IndyCar: Indianapolis starting lineup – Rinus VeeKay takes pole
By Asher Fair
Rinus VeeKay took the pole position for the first of two races of the IndyCar Harvest Grand Prix doubleheader at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.
Rookie Rinus VeeKay of Ed Carpenter Racing took the pole position for the 12th of 14 races of the 2020 IndyCar season, the first race of the Harvest Grand Prix doubleheader at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course. This pole position is the first of the 20-year-old Dutchman’s career.
VeeKay took the pole position for this 85-lap race around the 13-turn, 2.439-mile (3.925-kilometer) natural terrain road course in Speedway, Indiana by recording a top lap time of 69.6903 seconds (125.992 miles per hour) behind the wheel of his #21 Chevrolet in the second of two groups of the qualifying session.
Because of the nature of the qualifying session, Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden qualified in second place despite only recording the 11th fastest time of the session.
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Newgarden topped the speed chart in the red flag-shortened first group, solidifying himself a front row starting position behind the wheel of his #1 Chevrolet. By rule, all of the drivers in the polesitter’s (VeeKay’s) group secured odd positions while the drivers in the other (Newgarden’s) group secured even positions.
The top 10 drivers in VeeKay’s group all recorded speeds faster than Newgarden’s top speed, but they are set to line up in the odd positions from first through 19th place instead of every position from first through 10th. Additionally and crucially, Newgarden secured a bonus point for leading his group, which brings his deficit to points leader Scott Dixon of Chip Ganassi Racing down from 72 to 71 points to start a weekend when Dixon could potential lock up his sixth title. VeeKay also scored a bonus point for taking the pole position.
Set to share the second row in third and fourth place are Andretti Harding Steinbrenner Autosport’s Colton Herta and Team Penske’s Will Power behind the wheels of their #88 Honda and #12 Chevrolet, respectively.
Andretti Herta Autosport’s Marco Andretti qualified in fifth place behind the wheel of his #98 Honda and is set to start alongside Meyer Shank Racing’s Jack Harvey in sixth behind the wheel of his #60 Honda on the third row.
The fourth row is set to be occupied by Chip Ganassi Racing’s Felix Rosenqvist in seventh place behind the wheel of his #10 Honda and Andretti Autosport’s Alexander Rossi in eighth behind the wheel of his #27 Honda.
The fifth row is set to be occupied by Carlin’s Max Chilton in ninth place behind the wheel of his #59 Chevrolet and Arrow McLaren SP’s Pato O’Ward in 10th behind the wheel of his #5 Chevrolet.
Here is the full starting lineup for the first race of the 2020 IndyCar Harvest Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.
Starting Lineup
1st – Rinus VeeKay
2nd – Josef Newgarden
3rd – Colton Herta
4th – Will Power
5th – Marco Andretti
6th – Jack Harvey
7th – Felix Rosenqvist
8th – Alexander Rossi
9th – Max Chilton
10th – Pato O’Ward
11th – Graham Rahal
12th – Scott Dixon
13th – Ryan Hunter-Reay
14th – Conor Daly
15th – Marcus Ericsson
16th – Sebastien Bourdais
17th – Alex Palou
18th – James Hinchcliffe
19th – Helio Castroneves
20th – Santino Ferrucci
21st – Sage Karam
22nd – Simon Pagenaud
23rd – Charlie Kimball
24th – Takuma Sato
25th – Dalton Kellett
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Tune in to USA Network at 3:30 p.m. ET tomorrow afternoon for the live broadcast of the first race of the 2020 IndyCar Harvest Grand Prix doubleheader from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.