IndyCar: 2021 Indy qualifying – Full starting lineup

Friday’s qualifying session set the starting lineup for this afternoon’s IndyCar race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.

The NTT IndyCar Series has returned to Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the first time since the 105th running of the Indy 500 back on Memorial Day Sunday for a second race of the 2021 season on the Speedway, Indiana track’s interior road course.

This race, the Big Machine Spiked Coolers Grand Prix, is a part of a historic race weekend at the track featuring not only IndyCar but both the NASCAR Cup Series and the Xfinity Series.

Arrow McLaren SP’s Pato O’Ward took the pole position for this 85-lap race around the 13-turn, 2.439-mile (3.925-kilometer) road course by recording a top lap time of 70.7147 seconds (124.167 miles per hour) behind the wheel of his #5 Chevrolet in the second and final round of qualifying for the race.

More from IndyCar

• IndyCar: Two teams with no drivers confirmed for 2024
• IndyCar: Chip Ganassi Racing news hints Alex Palou announcement
• IndyCar: ‘Addition by subtraction’ could pay off in a big way
• Team Penske should make a bold driver signing for 2024
• IndyCar: 5 teams that still have open seats for 2024

This lap was just 0.0067 seconds (0.012 miles per hour) faster than that of fellow front row qualifier Will Power of Team Penske, the five-time polesitter and four-time winner at the track who is set to start in second place behind the wheel of his #12 Chevrolet.

Set to share the second row are Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware Racing rookie Romain Grosjean in third place behind the wheel of his #51 Honda and Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing rookie Christian Lundgaard, who has never before competed in an IndyCar race, in fourth behind the wheel of his #45 Honda.

Andretti Autosport’s Colton Herta qualified in fifth place behind the wheel of his #26 Honda. Overall, the top five qualifiers were separated by less than 0.05 seconds.

Championship leader Alex Palou of Chip Ganassi Racing qualified in sixth place behind the wheel of his #10 Honda. Teammate Scott Dixon, who sits in second in the standings, spun out and was penalized late in the opening round of qualifying because of it. As a result, he is set to start all the way back in 26th behind the wheel of his #9 Honda.

Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden, who originally qualified in 14th place behind the wheel of his #2 Chevrolet, is set to drop six positions on the starting grid as a result of an engine penalty. So he is set to start in 20th instead, with everybody who originally qualified between 15th and 20th set to move up by one position each.

This race is set to feature 28 cars, the highest for a non-Indy 500 race since the race at Kentucky Speedway in October 2011 featured 29.

Here is the full starting lineup for the 2021 Big Machine Spiked Coolers Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.

Starting Lineup
1st – Pato O’Ward
2nd – Will Power
3rd – Romain Grosjean
4th – Christian Lundgaard
5th – Colton Herta
6th – Alex Palou
7th – Jack Harvey
8th – Conor Daly
9th – Rinus VeeKay
10th – Alexander Rossi
11th – Marcus Ericsson
12th – Simon Pagenaud
13th – Ryan Hunter-Reay
14th – Sebastien Bourdais (+1)
15th – Takuma Sato (+1)
16th – Graham Rahal (+1)
17th – Ed Jones (+1)
18th – Max Chilton (+1)
19th – Felix Rosenqvist (+1)
20th – Josef Newgarden (-6)
21st – Scott McLaughlin
22nd – Jimmie Johnson
23rd – Helio Castroneves
24th – James Hinchcliffe
25th – RC Enerson
26th – Scott Dixon
27th – Cody Ware
28th – Dalton Kellett

Tune in to NBC Sports Network at 12:30 p.m. ET this afternoon for the live broadcast of the Big Machine Spiked Coolers Grand Prix from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, and be sure to get your free trial of FuboTV if you haven’t already!