Long Beach IndyCar: Newgarden takes pole as points leader Palou starts 10th
Josef Newgarden took pole for the IndyCar season finale in Long Beach, while championship rivals Alex Palou and Pato O’Ward will start 10th and eighth respectively.


Newgarden took the top spot with a 1m08.224s in the Fast Six shootout, with reigning champion Scott Dixon claiming second having missed out on pole when he caught Helio Castroneves around the street circuit in the final part of qualifying.
Castroneves' initial time of 1m08.482s was good enough for third, ahead of Simon Pagenaud, Felix Rosenqvist and Romain Grosjean.
Championship leader Palou will start on the fifth row after failing to make it through to the shootout with a 1m08.946s. The Spaniard, who brushed the wall at Turn 4 in the first Q1 group, holds a 35-point lead over O'Ward and will start directly behind his rival for Sunday's race.
O'Ward was lucky to make it through to the second part of qualifying after his Arrow McLaren SP crew were called into action to repair a bent left-rear toelink after contact with the wall, as the session was headed by Newgarden.
O'Ward wasn't the only car that required repairs during the sessions, as Will Power was another to take damage when he collected the Meyer Shank Racing machine of Jack Harvey which had crashed at Turn 8, with the Penske machine sustaining left-rear suspension damage.
Practice pacesetter Colton Herta couldn't put his speed to good use in the second group of Q1, deciding not to use the faster red-walled Firestone tyre until late in the session before suffering a broken toelink, which left him languishing down in 14th on the grid.

Felix Rosenqvist, Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet
Photo by: Michael L. Levitt / Motorsport Images
Rosenqvist topped the second Q1 group ahead of Pagenaud and Castroneves, but fourth-placed Grosjean was initially under investigation for an incident with Oliver Askew. However, it was Askew not Grosjean who was penalised with the loss of his two fastest laps.
There were further investigations in Q2 following Power's brush against the T9 wall, the Penske driver having struggled with gearshifts - likely a lasting legacy from his collision with Harvey earlier in qualifying.
With his car stopped at T10, local yellows were deployed and it appeared Dixon, Rosenqvist, James Hinchcliffe and Ed Jones had improved their times through the caution zone.
Their improvements knocked O'Ward out of the final part of qualifying with only Jones penalised.
Hinchcliffe's best time put him seventh, while Jones was demoted to ninth having lost his best time.
Ryan Hunter-Reay, who will end his 12-year stint with Andretti Autosport after the race, will start 11th ahead of Power, Scott McLaughlin and Herta.

Long Beach IndyCar: Herta sets the pace again in second practice
Ticktum looking to IndyCar, DTM and Formula E for 2022

Latest news
De Vries cleared of wrongdoing in dispute over €250K loan
Nyck de Vries has been cleared of any wrongdoing in an Amsterdam court over a claim launched against him by real estate magnate Jeroen Schothorst relating to a €250,000 loan.
Horner admits Red Bull’s real RB19 will be ‘somewhat different’
Red Bull boss Christian Horner says the real RB19 that will appear in Formula 1 testing in Bahrain later this month will be ‘somewhat different'.
Horner hints at closer links between Mercedes and Williams F1 teams
Red Bull Racing boss Christian Horner has hinted that there could be a closer relationship between the Mercedes and Williams Formula 1 teams in the wake of James Vowles’s move.
Ford remains committed to WRC amid F1 return
Ford has stated that it remains committed to its programme in the World Rally Championship following confirmation of its return to Formula 1 as an engine supplier from 2026.
Nigel Mansell’s greatest F1 and Indycar drives
It’s 30 years since Mansell won the Formula 1 world title and then headed off to do battle in America. Here are his best races – and the Briton’s memories of them
How Ericsson achieved Indy immortality as Ganassi's main man stumbled
Chip Ganassi Racing team was strong again in the Indianapolis 500, with poleman Scott Dixon and reigning champion Alex Palou leading almost three quarters of the race between them. But when dominator Dixon was penalised for pitlane speeding, ex-Formula 1 driver Marcus Ericsson stepped up to score the biggest win of his career and seize the IndyCar points lead
Ranking the top 10 IndyCar drivers of 2021
In an enthralling 2021 IndyCar campaign, the series bounced back from its COVID-19 truncated year prior and Alex Palou defeated both the established order and his fellow young guns to clinch a maiden title. It capped a remarkable season with plenty of standout performers
How F1's other IndyCar exile finally unlocked his potential
Romain Grosjean's swashbuckling rookie year in IndyCar captured the imagination of many in 2021. But another ex-Formula 1 driver whose potential was masked by five years of toil in, at best, middling machinery also enjoyed a breakout year in 2021 - winning twice and finishing sixth in points. Here's how Marcus Ericsson finally delivered on his promise
How Ganassi's relentless new champion outfoxed IndyCar's best
IndyCar sophomore Alex Palou stunned by overcoming team-mate Scott Dixon and the rest of a white-hot field in 2021. He was consistently fast and crucially showed a level head, rebounding well from setbacks to put himself in a near unassailable position entering the final round
Have Harvey and RLL formed IndyCar’s next winning match-up?
Despite appearing to have an IndyCar job for life with Meyer Shank Racing, Jack Harvey’s departure and move to Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing sparked plenty of debate. However, Harvey's and RLL's combined strengths could prove to be a winning combination - if they get the balance right
Remembering Dan Wheldon and his last and most amazing IndyCar win
Saturday 16 October marks the 10th anniversary of Dan Wheldon’s death. David Malsher-Lopez pays tribute, then asks Wheldon’s race engineer from 2011, Todd Malloy, to recall that magical second victory at the Indianapolis 500
Why Kyle Kirkwood is America's new IndyCar ace-in-waiting
Kyle Kirkwood, the record-setting junior formula driver, sealed the Indy Lights championship last weekend. But despite an absurdly strong junior career and scholarship money, his next move is far from clear
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.