NEWTON, Iowa – Conor Daly rose to the top of the charts earlier in the session and held on to his first NTT P1 award of his career as the pole winner for Iowa INDYCAR 250s Doubleheader Race 1 tonight in Iowa. Speedway.
The 250 lap race begins at 8:30 pm (ET, NBCSN) on 7/8th-mila oval.
Reigning NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion Josef Newgarden won the NTT P1 Award as the pole winner for Race 2, which takes place at 8:30 pm (ET) on Saturday. The qualification for this event had a unique format in which the first of the two laps of each pilot establishes the starting grid for Race 1, while the second lap of each pilot establishes his position for Race 2.
CLICK HERE: Race 1 Ranking Results | Race 2 Qualifying Results
Daly’s speed on Lap 1 of 175,188 mph in the No. 59 Gallagher Carlin Chevrolet was good enough to take the field to the green tonight. His previous best starting place was seventh on the street circuit in Toronto in 2016, while his previous best oval start was 11th in 2017 at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway and in 2019 for Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge.
“It’s just amazing,” said Daly, an Indiana native, who is dividing his season between Carlin on the ovals and Ed Carpenter Racing for the road and street circuits. “I am very grateful to have a little comeback and drive this car. All thanks to Trevor Carlin and Gallagher Insurance.
“I am very grateful to be here. I hated this place the past few years, and now we are on pole. This is very funny. We have one more mission left tonight, and that’s the race. Hopefully we can execute. “
Newgarden will join Daly in the front row tonight after his first lap of 175,107 at the No. 1 Hitachi Team Penske Chevrolet. Newgarden’s teammate Will Power ranked third in 174,807 at No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet, with Colton Herta fourth at 174,799 at No. 88 Capstone Turbine Honda. Alexander Rossi completed the top five positions at 172,263 at No. 27 AutoNation / NAPA AUTO PARTS Honda.
It will be a front row for the entire Team Penske for Race 2 on Saturday night, with Newgarden on pole after his second lap of 175,333 and Power starting second at 175,024. Daly ranked third with 174,960, with three-time Iowa winner Ryan Hunter-Reay fourth with 174,245 in the No. 28 DHL Honda. Herta ranked fifth at 173,437.
Series leader Scott Dixon will start 17th and 18th, respectively, tonight and Saturday night at No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. Dixon started the season with three consecutive victories.
Five-time series champion Dixon was not the only best driver who struggled to qualify. 2019 Indianapolis 500 winner Simon Pagenaud, third in points in four races this season, reported that there was no fuel pressure in his No. 22 Menards Team Penske Chevrolet and will start at the back of the field in both races. because he did not make a qualification attempt.
