Santino Ferrucci delivered an electrifying run at the end of IndyCar qualifying to claim pole for Sunday’s Grand Prix of Portland.
The 26-year-old Connecticut native who now resides in Dallas, Texas, Ferrucci wheeled the No. 14 AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet to a quick lap of 58.2046s at the 12-turn, 1.964-mile natural terrain road course known as Portland International Raceway to earn the first pole of his IndyCar Series career. It is also the first pole for AJ Foyt Racing since the second race of the doubleheader at Belle Isle in 2014, with Takuma Sato behind the wheel.
“Man, I think it’s no secret how hard we’ve been working this year, how hard I’ve been working, Larry (Foyt, team president), our entire staff,” Ferrucci said.
“I mean, my first pole in IndyCar and I’m not known for being a very good qualifier. Today, we just felt it. We rolled off the truck amazing. I mean, it’s been a year of hard work and progression, and we’ve shown some real speed at certain times and feels great to put it together, man.”
Fast Six qualifying
Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou set the early mark of 58.6216s, while No. 15 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda of Graham Rahal was the only driver to try and maximize his chance for pole on a set of primary (black sidewall) tires. He hit a mark of 58.6332s and sat second with a minute left in the segment.
Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda
Photo by: Phillip Abbott / Motorsport Images
However, it was a flying lap of 58.3042 by Ferrucci with 30s left that vaulted him to the top spot. Despite his best shot, Team Penske’s Will Power was unable to knock him off the perch. Ferrucci’s ultimate lap went even faster as his 58.2046s ended up 0.1074s ahead of Power.
Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou, the reigning and two-time IndyCar Series champion, was third at 0.2270s off the top mark.
The No. 45 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda of Christian Lundgaard was fourth, ahead of Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood in fifth.
Rahal’s run on the primaries slotted him sixth, 0.4286s off the fast time.
Top 12 qualifying
Power was quickest after setting a fast lap of 58.1196s with less than a minute to go in the segment. The lap by Power was 0.2295s better than Kirkwood in second.
Palou ended up 0.2600s off of Power in third, with Lundgaard in fourth.
Ferrucci was fifth, ahead of Rahal in sixth. Team Penske’s Newgarden was the first driver to miss the transfer spot, ending up 0.0097s behind Rahal in seventh.
Although Juncos Hollinger Racing’s Romain Grosjean was quickest with one minute left, he fell to eighth, with Chip Ganassi Racing’s Marcus Armstrong in ninth.
Colton Herta, Andretti Global w/ Curb-Agajanian Honda
Photo by: Phil Sedgwick / Motorsport Images
Andretti Global’s Colton Herta was 10th, ahead of the No. 9 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda of six-time series champion Scott Dixon. Marcus Ericsson put his No. 28 Andretti Global Honda in 12th.
It was a close moment for Palou, who set the best lap at the time just three minutes into the segment with a 58.9251s lap before going off in the final corner. He was able to continue on, though, but lost the quick lap due to causing a local yellow flag.
Group Stage qualifying
In Group 1, it was Lundgaard pulling out the late run to secure the top spot at 58.2063s. He was followed closely by Kirkwood, who was just 0.0400s behind.
Ferrucci, Herta and Rahal also managed to advance, claiming third through fifth. The sixth and final transfer position went to Dixon, who went through by just 0.0182s ahead of Rahal Letterman Lanigan’s Pietro Fittipaldi in seventh.
The Ed Carpenter Racing duo of Rinus VeeKay and rookie Chistian Rasmussen were eighth and ninth. David Malukas also missed the cut, finishing up in 10th in the group after running 0.4236 off the mark set by Lundgaard.
Dale Coyne Racing rookie Toby Sowery was 11th. The surprise of the session was undoubtedly Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward unable to advance in 12th despite strong pace in second practice earlier in the day.
Sting Ray Robb put his No. 41 AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet in 13th, with the No. 78 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet of Conor Daly finishing up 14th as the last car in the group.
In Group 2, Palou held firm at the top of the leaderboard for the majority of the segment while knocking his quickest lap time down to a 58.2459s lap. The second position rotated between several drivers before Power seized it at just 0.0093s behind Palou.
Armstrong snatched third from Ericsson, who fell to fourth. Grosjean established a fast lap of 58.3713s to take fifth, ahead of Newgarden in sixth.
Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin was the first driver on the outside looking in from transferring, falling short by 0.0413s behind teammate Newgarden.
Juri Vips, making his first start of the season in a fourth entry with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, was seventh.
The woes continued for Arrow McLaren in qualifying as Alexander Rossi and Nolan Siegel also missed the cut, with the two ending up eighth and 12th, respectively, in the segment.
Meyer Shank Racing’s Felix Rosenqvist was 10th, with Chip Ganassi Racing rookie Linus Lundqvist taking 11th.
Kyffin Simpson, the other rookie at Chip Ganassi Racing, was 13th. Dale Coyne Racing’s Jack Harvey took the final spot in 14th.
