NEWTON, Iowa — Will Power may be from Australia, but he played the role of Ernie Banks Saturday morning at Iowa Speedway.
It was a beautiful day, and Power played two. Make that, won two poles.
The Team Penske driver extended his NTT IndyCar Series record for most pole awards in a career by collecting No. 69 and 70 at the 0.894-mile short oval. The No. 12 Verizon Chevrolet will lead the field to the green flag of Saturday’s Hy-Vee HomeFront 250 presented by Instacart at 3:00 p.m. (ET).
He will also start on the pole for Sunday’s Hy-Vee One Step 250 Presented by Gatorade at 2:30 p.m. (ET).
The starting lineup for each race was determined with a two-lap qualification attempt. The speed from Lap 1 set the field for Saturday’s race and the speed from Lap 2 set the field for Sunday’s short oval battle.
Power’s first lap speed was 181.426 mph and that won him the pole for Saturday. His second lap was even faster at 181.578 mph and that won him the pole by nearly two mph over his Team Penske teammate, Scott McLaughlin.
Power also swept both poles last year when this qualification format was also used at Iowa Speedway.
“It was way cooler last year because I really needed those poles,” Power said, referring to his quest to reach Mario Andretti’s pole record of 67. “It is very cool this year because I’m trying to win this race, so… I’ve been trying to win it for a long time. Yeah, stoked to be starting up front. No better spot, obviously.”
Power and McLaughlin swept the front row for both races.
McLaughlin’s first lap speed was 180.334 mph in the No. 3 Chevrolet and his second lap was 179.635 mph.
“Penske sweep — front row,” McLaughlin said. “Yeah, I won Class B. Will is a genius over two laps. One-lap specialist, especially around this place. I learned a ton with my first qualifying run here last year. I’m really proud of that one. Yeah, that run, it wasn’t perfect. The car was perfect, but we made the most of it. I hit my marks.
“That’s all you can do as a race driver. Really proud of it.
“The Chevy is really strong in race running. Yeah, I’m just really proud. I put a lot of work to be better here. It’s paid off so far.
“It’s awesome for the team,” McLaughlin continued. “We haven’t had a pole all year. I think our best qualifying spot was second. For us to sweep the first three spots, and then the race two to be on the front row together, that’s awesome.
“We haven’t tested here. We didn’t test here, basically the whole field. For us, it’s a big testament to trusting our work and trusting what we’ve done behind the scenes, trusting what we had last year. It’s great for the team.”
Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden qualified third for the first race at 180.081 mph in the No. 2 Chevrolet but was a bit disappointed afterwards.
“That’s where we are,” Newgarden said. “We’ll start from there. We’ll see after the race. I’ll hold my thoughts until then. It was just not the best balance.”
Newgarden is a four-time winner at Iowa Speedway including the first race from last year’s doubleheader.
Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon will start fourth in Saturday’s race with a fast lap at 178.710 mph in the No. 9 PNC Bank Honda. He is searching for his first victory at Iowa Speedway. Pato O’Ward of Arrow McLaren was fifth at 178.390 mph in the No. 5 Chevrolet.
“If you have a Rocket Ship, you are chilling,” O’Ward said. “I’m super happy where we are at. I’ve never qualified on pole here. We have been somewhat close, but this is a great starting position for today’s race. But I’m 10th for Sunday, Oh, man. I didn’t feel like there was much drop-off, but there was.
“I have a good race car so I’m not worried. We’ll go forward.”
Colton Herta of Andretti Autosport was sixth at 178.270 mph in the No. 26 Gainbridge Honda and NTT IndyCar Series points leader Alex Palou of Chip Ganassi Racing was seventh in the No. 10 American Legion Honda at 178.205 mph.
“It’s going to be tough, we knew, but honestly pretty happy for the first qualifying,” Palou said. “Pretty happy with the first one. We’re not at our strongest place, but we made a huge improvement over last year, so I’m happy. It depends on how the race goes. Hopefully, we learn enough over the first 100 laps to improve for the end, but if I get out of here with two finishes in the top eight, I’ll be happy.”
The top five for Sunday’s race include Power at 181.578 mph, McLaughlin’s 179.635 mph, David Malukas of Dale Coyne Racing, who ran a fast lap at 178.610 mph in the No. 18 HMD Trucking Honda, Ed Carpenter’s 178.211 mph in the No. 33 Chevrolet for ECR and Herta’s No. 26 Honda at 178.026 mph.
Palou starts 12th on Sunday. He enters the race weekend with a 117-point lead over Scott Dixon in the NTT IndyCar Series championship.
There are a maximum of 108 points available over the Hy-Vee IndyCar Race Weekend at Iowa.