Nashville IndyCar: Herta delivers 102mph lap to take pole
Colton Herta delivered his sixth NTT IndyCar Series pole for Andretti Autosport-Honda with a brilliant lap of Nashville’s 2.17-mile street course, while local star Josef Newgarden crashed in Q2 and will start 12th.
Firestone Fast Six
Colton Herta advancing from his Q1 group on primary tires meant he had a set of fresh reds for the final segment of qualifying and he delivered a scintillating 1min13.6835sec with his third lap – a 102.601mph. That earned him the inaugural Bryan Clauson Pole Trophy , named after the USAC legend who died in a crash five years ago today.
In that context, six-time Scott Dixon did a great job to deliver a lap 0.5492sec slower, and beating Chip Ganassi Racing-Honda teammate and points leader Alex Palou. Palou will start ninth however due to his six-place grid penalty for an early engine change.
Alexander Rossi was second fastest of the Andretti Autosport-Hondas ahead of the quieckest Chevrolet driver, Arrow McLaren SP’s Felix Rosenqvist, while Romain Grosjean landed sixth for Dale Coyne Racing with RWR-Honda but all three of these drivers will move up a spot as a result of Palou's penalty.
P |
No |
Name |
FTime |
Diff |
Gap |
FL |
Laps |
LapTime |
LPit |
Led |
ST |
FSpeed |
Elapsed |
Engine |
Tire |
Points |
Team |
1 |
26 |
Colton Herta |
1:13.6835 |
1:13.6835 |
0.000 |
3 |
3 |
1:13.6835 |
0 |
3 |
102.601 |
6:34.5151 |
Honda |
A |
260 |
Andretti Autosport |
|
2 |
9 |
Scott Dixon |
1:14.2327 |
0.5492 |
0.5492 |
3 |
3 |
1:14.2327 |
0 |
4 |
101.842 |
6:47.4532 |
Honda |
A |
328 |
Chip Ganassi Racing |
|
3 |
10 |
Alex Palou |
1:14.6316 |
0.9481 |
0.3989 |
4 |
4 |
1:14.6316 |
2 |
1 |
101.298 |
6:42.6637 |
Honda |
A |
384 |
Chip Ganassi Racing |
|
4 |
27 |
Alexander Rossi |
1:14.6646 |
0.9811 |
0.0330 |
4 |
4 |
1:14.6646 |
1 |
2 |
101.253 |
6:51.1960 |
Honda |
A |
201 |
Andretti Autosport |
|
5 |
7 |
Felix Rosenqvist |
1:15.0045 |
1.3210 |
0.3399 |
2 |
2 |
1:15.0045 |
0 |
5 |
100.794 |
4:23.1241 |
Chevy |
A |
94 |
Arrow McLaren SP |
|
6 |
51 |
Romain Grosjean |
1:15.3980 |
1.7145 |
0.3935 |
3 |
3 |
1:15.3980 |
0 |
6 |
100.268 |
5:09.0088 |
Honda |
A |
151 |
Dale Coyne Racing w/Rick Ware Racing |
Q2
Simon Pagenaud was the only driver to take reds (used) from the start of the session, and he briefly held top spot but was eventually eclipsed by faster primary-tired cars, before all ducked into the pits for fresh reds.
Grosjean threw down a marker on his fourth lap with a 1min15.0078sec ahead of Palou and Herta, but was then bumped off top spot by the championship leader, and demoted further by Felix Rosenqvist.
Josef Newgarden, who lay sixth at the time, was attempting to set another flyer when he locked up into Turn 10 and smacked the wall hard with his right-front and -rear. The resulting debris field as he tried to limp to a run-off area was considered interference with the closely following O’Ward, so Newgarden had his fastest lap deleted, dropping him to 12th, alongside teammate Will Power. In fact, no Penske-Chevrolet driver made it into the Firestone Fast Six, as Simon Pagenaud was eighth.
That didn’t help O’Ward who wound up ninth, while Jack Harvey’s Meyer Shank Racing missed the Fast Six by 0.12 and will start seventh.
P |
No |
Name |
FTime |
Diff |
Gap |
FL |
Laps |
LapTime |
LPit |
Led |
ST |
FSpeed |
Elapsed |
Engine |
Tire |
Points |
Team |
1 |
10 |
Alex Palou |
1:14.4578 |
1:14.4578 |
0.000 |
6 |
7 |
1:28.2003 |
4 |
1 |
101.534 |
11:08.2736 |
Honda |
A |
384 |
Chip Ganassi Racing |
|
2 |
27 |
Alexander Rossi |
1:14.5252 |
0.0674 |
0.0674 |
6 |
7 |
1:34.2125 |
4 |
3 |
101.442 |
11:20.5486 |
Honda |
A |
201 |
Andretti Autosport |
|
3 |
26 |
Colton Herta |
1:14.7232 |
0.2654 |
0.1980 |
6 |
7 |
1:24.3425 |
4 |
4 |
101.173 |
10:44.6331 |
Honda |
A |
260 |
Andretti Autosport |
|
4 |
9 |
Scott Dixon |
1:14.8394 |
0.3816 |
0.1162 |
6 |
7 |
1:29.8086 |
4 |
2 |
101.016 |
11:07.5382 |
Honda |
A |
328 |
Chip Ganassi Racing |
|
5 |
7 |
Felix Rosenqvist |
1:14.8476 |
0.3898 |
0.0082 |
5 |
6 |
1:15.0847 |
3 |
7 |
101.005 |
10:20.3461 |
Chevy |
A |
94 |
Arrow McLaren SP |
|
6 |
51 |
Romain Grosjean |
1:15.0078 |
0.5500 |
0.1602 |
4 |
6 |
1:15.3512 |
3 |
12 |
100.790 |
10:08.5260 |
Honda |
A |
151 |
Dale Coyne Racing w/Rick Ware Racing |
|
7 |
60 |
Jack Harvey |
1:15.1309 |
0.6731 |
0.1231 |
5 |
6 |
1:18.8060 |
3 |
6 |
100.624 |
10:49.0169 |
Honda |
A |
170 |
Meyer Shank Racing |
|
8 |
22 |
Simon Pagenaud |
1:15.1354 |
0.6776 |
0.0045 |
6 |
6 |
1:15.1354 |
3 |
10 |
100.618 |
10:14.2719 |
Chevy |
A |
271 |
Team Penske |
|
9 |
5 |
Pato O'Ward |
1:15.1914 |
0.7336 |
0.0560 |
5 |
6 |
1:15.6485 |
3 |
5 |
100.543 |
10:30.9797 |
Chevy |
A |
345 |
Arrow McLaren SP |
|
10 |
29 |
James Hinchcliffe |
1:15.3255 |
0.8677 |
0.1341 |
6 |
7 |
1:28.2633 |
5 |
8 |
100.364 |
11:22.5185 |
Honda |
A |
131 |
Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport |
|
11 |
12 |
Will Power |
1:15.4678 |
1.0100 |
0.1423 |
7 |
7 |
1:15.4678 |
4 |
11 |
100.175 |
10:41.1497 |
Chevy |
A |
209 |
Team Penske |
|
12 |
2 |
Josef Newgarden |
1:15.5062 |
1.0484 |
0.0384 |
3 |
6 |
1:14.8873 |
4 |
9 |
100.124 |
9:10.5438 |
Chevy |
A |
315 |
Team Penske |
Q1 Group 2
Romain Grosjean had a little spin in the Turn 10 run-off but was able to resume with a spin-turn. Colton Herta continued the form he’s shown in practice, and on primaries he delivered a 1min14.7067sec – at that point a full second ahead of the opposition on primary tires, and the first lap in the 101mph bracket – a 101.196.
Dixon eventually shaded that with a 1min14.6673 but needed a set of alternate compound tires to do it. Jack Harvey delivered third-fastest time for Meyer Shank Racing ahead of the impressive James Hinchcliffe, ahead of Simon Pagenaud’s Penske and Grosjean in the Dale Coyne Racing with RWR-Honda.
Ryan Hunter-Reay failed to advance, his cause not helped by being issued a drive-through penalty for speeding on pitlane, while Sebastien Bourdais of AJ Foyt Racing-Chevrolet and Marcus Ericsson.
Rinus VeeKay was kicking himself for tapping the wall with his Ed Carpenter Racing-Chevrolet, bending the rear suspension and leaving him starting behind teammate Conor Daly, but ahead of Takuma Sato (RLL).
P |
No |
Name |
FTime |
Diff |
Gap |
FL |
Laps |
LapTime |
LPit |
Led |
ST |
FSpeed |
Elapsed |
Engine |
Tire |
Points |
Team |
1 |
9 |
Scott Dixon |
1:14.6673 |
1:14.6673 |
0.000 |
7 |
7 |
1:14.6673 |
4 |
2 |
101.249 |
10:49.5509 |
Honda |
A |
7 |
Chip Ganassi Racing |
|
2 |
26 |
Colton Herta |
1:14.7067 |
0.0394 |
0.0394 |
4 |
4 |
1:14.7067 |
0 |
1 |
101.196 |
6:11.4099 |
Honda |
A |
16 |
Andretti Autosport |
|
3 |
60 |
Jack Harvey |
1:15.2585 |
0.5912 |
0.5518 |
6 |
6 |
1:15.2585 |
3 |
7 |
100.454 |
10:53.2964 |
Honda |
A |
24 |
Meyer Shank Racing |
|
4 |
29 |
James Hinchcliffe |
1:15.2646 |
0.5973 |
0.0061 |
6 |
7 |
1:21.9789 |
4 |
10 |
100.446 |
11:03.8075 |
Honda |
A |
19 |
Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport |
|
5 |
22 |
Simon Pagenaud |
1:15.3661 |
0.6988 |
0.1015 |
6 |
6 |
1:15.3661 |
3 |
6 |
100.310 |
10:17.1165 |
Chevy |
A |
15 |
Team Penske |
|
6 |
51 |
Romain Grosjean |
1:15.3730 |
0.7057 |
0.0069 |
5 |
6 |
1:19.0267 |
3 |
8 |
100.301 |
10:26.8508 |
Honda |
A |
22 |
Dale Coyne Racing w/Rick Ware Racing |
|
7 |
28 |
Ryan Hunter-Reay |
1:15.4984 |
0.8311 |
0.1254 |
7 |
7 |
1:15.4984 |
4 |
11 |
100.135 |
11:00.8162 |
Honda |
A |
18 |
Andretti Autosport |
|
8 |
14 |
Sebastien Bourdais |
1:15.6055 |
0.9382 |
0.1071 |
6 |
7 |
1:16.2396 |
4 |
3 |
99.993 |
11:06.3270 |
Chevy |
A |
10 |
AJ Foyt Enterprises |
|
9 |
8 |
Marcus Ericsson |
1:15.6379 |
0.9706 |
0.0324 |
5 |
6 |
1:24.6842 |
4 |
4 |
99.950 |
9:36.8593 |
Honda |
A |
6 |
Chip Ganassi Racing |
|
10 |
20 |
Conor Daly |
1:15.6685 |
1.0012 |
0.0306 |
6 |
6 |
1:15.6685 |
4 |
12 |
99.909 |
10:05.5522 |
Chevy |
A |
13 |
Ed Carpenter Racing |
|
11 |
21 |
Rinus VeeKay |
1:15.7029 |
1.0356 |
0.0344 |
4 |
5 |
1:19.4737 |
3 |
5 |
99.864 |
9:22.2453 |
Chevy |
A |
14 |
Ed Carpenter Racing |
|
12 |
30 |
Takuma Sato |
1:15.8503 |
1.1830 |
0.1474 |
6 |
6 |
1:15.8503 |
5 |
13 |
99.670 |
10:29.8487 |
Honda |
A |
20 |
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing |
|
13 |
18 |
Ed Jones |
1:15.8770 |
1.2097 |
0.0267 |
6 |
6 |
1:15.8770 |
3 |
9 |
99.635 |
10:13.5519 |
Honda |
P |
12 |
Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser Sullivan |
|
14 |
52 |
Cody Ware |
1:17.6115 |
2.9442 |
1.7345 |
6 |
6 |
1:17.6115 |
4 |
14 |
97.408 |
10:23.3143 |
Honda |
A |
29 |
Dale Coyne Racing w/Rick Ware Racing |
Q1 Group 1
Jimmie Johnson drove his Chip Ganassi Racing-Honda into the wall at Turn 10 on his out lap and so the qualifying segment only got going with 3mins30sec remaining, forcing all to restart on reds, with no sighting laps. That made things very urgent, with Johnson’s teammate Palou landing top spot with a 1min15.3385sec, a few hundredths ahead of Andretti Autosport’s Rossi and the Arrow McLaren SP-Chevrolet of Pato O’Ward.
O’Ward’s teammate Felix Rosenqvist claimed fourth, just ahead of Team Penske-Chevrolet’s Josef Newgarden and Will Power.
Their rookie teammate Scott McLaughlin, who suffered an incident this morning, was eliminated after brushing the wall with his right front wheel, as were the Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing-Hondas of Graham Rahal and Santino Ferrucci, and Meyer Shank Racing-Honda’s Helio Castroneves, who is making his first IndyCar road/street course start of the year tomorrow.
P |
No |
Name |
FTime |
Diff |
Gap |
FL |
Laps |
LapTime |
LPit |
Led |
ST |
FSpeed |
Elapsed |
Engine |
Tire |
Points |
Team |
1 |
10 |
Alex Palou |
1:15.3385 |
1:15.3385 |
0.000 |
4 |
4 |
1:15.3385 |
2 |
2 |
100.347 |
10:24.2266 |
Honda |
A |
384 |
Chip Ganassi Racing |
|
2 |
27 |
Alexander Rossi |
1:15.3721 |
0.0336 |
0.0336 |
4 |
4 |
1:15.3721 |
2 |
1 |
100.302 |
10:20.5337 |
Honda |
A |
201 |
Andretti Autosport |
|
3 |
5 |
Pato O'Ward |
1:15.4160 |
0.0775 |
0.0439 |
4 |
4 |
1:15.4160 |
2 |
4 |
100.244 |
10:39.4848 |
Chevy |
A |
345 |
Arrow McLaren SP |
|
4 |
7 |
Felix Rosenqvist |
1:15.5305 |
0.1920 |
0.1145 |
4 |
4 |
1:15.5305 |
2 |
3 |
100.092 |
10:31.0183 |
Chevy |
A |
94 |
Arrow McLaren SP |
|
5 |
2 |
Josef Newgarden |
1:15.5474 |
0.2089 |
0.0169 |
4 |
4 |
1:15.5474 |
2 |
9 |
100.070 |
10:09.8026 |
Chevy |
A |
315 |
Team Penske |
|
6 |
12 |
Will Power |
1:15.6309 |
0.2924 |
0.0835 |
4 |
4 |
1:15.6309 |
2 |
7 |
99.959 |
10:15.1820 |
Chevy |
A |
209 |
Team Penske |
|
7 |
15 |
Graham Rahal |
1:16.1097 |
0.7712 |
0.4788 |
4 |
4 |
1:16.1097 |
2 |
8 |
99.330 |
10:29.0798 |
Honda |
A |
256 |
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing |
|
8 |
06 |
Helio Castroneves |
1:16.3479 |
1.0094 |
0.2382 |
4 |
4 |
1:16.3479 |
2 |
6 |
99.020 |
10:54.8523 |
Honda |
A |
103 |
Meyer Shank Racing |
|
9 |
45 |
Santino Ferrucci |
1:16.4647 |
1.1262 |
0.1168 |
4 |
4 |
1:16.4647 |
2 |
10 |
98.869 |
10:44.6213 |
Honda |
A |
127 |
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing |
|
10 |
4 |
Dalton Kellett |
1:17.1516 |
1.8131 |
0.6869 |
4 |
4 |
1:17.1516 |
2 |
13 |
97.989 |
10:49.7348 |
Chevy |
A |
95 |
AJ Foyt Enterprises |
|
11 |
59 |
Max Chilton |
1:17.5553 |
2.2168 |
0.4037 |
4 |
4 |
1:17.5553 |
2 |
12 |
97.479 |
10:36.9498 |
Chevy |
A |
77 |
Carlin |
|
12 |
3 |
Scott McLaughlin |
1:18.1899 |
2.8514 |
0.6346 |
4 |
4 |
1:18.1899 |
2 |
5 |
96.688 |
10:36.5183 |
Chevy |
A |
198 |
Team Penske |
|
13 |
48 |
Jimmie Johnson |
No Time |
--- |
--- |
-- |
--- |
--.--- |
0 |
11 |
--- |
1:46.2978 |
Honda |
P |
56 |
Chip Ganassi Racing |
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