saturday in the REV Group.
STARTING LINEUP: Click here for the grid in Race 2 at Road America
QUALIFYING RESULTS: Drivers speed in Sunday’s session at Road America
RACE INFO: How to watch Sunday’s race at Road America
This will be the 12th IndyCar start for O’Ward, who is the third-youngest IndyCar pole winner at 21 years, 2 months, 6 days. With an average age of 20.7 years, the Monterrey, Mexico, native and Herta will form the youngest front row in series history.
Ryan Hunter-Reay will start fourth alongisde Palou. Graham Rahal qualified fifth.
Scott Dixon, who is seeking his fourth consecutive victory to open the 2020 season, qualified sixth after winning from the ninth starting position Saturday in the first REV Group GP at Road America.
Other notables: Felix Rosenqvist seventh; Will Power eighth; Alexander Rossi 10th; Josef Newgarden 14th; Marco Andretti 19th; Simon Pagenaud 22nd.
Santino Ferrucci will start 11th after spinning without making contact late in the Group 2 session. Returning from a Saturday crash that left him with an injured right shoulder, Conor Daly qualified 20th.
The race broadcast will begin at noon ET on NBC. Green flag is at 12:42 p.m.
GROUP 1: Click here for results
GROUP 2: Click here for results