IndyCar: 2018 Desert Diamond West Valley Casino Phoenix Grand Prix qualifying results
By Asher Fair
Qualifying for the second race of the 2018 IndyCar season is in the books. Which drivers will roll off in which positions at Phoenix on Saturday night?
For the fifth time in the last six IndyCar races going back to last season, the pole position for a race has been won on the final lap by the final driver to turn a lap in qualifying.
Takuma Sato pulled it off at Pocono last season, Will Power pulled it off at Gateway last season, Alexander Rossi pulled it off at Watkins Glen last season, and Robert Wickens pulled it off at St. Petersburg to open up this season.
The only race in the last six races during which the pole position was not won on the final overall lap of qualifying was last season’s season finale at Sonoma.
Now Sebastien Bourdais has pulled it off. The 39-year-old took the pole position for the 2018 Desert Diamond West Valley Casino Phoenix Grand in his #18 Honda for Dale Coyne Racing with a two-lap average speed of 188.539 miles per hour (19.5143 seconds) around the four-turn, 1.022-mile dogleg ISM Raceway oval in Avondale, Arizona.
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As the leader of the championship standings, Bourdais was last in the qualifying order, and he used that to his advantage to knock fellow Frenchman Simon Pagenaud off of the provisional pole in his #22 Chevrolet for Team Penske.
Honda drivers now have two poles in two races so far this season. Behind Pagenaud was his teammate Will Power, who is set to start the race in 3rd place in his #12 Chevrolet for Team Penske, giving Chevrolet two of the top three starting spots on tomorrow night’s starting grid.
Several rookies, once again, had success in qualifying, although they did not take the top three spots like they did in qualifying for the season opener, which was the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, four weeks ago.
Robert Wickens was the highest qualifying rookie in 6th place in his #6 Honda for Schmidt Peterson Motorsports, while Bourdais’ teammate Pietro Fittipaldi qualified in 10th in his #19 Honda for Dale Coyne Racing in his first career IndyCar start.
Here are the full qualifying results for the 2018 Desert Diamond West Valley Casino Phoenix Grand Prix at ISM Raceway.
| Rank | Driver | Car, Team, Engine |
| 1 | Sebastien Bourdais | #18, Dale Coyne Racing, Honda |
| 2 | Simon Pagenaud | #22, Team Penske, Chevrolet |
| 3 | Will Power | #12, Team Penske, Chevrolet |
| 4 | Alexander Rossi | #27, Andretti Autosport, Honda |
| 5 | James Hinchcliffe | #5, Schmidt Peterson Motorsports, Honda |
| 6 | Robert Wickens | #6, Schmidt Peterson Motorsports, Honda |
| 7 | Josef Newgarden | #1, Team Penske, Chevrolet |
| 8 | Ryan Hunter-Reay | #28, Andretti Autosport, Honda |
| 9 | Tony Kanaan | #14, A.J. Foyt Enterprises, Chevrolet |
| 10 | Pietro Fittipaldi | #19, Dale Coyne Racing, Honda |
| 11 | Ed Jones | #10, Chip Ganassi Racing, Honda |
| 12 | Graham Rahal | #15, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, Honda |
| 13 | Takuma Sato | #30, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, Honda |
| 14 | Kyle Kaiser | #32, Juncos Racing, Chevrolet |
| 15 | Spencer Pigot | #21, Ed Carpenter Racing, Chevrolet |
| 16 | Matheus Leist | #4, A.J. Foyt Enterprises, Chevrolet |
| 17 | Scott Dixon | #9, Chip Ganassi Racing, Honda |
| 18 | Ed Carpenter | #20, Ed Carpenter Racing, Chevrolet |
| 19 | Gabby Chaves | #88, Harding Racing, Chevrolet |
| 20 | Marco Andretti | #98, Andretti Herta Autosport, Honda |
| 21 | Max Chilton | #59, Carlin Motorsport, Chevrolet |
| 22 | Charlie Kimball | #23, Carlin Motorsport, Chevrolet |
| 23 | Zach Veach | #26, Andretti Autosport, Honda |
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Be sure to tune in to NBC Sports tomorrow night at 9:00 pm ET to watch the live broadcast of the 2018 Desert Diamond West Valley Phoenix Grand Prix from ISM Raceway in Avondale, Arizona.