Penske dominate Texas qualifying, Dixon 7th

Autosport

Will Power will lead an all-Penske front row for Saturday night’s IndyCar race at Texas Motor Speedway after edging out Simon Pagenaud to secure pole.

Power went out right at the start of the session and set the bar at 218.519mph.

That proved to be enough to see off the entire field, although Pagenaud’s own average speed was just 0.1mph off.

Indeed, for much of the session the grid had looked primed to be a Penske 1-2-3-4, but Andretti’s Carlos Munoz derailed that at the very end when he bumped Colombian compatriot Juan Pablo Montoya from the outside of the second row with his 217.831mph effort.

Despite the final outcome, both Power and Penske’s domination had looked under threat numerous times: Pagenaud and Helio Castroneves were quicker than Power on their first timed lap but dropped away on the second.

Similarly, James Jakes and Scott Dixon were quick enough on their first lap to earn a provisional spot on the first two rows, but they too fell away on lap two.

The cars are scheduled to return to the track once more later in Friday for the evening practice session.

STARTING GRID:

PosDriverTeamCar
1Will PowerTeam PenskeDallara/Chevrolet
2Simon PagenaudTeam PenskeDallara/Chevrolet
3Helio CastronevesTeam PenskeDallara/Chevrolet
4Carlos MunozAndretti AutosportDallara/Honda
5Juan Pablo MontoyaTeam PenskeDallara/Chevrolet
6Graham RahalRahal Letterman LaniganDallara/Honda
7Scott DixonChip Ganassi RacingDallara/Chevrolet
8Tony KanaanChip Ganassi RacingDallara/Chevrolet
9Charlie KimballChip Ganassi RacingDallara/Chevrolet
10Sage KaramChip Ganassi RacingDallara/Chevrolet
11Marco AndrettiAndretti AutosportDallara/Honda
12James JakesSchmidt Peterson MotorsportsDallara/Honda
13Takuma SatoAJ Foyt EnterprisesDallara/Honda
14Josef NewgardenCFH RacingDallara/Chevrolet
15Ed CarpenterCFH RacingDallara/Chevrolet
16Tristan VautierDale Coyne RacingDallara/Honda
17Jack HawksworthAJ Foyt EnterprisesDallara/Honda
18Sebastien BourdaisKVSH RacingDallara/Chevrolet
19Ryan BriscoeSchmidt Peterson MotorsportsDallara/Honda
20Gabby ChavesBryan Herta AutosportDallara/Honda
21Ryan Hunter-ReayAndretti AutosportDallara/Honda
22Pippa MannDale Coyne RacingDallara/Honda
23Stefano ColettiKV Racing TechnologyDallara/Chevrolet

Penske dominate Texas qualifying, Dixon 7th

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