Beyond the Flag
Fansided

IndyCar: Penske Bookends the Field in Barber Qualifying

By Alex Herbst

Jul 12, 2015; West Allis, WI, USA; Verizon IndyCar Series driver Simon Pagenaud during qualifying for the ABC Supply Wisconsin 250 at Milwaukee Mile Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports
Jul 12, 2015; West Allis, WI, USA; Verizon IndyCar Series driver Simon Pagenaud during qualifying for the ABC Supply Wisconsin 250 at Milwaukee Mile Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit

After a dominant qualifying session at Long Beach, the Chevy teams continued to show their strength and power ahead of the Grand Prix of Alabama.

Following up on their dominant performance in qualifying for the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, the Chevy teams flexed their muscles once again in Alabama. Four different bowtie-powered teams would make up the Firestone Fast Six, with just one lone Honda in the group. Simon Pagenaud would end up leading a Penske lockout of the front row, with teammate Will Power in second. Last year’s Barber winner Josef Newgarden will start third, with Scott Dixon alongside in fourth.

The Honda teams continued to struggle in the session, with only three of their cars moving into the second round of twelve cars, with Rahal, Filippi, and Hinchcliffe. However, gains were made over their performance at Long Beach with Rahal advancing to the fast six, and set to start in sixth. Meanwhile, the challenges for Andretti Autosport continued at Barber Motorsports Park, with surprisingly none of the four cars in the armada moving into the fastest twelve. Ryan Hunter-Reay showed the most promise in being able to accomplish the task, but a bobble in turn nine doomed his fastest lap.

Also not advancing into the second round of Barber qualifying, much to the paddock’s surprise, was Team Penske’s Juan Pablo Montoya. He will end up starting shotgun on the field after battling under steer all session long and not being able to take advantage of the Firestone red tires. His teammate Helio Castroneves would also be disappointed, qualifying seventh and not advancing to the final round, along with three of the four Chip Ganassi Racing machines.

It will be interesting to watch on Sunday afternoon to see Montoya and others work their way from the back of the pack throughout the 90-lap affair in the Grand Prix of Alabama. Also worth watching will be whether any of the Honda drivers can keep pace with the fast Chevys at the front.

Here are the full Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama qualifying results:

  1. Simon Pagenaud, Chevrolet, Team Penske
  2. Will Power, Chevrolet, Team Penske
  3. Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet, Ed Carpenter Racing
  4. Scott Dixon, Chevrolet, Chip Ganassi Racing
  5. Sebastien Bourdais, Chevrolet, KVSH Racing
  6. Graham Rahal, Honda, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
  7. Helio Castroneves, Chevrolet, Team Penske
  8. James Hinchcliffe, Honda, Schmidt Peterson Motorsports
  9. Tony Kanaan, Chevrolet, Chip Ganassi Racing
  10. Charlie Kimball, Chevrolet, Chip Ganassi Racing
  11. Max Chilton, Chevrolet, Chip Ganassi Racing
  12. Luca Filippi, Honda, Dale Coyne Racing
  13. Mikhail Aleshin, Honda, Schmidt Peterson Motorsports
  14. Jack Hawksworth, Honda, A.J. Foyt Racing
  15. Carlos Munoz, Honda, Andretti Autosport
  16. Takuma Sato, Honda, A.J. Foyt Racing
  17. Conor Daly, Honda, Dale Coyne Racing
  18. Ryan Hunter-Reay, Honda, Andretti Autosport
  19. Marco Andretti, Honda, Andretti Autosport
  20. Alexander Rossi, Honda, Andretti Autosport
  21. Juan Pablo Montoya, Chevrolet, Team Penske

We are just one day away from the Grand Prix of Alabama. Be sure to tune in for the race live on NBCSN at 3 pm eastern, preceded by Indy Lights action from Barber Motorsports Park at 2 pm. The green flag for the race will drop close to 3:30 pm eastern.