IndyCar Iowa: Will Power leads Penske front row lockout
Will Power took pole position for this weekend's IndyCar race at Iowa, while Andretti's Ryan Hunter-Reay managed to prevent a Penske one-two-three on the grid

Josef Newgarden made it a provisional Penske lockout after 19 drivers had set a two-lap average on the Iowa oval, but his 181.161mph was only good enough for second on the grid.
That was because Power starred by becoming the only driver to hit a 182mph lap, doing so on both tours to set a pole speed average of 182.035mph.
Hunter-Reay was one of the final drivers to hit the track and displaced Simon Pagenaud for third by setting an average of 180.681mph, making him the only Honda-powered driver to break the 180mph benchmark.
Alexander Rossi was fifth for Andretti ahead of Chip Ganassi Racing's Scott Dixon, who was the last driver to qualify.
Robert Wickens said he did not expect to qualify inside the top 10 after his run put him seventh on the grid in his Schmidt Peterson Motorsports-run machine.
That put him ahead of Ed Jones and Ed Carpenter on the grid. Rahal Letterman Lanigan's Takuma Sato was 10th, comfortably the fastest driver in the early runs.
Those who hit the track first admitted to being stunned by how much the conditions had changed from Saturday's earlier practice session, meaning that lap speeds were surprisingly lower than in practice.
James Hinchcliffe was 11th in the second SPM-run machine, ahead of Graham Rahal and Tony Kanaan.
Sebastien Bourdais was 15th in his Dale Coyne entry, having clipped the outside wall on his second lap.
Marco Andretti was a disappointing 19th in a two-lap run that looked particularly loose.
Starting grid
Pos | Driver | Team | Car | Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Will Power | Team Penske | Dallara/Chevrolet | 35.2913s |
2 | Josef Newgarden | Team Penske | Dallara/Chevrolet | 0.2397s |
3 | Ryan Hunter-Reay | Andretti Autosport | Dallara/Honda | 0.3340s |
4 | Simon Pagenaud | Team Penske | Dallara/Chevrolet | 0.4067s |
5 | Alexander Rossi | Andretti Autosport | Dallara/Honda | 0.5083s |
6 | Scott Dixon | Chip Ganassi Racing | Dallara/Honda | 0.5632s |
7 | Robert Wickens | Schmidt Peterson Motorsports | Dallara/Honda | 0.6920s |
8 | Ed Jones | Chip Ganassi Racing | Dallara/Honda | 0.7248s |
9 | Ed Carpenter | Ed Carpenter Racing | Dallara/Chevrolet | 0.7255s |
10 | Takuma Sato | Rahal Letterman Lanigan | Dallara/Honda | 0.7272s |
11 | James Hinchcliffe | Schmidt Peterson Motorsports | Dallara/Honda | 0.7737s |
12 | Graham Rahal | Rahal Letterman Lanigan | Dallara/Honda | 0.7873s |
13 | Tony Kanaan | AJ Foyt Enterprises | Dallara/Chevrolet | 0.8688s |
14 | Zach Veach | Andretti Autosport | Dallara/Honda | 0.9093s |
15 | Sebastien Bourdais | Dale Coyne Racing | Dallara/Honda | 0.9355s |
16 | Gabby Chaves | Harding Racing | Dallara/Chevrolet | 1.1849s |
17 | Charlie Kimball | Carlin | Dallara/Chevrolet | 1.2305s |
18 | Spencer Pigot | Ed Carpenter Racing | Dallara/Chevrolet | 1.4463s |
19 | Marco Andretti | Andretti Herta | Dallara/Honda | 1.5857s |
20 | Zachary Claman | Dale Coyne Racing | Dallara/Honda | 1.6298s |
21 | Max Chilton | Carlin | Dallara/Chevrolet | 1.8194s |
22 | Matheus Leist | AJ Foyt Enterprises | Dallara/Chevrolet | 2.8585s |

Previous article
Pietro Fittipaldi has first kart test since leg-breaking LMP1 crash
Next article
IndyCar Iowa: James Hinchcliffe takes win in bizarre finish

About this article
Series | IndyCar |
Drivers | Will Power |
Teams | Team Penske |
Author | Tom Errington |
IndyCar Iowa: Will Power leads Penske front row lockout
Trending
Can Penske redress the balance in IndyCar's battle of the titans?
IndyCar's gold standard teams Ganassi and Penske are set for another slugfest beginning this weekend at Barber Motorsports Park. A poor start to the first season with the new aeroscreen left Josef Newgarden with too much ground to make up on Scott Dixon in the title chase, but his strong end to 2020 suggests a battle royale lies ahead...
The six major IndyCar subplots to follow in 2021
From rookies arriving with big reputations to veterans who still have the fire and an F1-linked squad pushing to join the big leagues, IndyCar has it all this year. Here are six of the key storylines to keep track of
The Indycar season that proves Michael Andretti is better than F1 showed
Often unfairly characterised as a car-breaker, judged for his lack of an Indianapolis 500 win and a disappointing part-season of Formula 1 in 1993, Michael Andretti was highly respected by his rivals and only thwarted greater success by ill-fortune. When it all came together in 1991, he was a truly formidable force
How McLaren is striving towards IndyCar's elite
The second year of McLaren's full-time IndyCar return is looming, with Patricio O'Ward and Felix Rosenqvist leading its line-up. Strong team personnel and work behind the scenes means that 2021 could be the year it joins the established elite
The enigmatic legacy of a misunderstood Indy stalwart
Flashes of brilliance amid spells of obscurity have been too common for Marco Andretti. While the third-generation racer has opted to bring his full-time IndyCar career to a close, his peaks and troughs have never been for want of trying
Why American racing's top dog is without equal
A byword for success in business and in motorsport for over 50 years, Roger Penske's importance to the US scene cannot be understated. In an exclusive interview, the custodian of the IndyCar Series and Indianapolis Motor Speedway reflects on his journey
The McLaren that rendered its Indy rivals obsolete
When founder Bruce McLaren died in June 1970, his team could have folded. Instead, his loyal band rallied to produce a string of winners - including an Indycar game-changer that won its third Indianapolis 500 five years after its debut
Why Newgarden's best IndyCar season yet wasn't enough
Josef Newgarden feels he didn't put a foot wrong in 2020, yet his finest season-long run of performances failed to yield a third series championship. But in a warning shot to Scott Dixon, Team Penske's team leader has vowed to redouble his efforts in 2021