DETROIT — Josef Newgarden will attempt to break the Team Penske winless streak in the 2021 NTT IndyCar Series season as he starts on the pole for Sunday’s Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix at Belle Isle.
Newgarden won his first pole of the season with an incredibly fast lap of 1:14.104 around the 14-turn, 2.35-mile street course at Belle Isle. It was his first pole since the 2020 season finale at St. Petersburg, Fla.
“We need to have a cleaner race,” Newgarden said after celebrating the NTT P1 Award for the pole. “This car has been fast all weekend. We got caught a lap down Saturday on a small mistake and made it back to the top 10. I’m proud of this team.
“This track is pretty hard. That final stint Saturday was hard. There is no power steering in the car. You are almost hitting the wall because you feel like you can’t turn the car. I was just trying to survive.”
Sunday morning’s qualification session began at 9 a.m. E.T. and consistent of two rounds instead of the normal three. Instead of the Firestone Fast Six, it was the Firestone Fast 12.
Newgarden won the pole in the No. 2 Chevrolet for Team Penske. Colton Herta’s No. 26 Gainbridge Honda was second at 1:14.4300 followed by Rinus VeeKay’s 1:14.8180 in the No. 21 Sonax Chevrolet. Alex Palou of Chip Ganassi Racing was fourth in the No. 10 NTT DATA Honda at 1:14.8432, followed by rookie driver Romain Grosjean in the No. 51 Dale Coyne Racing with RWR Honda at 1:14.9060.
Six-time NTT IndyCar Series champion Scott Dixon was sixth at 1:14.9231.
The final laps of Dixon, Simon Pagenaud, Alexander Rossi and Max Chilton were invalidated due to the display of the red flag after Santino Ferrucci crashed just a few seconds before the end of the final session.
Oliver Askew will take over the No. 7 Arrow McLaren SP Honda for the injured Felix Rosenqvist in Sunday’s second race of the weekend doubleheader. Askew qualified 23rd out of 25 drivers in his first race at Detroit.
“I’m very happy Felix is OK,” Askew said after his qualification effort of 1:19.1486. “We have the best safety crew in racing. Very happy to have them. Got the call late last night. We were here until 1 a.m. getting this car ready. Hats off to them. Nothing like a qualifying early in the morning. It beats coffee for sure.
“Happy to be back in the series. Never been to this track, but it will be a tough learning curve. We did a track walk last night and couldn’t really see anything.”
Askew has his own racing helmet but will have to wear Juan Pablo Montoya’s firesuit in Sunday’s race that starts at 12 noon ET on NBC.
Jimmie Johnson starts last in the 25-car field after qualifying at 1:17.9838 in the No. 48 Carvana/American Legion Honda for Chip Ganassi Racing.