Grand Prix at the Glen Qualifying Results: Dixon Sets Record

Three-time Watkins Glen winner Scott Dixon set a new track record in capturing the pole position for the 2016 Grand Prix at the Glen.

Scott Dixon will start on pole for Sunday’s 2016 Grand Prix at the Glen, after the No. 9 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet driver set a new IndyCar track record in qualifying on Saturday afternoon.

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Dixon, who has won three times at Watkins Glen international (2005, 2006 and 2007) had previously shattered Ryan Briscoe’s 2009 mark during Friday’s practice sessions. But as track records can only be set during qualifying or race laps, it took until Saturday to make his blazing speed official.

“I’ve got to thank the whole Target crew, the car rolled off extremely fast,” he said afterward. “We’ve been at the top of the time sheets, at least a good percentage of them this weekend. We’ve had a bit of a rough year, so it is nice to come back here and perform like this.”

There was little shuffling between the practice rankings and those posted in qualifying. Four of the drivers with the top five combined practice times were also in the Firestone Fast Six.

Will Power, who timed out third on Saturday, moved up to qualify second and start alongside Dixon on the front row. Helio Castroneves dropped from second to fourth after Sebastien Bourdais leaped from ninth in practice to qualify third.

Dixon’s teammates Tony Kanaan and Max Chilton rounded out the Fast Six.

Simon Pagenaud, who currently holds a slim 28-point lead over Power for the Verizon IndyCar Series championship, qualified seventh.

A season-high three drivers were penalized in qualifying: James Hinchcliffe after he spun and caused a local yellow that impeded one of Power’s laps, while Hinchcliffe’s teammate Mikhail Aleshin and Graham Rahal were both dinged for qualifying interference.

Hinchcliffe was the most vocal about the penalties. “It was an incredibly frustrating day at the office. Honestly, the spin is irrelevant,” he said. “We’re not advancing because of the decisions IndyCar made.

“It’s just really disappointing. We put a lot of work into the Arrow Electronics car and made it a lot better from yesterday and we had P4 in that session. The guys did such a good job and we’re going to be starting way further back than we deserve to be, for really no reason. The next step is to make a wicked fast race car and pass them all.”

Below are the complete qualifying results for the 2016 Grand Prix at the Glen:

1. (9) Scott Dixon, Chevrolet, 01:22.5259 (147.008)
2. (12) Will Power, Chevrolet, 01:22.5742 (146.922)
3. (11) Sebastien Bourdais, Chevrolet, 01:22.7844 (146.549)
4. (3) Helio Castroneves, Chevrolet, 01:22.8748 (146.389)
5. (10) Tony Kanaan, Chevrolet, 01:22.9158 (146.317)
6. (8) Max Chilton, Chevrolet, 01:23.0064 (146.157)
7. (22) Simon Pagenaud, Chevrolet, 01:23.4660 (145.353)
8. (2) Juan Pablo Montoya, Chevrolet, 01:23.5493 (145.208)
9. (41) Jack Hawksworth, Honda, 01:23.6392 (145.052)
10. (7) Mikhail Aleshin, Honda, 01:23.7744 (144.818)
11. (19) RC Enerson, Honda, 01:23.9907 (144.445)
12. (21) Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet, 01:24.0983 (144.260)
13. (5) James Hinchcliffe, Honda, 01:24.0477 (144.347)
14. (83) Charlie Kimball, Chevrolet, 01:24.8928 (142.910)
15. (98) Alexander Rossi, Honda, 01:24.0908 (144.273)
16. (26) Carlos Munoz, Honda, 01:25.5560 (141.802)
17. (18) Conor Daly, Honda, 01:24.2606 (143.982)
18. (27) Marco Andretti, Honda, 01:26.4285 (140.370)
19. (28) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Honda, 01:24.5254 (143.531)
20. (15) Graham Rahal, Honda, 01:58.1893 (102.649)
21. (20) Spencer Pigot, Chevrolet, 01:25.1826 (142.423)
22. (14) Takuma Sato, Honda, 02:12.3265 (91.682)

The 2016 Grand Prix at the Glen takes place Sunday, Sep. 4 from Watkins Glen International at 2:37 p.m. ET/11:37 a.m. PT. The race broadcast begins at 2 p.m. ET/11 a.m. PT on NBCSN.

2016 Grand Prix at the Glen Qualifying Results: Dixon Sets New Record

By Brittany Frederick | Sep 3, 2016

Three-time Watkins Glen winner Scott Dixon set a new track record in capturing the pole position for the 2016 Grand Prix at the Glen.