Courtesy of the NTT IndyCar Series

ST. PETERSBURG, Florida – The streets of St. Petersburg have become Will Power’s qualifying playground.

The Team Penske veteran continued his amazing dominance of NTT P1 Award qualifying for the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, laying down the best lap Saturday in the Firestone Fast Six to earn the race’s pole position for the eighth time in 10 years. The Australian now accounts for half the pole positions in the history of the event and has won the race on two occasions (2011, 2015).

Will Power. Photo by Karl Zemlin

FIRESTONE GRAND PRIX OF ST. PETERSBURG: Qualifying results

Power will lead the field to the green flag for the 2019 NTT IndyCar Series opener on Sunday after speeding around the 1.8-mile, 14-turn temporary street course in 1 minute, 0.4594 of a second (107.179 mph). It earned the 2018 Indianapolis 500 winner the 55th pole position of his Indy car career, moving him within 12 of tying Mario Andretti for the most all time.

“That last run, the car felt really good,” Power said. “I have to say it was a very neat lap and I didn’t really leave anything on the table.

“Honestly, I didn’t expect to be on pole because we had used (Firestone alternate) tires,” he added about the Firestone Fast Six. “We didn’t have new (alternate tires) like a couple of the other guys so, over the moon, man, over the moon to start on pole. I really am happy.”

Twenty-four cars will start Sunday’s 110-lap race as St. Pete hosts the NTT IndyCar Series opener for the ninth straight year. Team Penske owns the front row on the starting grid. Josef Newgarden qualified second in the No. 2 Hitachi Team Penske at 1:00.5570 (107.007 mph), his best starting position in eight St. Pete races.

“We definitely found our footing this morning and made the car really good,” Newgarden, the 2017 NTT IndyCar Series champion, said. “Everyone really executed today. I’m only disappointed in myself. I didn’t put together the best lap there when it really counted. We did a great job getting into the Firestone Fast Six as a team, so you can’t be dissatisfied. It’s really positive for the whole organization.”

Chip Ganassi Racing locked down Row 2, with Felix Rosenqvist qualifying third in his first NTT IndyCar Series race. The Swede turned a lap of 1:00.6884 (106.775 mph) in the No. 10 NTT DATA Honda. Teammate Scott Dixon, the reigning and five-time series champion, was fourth in the No. 9 PNC Bank Honda at 1:00.8544 (106.484 mph).

“I’m pretty happy overall with the result,” said Rosenqvist. “I’m not even sure yet what exact feedback to give to the team in qualifying, so I didn’t want to change anything on the NTT DATA car.

“We are starting side by side tomorrow as teammates and the golden rule there is to always respect your teammate,” he added. “Other than that, I just can’t wait to get going tomorrow for the race here at St. Petersburg.”

Andretti Autosport drivers Ryan Hunter-Reay and Alexander Rossi will start in the third row. Hunter-Reay qualified fifth in the No. 28 DHL Honda with a lap of 1:01.0784.  Rossi was sixth in the No. 27 NAPA AUTO PARTS Honda at 1:01.7739.

The first two rounds of qualifying featured incidents that shuffled which drivers advanced to succeeding rounds. A pair of red-flag stoppages in the first group of Round 1 limited green-flag time to a precious few minutes. It prevented Sebastien Bourdais from completing a timed lap so the two-time defending race champion from Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan will start 19th.

Takuma Sato of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing initially advanced from his group in the first round but was penalized for causing a local yellow flag that impeded the qualifying effort of another car. Per INDYCAR rules, Sato forfeited his fastest lap to that point, preventing the 2017 Indy 500 winner from advancing to the second round and allowing Dixon to move on instead.

Rookie Colton Herta of Harding Steinbrenner Racing was third fastest in Round 2 but penalized for qualifying interference, surrendering his two best laps by rule. That allowed Rossi, who was seventh quick in the second round, to move up a spot and on to the Firestone Fast Six.

Sunday’s NTT IndyCar Series schedule calls for a 30-minute warmup practice starting at 9:20 a.m. ET and streaming live on INDYCAR Pass on NBC Sports Gold . Live race coverage takes place on NBCSN (12:30 p.m.) and the Advance Auto Parts INDYCAR Radio Network.

Season opener to stream live in Latin America, Canada

Latin America and Canada will get a live, free look at the NTT IndyCar Series’ season opener, Sunday’s Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.

Canadians will see the livestream of the 1:30 p.m. ET race on Sportsnet.ca. The race also can be seen on SN NOW+, Sportsnet’s direct-to-consumer streaming product.

As part of its strategy to increase engagement with fans in Latin America, INDYCAR will livestream all 2019 NTT IndyCar Series races on IndyCar.com in Mexico and select markets in Central America and South America, excluding Brazil. In Brazil, NTT IndyCar Series will air on both free-to-air TV and subscription services in 2019.

Providing Latin American fans free access to races on IndyCar.com via geofencing will increase NTT IndyCar Series exposure in important markets. INDYCAR will continue to increase exposure of the series in Latin American markets and evaluate opportunities to provide Latin American fans even more access on various platforms. 

Road to Indy race recap

Zachary Claman (Belardi Auto Racing) celebrated his return to Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires by leading every lap of the season opener and winning the race by 0.7271 of a second over Toby Sowery (BN Racing/Team Pelfrey). Claman, who drove in Indy Lights from 2016-17, competed in 10 NTT IndyCar Series races in 2017 and ’18, but returned to the top level of the Road to Indy presented by Cooper Tires this season to hone his race craft in hopes of an eventual return to the NTT IndyCar Series.

Parker Thompson (Abel Motorsports) completed a weekend sweep of the Indy Pro 2000 Championship presented by Cooper Tires doubleheader at St. Petersburg. The 21-year-old Canadian won by 1.4334 seconds over Kyle Kirkwood (RP Motorsport Racing) on Saturday, one day after winning the season opener.

Braden Eves also completed a weekend sweep, his in the Cooper Tires USF2000 Championship, but in most unusual fashion. Eves was running third in Saturday’s second race when the two cars ahead of him – Darren Keane (Cape Motorsports) and Christian Rasmussen (Jay Howard Driver Development) – had contact on the next-to-last turn of the final lap. Eves dodged the incident and won by 0.6338 of a second over Hunter McElrea (Pabst Racing) to collect his second win in as many days.

‘What They’re Saying’ from Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg qualifying

JOSEF NEWGARDEN (No. 2 Hitachi Team Penske Chevrolet), NTT P1 award winner:“It was a medium start to the weekend. We weren’t bad and we got a top 10, but we weren’t crazy stellar. We definitely found our footing this morning and made the car really good. Everyone really executed today. I’m only disappointed in myself. I didn’t put together the best lap there when it really counted. We did a great job getting into the Firestone Fast Six as a team, so you can’t be dissatisfied. It’s really positive for the whole organization. Team Chevy did a really good job and worked really hard overnight for us to make sure what got what we needed for the No. 2 Hitachi Chevy. Thank you to Chevy for giving us everything we need. It’s hard to not be disappointed when you’re quick and we had a little better tires. We were on the preferred tire and you want to capitalize on them, but I messed up that first lap and booked it on the second. It was close, but wasn’t good enough.”

MATHEUS LEIST (No. 4 ABC Supply AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet): “It’s not the result we wanted in qualifying We will be starting from the back tomorrow, so we have a lot of work to do. Even so, I’m looking forward to the race because it is a place that I like, and I usually drive pretty good. We’ll try to move to the front and have a good result tomorrow.”

JAMES HINCHCLIFFE (No. 5 Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda): “We had a fast car, we just didn’t nail it perfectly on (Firestone alternate tires) reds. I think if we had had the run in Round 1 (qualifying), we would have been able to make some adjustments and be fighting for the Firestone Fast Six. It is what it is. Pretty disappointing the way it played out, but that’s qualifying here. There are red flags, there are guys holding up other guys – not a lot of respect out there in qualifying for each other – but that’s racing. This place has always been pretty good to us. I think if we can play strategy a little bit, we can make some moves in the Arrow car.”

MARCUS ERICSSON (No.7 Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda): “It was a disappointing qualifying session for us. On the first set of tires, the primaries (Firestone black tires), I had a big lockup on my first timed lap, so that made that whole run pretty compromised because of it. I was struggling with that to get a good reference for the (Firestone alternate tires) reds. Then on the reds, I was on a decent lap, but I brushed the wall quite hard in Turn 9, which sort of bent the car a bit and I couldn’t improve from there. Disappointing to go out straight away in the first round, but it’s still a new day tomorrow and we have a good chance with the Arrow cars.”

SCOTT DIXON (No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda): “We couldn’t really find the balance I was looking for today for whatever reason in the PNC Bank car. We had some pretty patchy practice sessions and didn’t get to run the car consistently. Great job by my teammate Felix (Rosenqvist) in his first race weekend here. We still have a little work to do, as I’m getting loose on entry under braking. We got lucky with (Takuma) Sato getting a penalty to advance through, but you take the breaks when you get them and just make the most of it.”

FELIX ROSENQVIST (No. 10 NTT DATA Chip Ganassi Racing Honda): “I’m pretty happy overall with the result. I’m not even sure yet what exact feedback to give to the team in qualifying, so I didn’t want to change anything on the NTT DATA car. I guess when I get comfortable enough we can have those conversations, which is something to look forward to. We are starting side by side tomorrow as teammates and the golden rule there is to always respect your teammate. Other than that, I just can’t wait to get going tomorrow for the race here at St. Petersburg.”

WILL POWER (No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet): “I had a great nap before I qualified. I actually fell asleep, so I felt really fresh. Honestly, I didn’t expect to be on pole because we had used tires. We didn’t have new (tires) like a couple of the other guys so, over the moon man, over the moon to start on pole. I really am happy. It’s about time a pole winner won this race, so I want to stop that trend of the last place guy winning. So, we’ll do our best.  That last run, the car felt really good. I have to say it was a very neat lap and I didn’t really leave anything on the table.”

TONY KANAAN (No. 14 ABC Supply AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet): “I can’t call this qualifying. We got two red flags, so nobody ever put a fast lap in our group. The fastest lap was an out lap at a 1:03 and we were running .59s. It’s a shame, but it was out of our control. We didn’t cause the red flags, but we just didn’t get the lap.”

GRAHAM RAHAL (No. 15 United Rentals Honda): “In the first round, the United Rentals Honda was really good. I thought that with a couple of minor tweaks, we would be right there. When we went to the second round, unfortunately, we didn’t really get a good out lap, and due to that, the rear tires never came in and it was just an absolute handful. I almost lost it to start my lap, so therefore we just never stood a chance of advancing. It’s a shame because our time in the first round was good enough to advance us to the (Firestone) Fast Six so it’s disappointing to not fulfill that.”

SEBASTIEN BOURDAIS (No. 18 SealMaster Honda): “I’m not quite sure what to say. I didn’t even get a timed lap. I think the SealMaster Honda car is really competitive. It’s just a shame. I feel that we owe it to the fans, sponsors and teams to at least show something that’s representative, but the rules are there for a reason. However, the rules do not provide for something like this where you barely get any green flag time. I feel really bad for everybody. I guess we should have gone out right away, but that is easy to say now. The good news is the Dale Coyne with Vasser-Sullivan team has plenty of sticker (new) tires both the Firestone reds (alternate) and blacks (primary), so I am excited for tomorrow. Obviously, we will be playing the long game again. That’s all you can do from where we’ll start. We’ll give it our best shot. We’ve done it the last two years from there (won from the back of the field), so we know it’s possible.”

SANTINO FERRUCCI (No. 19 David Yurman Honda): ” That’s definitely not how I wanted to start off the season in qualifying here in St. Petersburg aboard my No. 19 David Yurman Honda. I made a rookie mistake going into Turn 12 and ended up in the tire barrier. I feel bad because it not only ruined my qualifying, but also Sebastien’s (Bourdais). It’s a long race and we’ll do our best to make our way forward. Sebastien has won from the back here before, so we’ll see what we can do tomorrow.”

ED JONES (No. 20 Ed Carpenter Racing Scuderia Corsa Chevrolet): “Qualifying was super frustrating. We weren’t the only ones caught out by the red flags, but what hurts the most is that the team did a fantastic job over last night to improve the car. We were sixth this morning and the car felt great. Unfortunately, no one did a push lap, it was only out lap times. It’s disappointing, but as Sebastien (Bourdais) has shown us the last two years, you can start at the back and still win the race.”

SPENCER PIGOT (No. 21 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet): “We just kind of missed the balance there on the (Firestone alternate) red tires today. Unfortunately, the car wasn’t behaving like it did yesterday in second practice. We’ll go back to see where we can improve and get the car back to how it was. Hopefully, we’ll have a good race tomorrow for Autogeek and have a strong start of the season for Ed Carpenter Racing.”

SIMON PAGENAUD (No. 22 Menards Team Penske Chevrolet): “I didn’t get to play. It was quite unfortunate. I wasn’t even able to go full speed. We had two red flags in the wrong spot for us. It’s really unfortunate because I felt that the No. 22 Menards Chevy was awesome. We made a huge improvement today and the car was awesome this morning. I’m just a little disappointed I didn’t get to showcase what the team has been working on. Obviously, my teammates are starting one and two and had not what gone down, I would have been right there with them. That’s the only frustrating part, but you can’t dwell on that. That’s outside factors you can’t control. We’re going to regroup and go hard tomorrow.”

CHARLIE KIMBALL (No. 23 Tresiba Carlin Chevrolet): “The Firestone alternates really have one good lap in them around here and on my best lap I was coming into Turn 10 up on my previous good lap time and came across the No. 88 in about second gear at the apex. I was able to slide by him, but I had to throw that lap out completely. My next lap, which was my best, just wasn’t quite good enough to move into the top six. Honestly, I’m really proud of the Carlin team and the progress we’ve made in 12 months. You know to come back in the No. 23 car this weekend with Novo Nordisk and to qualify in the top 10 is pretty great. I’m just looking forward to the green flag tomorrow to see what we can do with our solid qualifying effort.” 

ZACH VEACH (No. 26 Gainbridge Honda): “First off, I’m just happy being here. Thankful for all the fans coming out, but I think we have something to look at. The data didn’t come out just right as far as speed for us. We think that we have a lot better car than we are showing right now, but we have an issue holding us back. We just have to figure out what that is overnight. It is a long race. This is the longest (in both laps at 110 laps and distance at 198 miles) temporary street course we have of the entire year. A lot of laps and a lot of things can happen tomorrow and at the end of the day, I am just happy to be here.”

ALEXANDER ROSSI (No. 27 NAPA AUTO PARTS Honda): “We have been struggling for two days now with some issues on the front of the car. I think (the qualifying result) was really the best we could hope for. It is unfortunate that we were aiming for sixth. At the end of the day, it was good to be able to advance to the Firestone Fast Six and at least give us a good starting spot for tomorrow, and we all know in this race how many things can happen. We will make sure we resolve our issues overnight and have a good car for tomorrow. I think we know what the issue is, but we don’t know quite how to fix it yet. We have a lot of very smart people here at Andretti Autosport, so the 27 NAPA guys will work and figure it out.”

RYAN HUNTER-REAY (No. 28 DHL Honda): ” We had the fastest lap of qualifying and unfortunately it was in the wrong session. It was in Q1, a 1:00:15, super fast. That was on new (Firestone alternate) reds. In the (Firestone) Fast Six, we had used reds. I think we just beat up our reds too much in the prior sessions – there was no grip in the car in the Fast Six.  We are struggling with some balance stuff right now, but hopefully we can sort that out for tomorrow, but it’s going to be tough. It seems like it is either going to be loose or understeer, we can’t find the middle. But we’re starting from fifth – and we can do something from there.”

TAKUMA SATO (No. 30 Panasonic / Seeman Holtz Honda): “I’m disappointed with qualifying obviously. We looked good in Practice 3 so we were optimistic about qualifying. I was in the top five in our (qualifying) group. We were moving to Round, but I had a little moment in Turn 4 and went into the escape road, which caused a yellow, so INDYCAR took my fastest lap away. My second fastest was not quick enough to advance in the top six.”

MAX CHILTON (No. 59 Gallagher Carlin Chevrolet): “It was a disappointing day for the No. 59 Gallagher Chevrolet. We had an issue with the clutch in the first session that cost us quite a bit of track time, which you never want to happen in the last practice before qualifying. We aren’t starting where we want tomorrow, but now we have an opportunity to come from the back with an alternate strategy and get the result we know we can get.”

JACK HARVEY (No. 60 AutoNation/Sirius XM MSR w/ Arrow SPM Honda): ” We made some changes before the session, so it was a bit of stepping into the unknown for qualifying honestly. I didn’t know what we were going to have. But the MSR guys stuck with it, and it was great to have that pace in qualifying. The Drive Pink Shasta is set up here at the track, and we’ve got a lot of people here from AutoNation so it is great to show this kind of potential with our pink car. Now I’m just looking forward to the race tomorrow.“ 

BEN HANLEY (No. 81 10 Star DragonSpeed Chevrolet):  “We had to work through quite a few technical problems in practice, so it was satisfying to come out of our first NTT IndyCar Series qualifying with a good result. Qualifying was our first chance to run (Firestone alternate) red tires, so we started on a set, and with the interruptions, it worked in our favor. Getting through to Q2 was a nice reward for all the crew’s hard work, and it also gave us an extra 10 minutes to learn about the car. We’ll try to learn some more in the morning warmup and then it’s exam time in the race.”

COLTON HERTA (No. 88 Harding Steinbrenner Racing Honda): “Shoulda, coulda, woulda. We had the time to get into the Firestone Fast Six, but we didn’t quite make it. We didn’t manage traffic right and we got caught for blocking, so it was a rough day. My last lap would have put us in the third position, and I think we had even more time to give. The Harding Steinbrenner Racing guys and I will push our Latitude Vacation Club No. 88 car tomorrow.”

MARCO ANDRETTI (No. 98 U.S. Concrete / Curb Honda): “It was unfortunate today, the U.S. Concrete car is fast, we just didn’t get a chance. It ruined the show for the fans, too. There should have never been a red (flag). I was sitting on pit lane, I wasn’t blocking anyone but that’s the way the cards fell today. I will be driving and seeing red tomorrow. That’s the plan. So far we have had the pace and possibly had the pace to do a lap.”