IndyCar: Colton Herta takes pole for 2019 Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey

Colton Herta took the pole position for the Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey, the 2019 IndyCar season finale, at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.

Harding Steinbrenner Racing rookie Colton Herta took his series-high third pole position of the 2019 IndyCar season for the 17th and final race on the schedule at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, the Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey.

Team Penske teammates Simon Pagenaud and Will Power are the only other drivers who took three pole positions throughout the season. Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden also took three, although one was awarded to him by default since qualifying was rained out at Pocono Raceway and entrant points set the starting grid.

Herta took the pole position for this 90-lap race around the 11-turn, 2.238-mile (3.602-kilometer) WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca natural terrain road course in Monterey, California by recording a top lap time of 70.1405 seconds (114.8666 miles per hour) in his #88 Honda the Firestone Fast Six qualifying session for this race.

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All four of the championship contenders advanced to the Firestone Fast Six. Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon led the pack by qualifying on the front row in second place in his #9 Honda ahead of Andretti Autosport’s Alexander Rossi in third in his #27 Honda and Newgarden in fourth in his #2 Chevrolet on row two. Herta, Dixon and Rossi all qualified within 0.07 seconds of one another.

The other championship contender, Pagenaud, qualified in sixth place in his #22 Chevrolet and is set to start alongside Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports’ James Hinchcliffe in fifth in his #5 Honda.

Team Penske’s Will Power, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Graham Rahal, Andretti Autosport’s Ryan Hunter-Reay and Carlin’s Max Chilton rounded out the top 10 by qualifying in seventh, eighth, ninth and 10th place in their #12 Chevrolet, #15 Honda, #28 Honda and #59 Chevrolet, respectively.

Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports rookie Marcus Ericsson and Dale Coyne Racing rookie Santino Ferrucci were the slowest of the two drivers who advanced to the second of three rounds of qualifying for this race. They qualified in 11th and 12th place in their #7 Honda and #19 Honda, respectively.

Chip Ganassi Racing rookie Felix Rosenqvist was one of the favorites to take the pole position for this race, and his fastest time in the first round of qualifying was fast enough to advance to the second round.

However, he was stripped of his fastest two lap times in this round after spinning out and immediately coming back onto the track. He ended up qualifying in 14th place in his #10 Honda.

Here are the full qualifying results for the 2019 Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.

Qualifying Results
1st – Colton Herta
2nd – Scott Dixon
3rd – Alexander Rossi
4th – Josef Newgarden
5th – James Hinchcliffe
6th – Simon Pagenaud
7th – Will Power
8th – Graham Rahal
9th – Ryan Hunter-Reay
10th – Max Chilton
11th – Marcus Ericsson
12th – Santino Ferrucci
13th – Conor Daly
14th – Felix Rosenqvist
15th – Spencer Pigot
16th – Takuma Sato
17th – Zach Veach
18th – Ed Jones
19th – Sebastien Bourdais
20th – Charlie Kimball
21st – Tony Kanaan
22nd – Marco Andretti
23rd – Matheus Leist
24th – Jack Harvey

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The live broadcast of the 2019 IndyCar season’s final race, the Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey, is set to begin at 2:30 p.m. ET from WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca on NBC tomorrow afternoon. The race itself is scheduled to go green shortly thereafter at 3:00 p.m. ET.