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IndyCar: 2017 Watkins Glen qualifying results – Alexander Rossi claims first career pole

By Asher Fair

FORT WORTH, TX - JUNE 09: Alexander Rossi, driver of the #98 Andretti Autosport/Curb Honda, prepares to practice for the Verizon IndyCar Series Rainguard Water Sealers 600 at Texas Motor Speedway on June 9, 2017 in Fort Worth, Texas. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)
FORT WORTH, TX - JUNE 09: Alexander Rossi, driver of the #98 Andretti Autosport/Curb Honda, prepares to practice for the Verizon IndyCar Series Rainguard Water Sealers 600 at Texas Motor Speedway on June 9, 2017 in Fort Worth, Texas. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images) /
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The qualifying session for the 2017 IndyCar Grand Prix at the Glen set the starting grid for the 16th of 17 IndyCar races this season. Who will roll off in what position tomorrow?

Andretti Herta Autosport’s Alexander Rossi took his first career pole position for the IndyCar race at the 11-turn, 3.37-mile Watkins Glen International natural terrain road course in Watkins Glen, New York.

Rossi became the third final qualifier in a row to take the pole position, as he claimed the top spot with a lap at 147.119 miles per hour (82.4639 second) in the final lap in qualifying among all drivers in the Firestone Fast Six.

Will Power pulled it off last week in oval qualifying at Gateway as the final qualifier, and Takuma Sato pulled it off two weeks ago in oval qualifying at Pocono as the final qualifier. In the final qualifying lap of today, Rossi bumped defending Watkins Glen race winner Scott Dixon to the 2nd place starting spot.

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Championship points leader Josef Newgarden qualified in 3rd place as the only Chevrolet driver in the top 5, with Takuma Sato and Charlie Kimball qualifying in 4th and 5th place, respectively. The highest non-Team Penske Chevrolet driver on the speed chart was Carlos Munoz, who qualified in 11th place.

Here are full qualifying results for the 2017 IndyCar Grand Prix at the Glen, which is set to take place tomorrow 1:40 PM ET. It will be broadcast live starting at 1:00 PM ET on NBC Sports Network. The lone remaining practice session for the race takes place tomorrow morning at 9:00 AM ET.

  1. Alexander Rossi, #98, Andretti Herta Autosport, Honda
  2. Scott Dixon, #9, Chip Ganassi Racing, Honda
  3. Josef Newgarden, #2, Team Penske, Chevrolet
  4. Takuma Sato, #26, Andretti Autosport, Honda
  5. Charlie Kimball, #83, Chip Ganassi Racing, Honda
  6. Helio Castroneves, #3, Team Penske, Chevrolet
  7. Ryan Hunter-Reay, #28, Andretti Autosport, Honda
  8. Will Power, #12, Team Penske, Chevrolet
  9. Sebastian Bourdais, #18, Dale Coyne Racing, Honda
  10. Graham Rahal, #15, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, Honda
  11. Carlos Munoz, #14, AJ Foyt Enterprises, Chevrolet
  12. Simon Pagenaud, #1, Team Penske, Chevrolet
  13. Spencer Pigot, #20, Ed Carpenter Racing, Chevrolet
  14. Conor Daly, #4, AJ Foyt Enterprises, Chevrolet
  15. Ed Jones, #19, Dale Coyne Racing, Honda
  16. James Hinchcliffe, #5, Schmidt Peterson Motorsports, Honda
  17. Tony Kanaan, #10, Chip Ganassi Racing, Honda
  18. Jack Harvey, #7, Schmidt Peterson Motorsports, Honda
  19. Max Chilton, #8, Chip Ganassi Racing, Honda
  20. Marco Andretti, #27, Andretti Autosport, Honda
  21. JR Hildebrand, #21, Ed Carpenter Racing, Chevrolet

Next: Five replacement candidates for Takuma Sato in 2018

Next: IndyCar driver power rankings

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