Will Power made history Friday while bolstering his championship run in World Wide Technology Raceway Gateway qualifying, earning the top spot in the starting lineup with his 67th career pole position to tie Mario Andretti for the all-time IndyCar record.
Power, who leads Scott Dixon by six points in the NTT IndyCar Series standings with three races remaining, turned a lap at 182.727 mph in his No. 12 Dallara-Chevrolet on the 1.25-mile oval and paced qualifying for Saturday’s race (6 p.m. ET, USA Network).
“Amazing,” Power told NBC Sports’ Kevin Lee. “I never ever would be able to do this without Verizon and Penske. Such a fantastic career, they’ve given me such great opportunity, and of course, Chevrolet, too because a lot of those poles were with a Chevy engine. I’m still shaking. There was nothing left on the table.
INDYCAR AT WWTR GATEWAY: Details, schedules, start times for this weekend
QUALIFYING RESULTS: Speeds from Friday’s session
“Just an amazing year so far. This is a big victory for me to reach the 67 (poles) and equal such a legend of the sport in Mario Andretti. I just can’t believe I’m right there with Mario because there’s been no one like him.”
Indy 500 winner Marcus Ericsson qualified second (182.070 mph) in the No. 8 Dallara-Honda and narrowly missed his first IndyCar pole as title contenders took the top seven spots.
“It doesn’t change a lot, we still need to win the race,” Ericsson told NBC Sports’ Dillon Welch. “I’m very proud of the Bryant Honda. The No. 8 car was really good. We had a good practice and built on that. The guys did a good job tuning the car around for qualifying, and it was nice to drive.
“The best qualifying of my IndyCar career, and I’m very proud of that. We definitely can fight from there. That close to your first pole, you want it, but we’ll try to get them tomorrow. It’s going down to wire, but I have a ton of respect for all these guys. I’m looking forward to it.”
NOBODY HAS MORE POLES!
— INDYCAR on NBC (@IndyCaronNBC) August 19, 2022
Retweet to congratulate @12WillPower on tying @MarioAndretti with his 67th career pole in @INDYCAR. @Team_Penske pic.twitter.com/mytrQor9PZ
Team Penske drivers Josef Newgarden and Scott McLaughlin qualified on the second row, followed by Alex Palou, Dixon and Pato O’Ward.
After turning the third-fastest speed in practice, Felix Rosenqvist will start last after a spin in qualifying. Rosenqvist managed to keep his No. 7 Dallara-Chevrolet off the wall and avoid any significant damage.
Here’s the IndyCar starting lineup for Saturday’s Bommarito Automotive Group 500 on the 1.25-mile oval at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway (qualifying position, car number in parentheses, driver, engine, time, speed):
ROW 1
1. (12) Will Power, Chevrolet, 49.2539 seconds (182.727)
2. (8) Marcus Ericsson, Honda, 49.4316 (182.070)
ROW 2
3. (2) Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet, 49.5515 (181.629)
4. (3) Scott McLaughlin, Chevrolet, 49.6126 (181.406)
ROW 3
5. (10) Alex Palou, Honda, 49.6446 (181.289)
6. (9) Scott Dixon, Honda, 49.7364 (180.954)
ROW 4
7. (5) Pato O’Ward, Chevrolet, 49.9160 (180.303)
8. (51) Takuma Sato, Honda, 01:15.5935 (100.009)
ROW 5
9. (29) Devlin DeFrancesco, Dallara-Honda, 179.531
10. (27) Alexander Rossi, Dallara-Honda, 179.420
ROW 6
11. (26) Colton Herta, Dallara-Honda, 179.347
12. (18) David Malukas, Dallara-Honda, 179.159
ROW 7
13. (60) Simon Pagenaud, Dallara-Honda, 178.778
14. (45) Jack Harvey, Dallara-Honda, 178.775
ROW 8
15. (20) Conor Daly, Dallara-Chevrolet, 178.674
16. (15) Graham Rahal, Dallara-Honda, 178.657
ROW 9
17. (06) Helio Castroneves, Dallara-Honda, 178.356
18. (28) Romain Grosjean, Dallara-Honda, 179.925-**
ROW 10
19. (30) Christian Lundgaard, Dallara-Honda, 178.165
20. (14) Kyle Kirkwood, Dallara-Chevrolet, 178.079
ROW 11
21. (48) Jimmie Johnson, Dallara-Honda, 176.368
22. (77) Callum Ilott, Dallara-Chevrolet, 176.184
ROW 12
23. (21) Rinus VeeKay, Dallara-Chevrolet, 176.005
24. (4) Dalton Kellett, Dallara-Chevrolet, 173.902
ROW 13
25. (33) Ed Carpenter, Dallara-Chevrolet, 173.667
26. (7) Felix Rosenqvist, Dallara-Chevrolet, no speed
**--Penalized nine grid positions for an engine penalty