Team Penske stays dominant, puts Will Power on Indy GP pole

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) – Defending IndyCar champion Will Power won the pole for Saturday’s Grand Prix of Indianapolis with a new qualifying record.

The Australian star completed the 2.439-mile, 14-turn road course Friday in 1 minute, 9.4866 seconds, breaking a mark he set a few minutes earlier in the second of three rounds of qualifications.

Scott Dixon of Target Chip Ganassi will start second Saturday after finishing in 1:09.7156. It was a two-team race. Team Penske put all four of its cars in the final round. Dixon and Tony Kanaan, who drive for Ganassi, rounded out the final six.

Former Indy winners Helio Castroneves and Juan Pablo Montoya will start third and fourth. Simon Pagenaud will start fifth as he tries to reach Victory Lane for the second straight year. Kanaan is starting sixth.

Team Penske has now won all five poles this season, with Power and Castroneves each winning twice. Montoya, of Colombia, also won one.

And Chevrolet continued its early-season domination, too. Chevy-powered cars have won all five poles and three of the first four races. The fastest Honda on Friday belonged to Jack Hawksworth, who will start 11th after going 1:10.4558.

The Penske drivers, who have been the fastest all week, nearly pulled off a clean sweep. They had the three fastest times heading into the finals, including Power’s record-breaking 1:09.6443, and would have taken the top four starting spots if Dixon hadn’t broken through.

Last year’s Indy GP pole winner, Sebastian Saavedra, was closed out of the final round. He will start eighth Saturday after posting a fast lap of 1:10.1572. France’s Sebastien Bourdais will start seventh after getting barely nudged out after time expired in the second round. Drivers are allowed to complete their final lap after time expires if they have already started the lap, something the Bourdais’ team contested did not happen.