Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden in the No.2 Hitachi Chevrolet made it seven different pole-sitter’s from the opening seven NTT IndyCar Series races of the season as he paced the field on Saturday in Belle Isle.
A lap of 01:15.2153s was enough to give Newgarden pole ahead of Takuma Sato and Simom Pagenaud.
Speaking following the action, Newgarden said:
“I was loose; I was about hitting the wall every corner. “I think we needed two laps to get temperature (in the Firestone tires). I was just struggling to build temp.
“It was so loose, and I was like, ‘You’ve just got to stay in it.’ I knew the track was grippier. That was a good pole. Sometimes the car is just so good that it’s hooked up. I was loose today, and we put it together. I’m really proud of the team.”
Scott McLaughlin rounds out the top ten while Will Power rolls off P16.
