Detroit IndyCar: Juan Pablo Montoya on pole as qualifying halted

Montoya had gone out in the first group, which managed to complete almost of its allocated 20 minutes of running time before James Jakes brought out the reds with a late trip into the wall.

At that point Ganassi's Sage Karam was on provisional pole, while Montoya, who had led much of the session, had been bumped back to fifth, which would have translated into a fifth-row start if the entire field had been able to complete qualifying.

However the rain worsened as the second group headed out.

Series officials initially tried to sweep away the worst of the standing water in an attempt to complete the session as scheduled before eventually conceding defeat.

It's the second time that Montoya has earned pole on entrant points this year, the first having come following the washed-out qualifying session at NOLA.

Karam, on the other hand, will drop from what would have been a guaranteed front-row start to the rear end of the grid.

"It is what it is," said Montoya. "I felt like we had a really good car in that session.

"We were P1, came in to make a change, and then we had the red flag.

"It's good to be in front, but at the same time, when you're leading you're the guinea pig."

Will Power, who was in the second group, will line up alongside Montoya for an all-Penske front row.

"Definitely good to start from the front, especially if it starts wet because it's very difficult to see back in the pack," he said.

"Not much to talk about [from qualifying]. I only did one lap."

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