IndyCar: Road America starting lineup - Josef Newgarden takes pole

Josef Newgarden took the pole position for the first of two IndyCar races of the REV Group Grand Prix at Road America this weekend.

Because of the fact that this weekend’s REV Group Grand Prix at Road America is a doubleheader, IndyCar opted to use a simple two-group qualifying format and not the traditional knockout qualifying format to set the starting lineups.

Under this format, the fastest driver overall takes the pole position, and everybody else in his group starts in the odd positions, while the fastest driver in the other group starts in second place, whether his time is the second fastest overall or not, and everybody else in his group starts in the even positions.

For the opening race of this doubleheader, it was Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden who took the pole position in his #1 Chevrolet, his second pole position through the first three races of the 14-race 2020 season. Team Penske are now three for three in pole positions to start the year.

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Newgarden took the pole position for this 55-lap race around the 14-turn, 4.048-mile (6.515-kilometer) natural terrain road course in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin by recording a top lap time of 105.5191 seconds (136.946 miles per hour) in the second group of the qualifying session.

Set to start alongside Newgarden on the front row is Meyer Shank Racing’s Jack Harvey in second place, giving him two consecutive front row starts in his #60 Honda. He posted the third quickest overall speed in this qualifying session but topped the speed chart in first group of the session.

Both Newgarden and Harvey earned one championship point for topping the speed charts in their respective groups. Andretti Autosport’s Ryan Hunter-Reay, who was the second quickest driver overall, is set to start in third place in his #28 Honda after finishing behind Newgarden in the second group.

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Graham Rahal qualified in fourth place in his #15 Honda for the second consecutive race. Team Penske’s Will Poiwer qualified in fifth in his #12 Chevrolet and Dale Coyne Racing and Vasser-Sullivan’s Santino Ferrucci tied his career-best qualifying effort by qualifying in sixth in his #18 Honda.

Andretti Harding Steinbrenner Autosport’s Colton Herta, Chip Ganassi Racing teammates Felix Rosenqvist and Scott Dixon and Andretti Herta Autosport’s Marco Andretti are set to round out the top 10 on the starting grid in seventh, eighth, ninth and 10th place in their #88 Honda, #10 Honda, #9 Honda and #98 Honda, respectively.

Newgarden and Power were the only two Chevrolet drivers who qualified in the top 10. The highest qualifying non-Team Penske Chevrolet driver was Arrow McLaren SP’s Patricio O’Ward, who qualified in 12th place in his #5 Chevrolet and is set to start alongside defending race winner Alexander Rossi of Andretti Autosport in 11th in his #27 Honda.

Here is the full starting lineup for the first race of the 2020 REV Group Grand Prix.

Starting Lineup
1st – Josef Newgarden
2nd – Jack Harvey
3rd – Ryan Hunter-Reay
4th – Graham Rahal
5th – Will Power
6th – Santino Ferrucci
7th – Colton Herta
8th – Felix Rosenqvist
9th – Scott Dixon
10th – Marco Andretti
11th – Alexander Rossi
12th – Patricio O’Ward
13th – Marcus Ericsson
14th – Alex Palou
15th – Takuma Sato
16th – Rinus VeeKay
17th – Simon Pagenaud
18th – Max Chilton
19th – Conor Daly
20th – Zach Veach
21st – Oliver Askew
22nd – Charlie Kimball
23rd – Dalton Kellett

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Tune in to NBC Sports Network at 5:00 p.m. ET this evening for the live broadcast of the first race of the REV Group Grand Prix from Road America.

IndyCar: Road America starting lineup – Josef Newgarden takes pole

By Asher Fair | Jul 11, 2020

Josef Newgarden took the pole position for the first of two IndyCar races of the REV Group Grand Prix at Road America this weekend.