Will Power Wins Milestone Pole, Penske Locks Front Row at WWTR
INDYCAR
Will Power wrote another chapter in the storied history of Team Penske on Saturday during NTT P1 Award qualifying for the Bommarito Automotive Group 500 presented by Axalta and Valvoline, earning the team's 700th pole across all racing series while leading a front-row lockout by the NTT INDYCAR SERIES powerhouse.
Power drove to his first pole since July 2023 at Iowa Speedway and the series record-extending 71st of his career with a two-lap average speed of 180.329 mph in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet at World Wide Technology Raceway. Scott McLaughlin qualified second at 179.783 in the No. 3 DEX Imaging Team Penske Chevrolet.
SEE: Qualifying Results
It was the fifth pole on the 1.25-mile WWTR oval for Power, who won this race in 2018.
'I sent it a lot,' Power said. 'I knew you would have to. You'd have to drive it flat in (Turns) 3 and 4. I wasn't quite flat, but I was very, very close.
'Cool, man. It's been awhile since I've had a pole, so really, really excited. Hopefully we can execute in the race. Man, it would be awesome to get a win here.'
The 260-lap race – the second oval event of the season – starts at 8 p.m. ET Sunday (FOX, FOX Sports app, INDYCAR Radio Network).
A victory by Power, McLaughlin or teammate Josef Newgarden would provide a boost for Team Penske. The winningest team in INDYCAR SERIES history hasn't visited victory lane this season, with single third-place finishes by McLaughlin, Newgarden and Power the best results.
Pato O'Ward qualified third at 179.190 in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet. Nearly all the drivers toward the end of the 27-car qualifying line benefited from improved conditions, as the arrival of light cloud cover helped drop the track temperature by nearly 10 degrees from the start of the session.
Team Penske DNA strands were woven through most of the top five qualifiers, as David Malukas qualified fourth at 179.079 in the No. 4 Clarience Technologies Chevrolet of A.J. Foyt Enterprises, a team that has a technical alliance with Team Penske. Josef Newgarden, who has won this race a record five times, rounded out the top five at 178.910 in the No. 2 PPG Team Penske Chevrolet.
Marcus Armstrong will join Newgarden in Row 3 after qualifying sixth at 178.754 in the No. 66 SiriusXM/Root Insurance Honda fielded by Meyer Shank Racing w/ Curb-Agajanian. Armstrong was the fastest Honda-powered driver, as Chevy engines propelled the top five qualifiers.
Championship leader Alex Palou, who has won five of seven races this season, qualified ninth at 178.381 in the No. 10 Ridgeline Chip Ganassi Racing Honda.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Forbes
3 hours ago
- Forbes
IndyCar's Nolan Siegel Looks To Improve With New Race Boss Kyle Moyer
Nolan Siegel at Road America. Young Arrow McLaren IndyCar driver Nolan Siegel admitted last weekend at Road America that he didn't really know much about his new race strategist Kyle Moyer. The 20-year-old from Palo Alto, California got to know his new boss during a busy test session at Iowa Speedway on June 25 that featured 21 cars and drivers in a test session that lasted until 9 p.m. Eastern Time. Siegel looks forward to working with a new voice on the radio calling his race strategy. As noted last week on Forbes Sports Money, former Team Penske INDYCAR General Manager Kyle Moyer has joined Arrow McLaren as the Director of Operations. He will also work with Siegel as his race strategist. 'I've never met Kyle (Moyer),' Siegel said after finishing eighth at Road America on June 22. 'I've heard of him, and I've known of him, and I'm very, very excited to get to work with him. 'I think that's a huge pleasure and a huge learning opportunity for me. I couldn't be more excited. So, we're going to have a really strong group of people on the stand with Scott Harner going to kind of an advisory role. We're going to have a lot more experience on the stand. And I think it's going to be great. 'And again, it's nice to kind of leave this weekend on a high with everyone in good spirits. Kyle's going to come and in and I think that this could be a turnaround for us for the rest of the year.' Arrow McLaren Team Principal Tony Kanaan. Reunited Again Digging deeper into Arrow McLaren team principal Tony Kanaan's decision to bring Moyer on board, it was an opportunity Kanaan had to take. It was also a chance for Moyer and Kanaan to be reunited. The two worked together at what was then known as Andretti Green Racing when Kanaan won the 2004 IndyCar Series title. Moyer was a key part of that team before he left for Team Penske in 2015. 'Talk about how our history together, it's unbelievable,' Kanaan told me at Road America. 'Everything that I won, that guy was in my car. So that wasn't something that I was expecting to have. 'And honestly, I'm pretty happy about it. It's pretty good to see. 'He was my strategist strategy and my team manager at the same time. I think that's something that what that race has given me for a lot of good friends. 'You know you've been around as long as I've been but also, He was part of the most successful part of my life, so it's hard not to go back and he's still involved. 'I'm still involved to say, 'Why not try to do it again?'' Kyle Moyer Moyer was one of three key Team Penske executives that was dismissed before the Indianapolis 500 because of a technical rules infraction during qualifications. Because it was the second penalty in as many years including the 'push to pass scandal' from 2024, team owner Roger Penske dismissed the team's IndyCar President Tim Cindric, Managing Director Ron Ruzewski and Moyer. 'I've never questioned anybody's integrity,' Kanaan said. 'We all know that at the end of the day it takes a team, and not once did it cross my mind because I know Kyle really well so that was never even a debate.' Kanaan has spent much of his time working with young Nolan Siegel at Arrow McLaren. He believes having a different voice to work with the young driver will help his overall development and that is why he thinks Moyer is the right guy for that role. 'One hundred percent and I think Kyle is a way more experienced than me in so many ways,' Kanaan said. 'I'm trying to give Nolan as big of a support as I can. 'Obviously, he came in the middle of the season, so it was kind of like a way to put him there to take a look where he didn't work with Scott Harner as well and give Nolan a little bit of a bump. But as young as this kid is any help he can get it would definitely make him better.' Arrow McLaren General Manager Brian Barnhart. Another key member of Arrow McLaren that strongly supports bringing Moyer to the team is General Manager Brian Barnhart. He has worked with Moyer in various capacities throughout his career and is impressed with Moyer's accomplishments and approach. 'Oh, that's a steal of the century mid-season, that's for sure, so we're really happy,' Barnhart told me. 'Clearly, we weren't planning on something like that in season, so you take advantage of that opportunity when it gets presented to you, but Kyle is an exceptional leader, he's a great delegator, a genuine good person, really good communicator, just got a lot of common sense, so he'll make this race team better for sure. 'I think if anything it gives TK the ability to focus more on the stuff that he's doing as team principal and out of the role on the timing stand a little bit, so I think that's why it'll probably be helpful.' The one area that Barnhart is uncertain about, however, is the chain of command at Arrow McLaren and how a newly created Director of Operations will line up with the current organizational structure. 'It's one of those things to be honest with you, we don't wholly know yet, because it's one of them that you weren't planning on,' Barnhart said. 'It's not like we had a position, so we're just going to kind of make it fit and go along as we see what the best fit's going to be once he gets here.' As for Siegel's week, he was reprimanded by the team for unleashing a tirade against Team Penske during a fit of rage at the Bommarito Automotive Group 500 at Worldwide Technology Raceway, that got him a stern lecture from Kanaan and other members at Arrow McLaren. Siegel accepted the punishment and apologized to all involved last week. It culminated with a strong eighth-place effort at Road America in IndyCar's most recent race. 'Nice to move on from everything from last week ended on a high,' Siegel said. 'And this has been a much-needed weekend. 'You know, nothing's gone wrong this weekend. We've had a good smooth Saturday. We had a smooth Sunday. Eighth isn't ultimately, like the end goal, right? But it's something that we can build off of. And we've had a lot of bad weeks where everyone leaves upset, and it's just not a good feeling, and it's nice to kind of turn that around. And I think until you have a weekend like this, to turn it around, it's very hard to get out of that slump.' Siegel and Arrow McLaren move on to the next race on the NTT IndyCar Series schedule, the July 6 Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio in Steam Corners, Ohio. The second-year IndyCar driver is 20th in points with eight races remaining in the season. Nolan Siegel and Kyle Moyer are determined to make an improvement in the final half of the 2025 season. Nolan Siegel, Arrow McLaren
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
Ryan Blaney gets "caught up in other people's garbage" at Atlanta
While the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series champion is locked into the playoffs, the year has still been an up-and-down one for Ryan Blaney. On Lap 58, the intensity was picking up as the field raced toward the end of Stage 1. Christopher Bell ended up losing control, spinning sideways. Advertisement A handful of cars were collected including Bubba Wallace, AJ Allmendinger and Austin Dillon, but Blaney thought he was going to be okay. However, he got clipped on his way by and took the hardest hit of anyone as the No. 12 Team Penske Ford slammed the outside wall. He will finish 40th -- last place. After being released from the infield care center, Blaney said of the incident: "I couldn't see much. They kind of started spinning and coming down. I tried to get to the apron and by the time I got there, kind of got blocked. "Yeah, like you (the reporter) said, the story of our year. Just getting caught up in other people's garbage. Just when we get it going pretty good and find some momentum, we don't seem to have things go our way." Ryan Blaney, Austin Dillon, AJ Allmendinger, Christopher Bell crash Ryan Blaney, Austin Dillon, AJ Allmendinger, Christopher Bell crash The wreck forced the race to opening stage of the race to end under caution. And while Blaney never returned to the race, Bell did, albeit more than 70 laps down. Advertisement A few laps later, NASCAR actually had to red-flag the race after a far bigger incident broke out on the backstretch, collecting 23 cars. Blaney also failed to finish the races at Phoenix, Las Vegas, Homestead, Talladega, and Charlotte. Last year, he had seven DNFs throughout the entire season and he's nearly matched that, halfway through 2025. Read Also: NASCAR halts Atlanta Cup race after huge crash collects half the field To read more articles visit our website.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
What drivers said at Atlanta during crash-filled Cup race
(Will be updated with postrace quotes) Josh Berry — 30th: "I have no idea really what happened. It looked like they were just pushing each other hard for 8th, 10th, 12th like that and got squirrely. It's just disappointing getting taken out and having that happen with this many laps left. It's tough, but (Team Penske) had the four fastest cars yesterday. We were doing our best to fend off all the battles and work with each other at the beginning. Everyone on our 21 team and everybody at Team Penske have a lot to be proud of for how yesterday and the start of the race went. Unfortunately, we just got swept up in somebody else's mess.' Advertisement Chase Briscoe — 34th: "We were about ready to go. I guess NASCAR came over there and saw our chassis was bent or broke, so they're like, 'Yeah, you guys can't go back out.' So kind of wasted 30 minutes working on it. Just unfortunate. The No. 19 Toyota missed the balance at the beginning and put us behind, and obviously, that big wreck, there was just nowhere to go. Looking forward to two road courses coming up and hopefully a JGR or Toyota car can win. Just an unfortunate day for us." Joey Logano — 35th: "I was in the middle of it, so I haven't seen a replay yet to know what happened. Cars are sideways, and you get in the brakes, and everyone is just running into each other. Just a speedway wreck, especially with everyone so tight on the restart. Wrong place at the wrong time. We tried to win the stage and unfortunately didn't' get that done, and then you have to pay the piper and go to the back. It's unfortunate that it happens. The Penske cars were so strong, so fast. It's part of the game sometimes. Sometimes you're the ball, sometimes you're the bat. Today we're the ball." Austin Cindric — 37th: 'A lot of cars wrecking in the middle of the straightaway, which here you kind of more expect it in the middle of the corners, but maybe just a push gone wrong. It's hard to say. I had a small chance to get through a gap there, but obviously it didn't work out. It's a shame. Obviously, we had a super fast Ford Mustang. We wanted to keep the thing out front. I was looking forward to it because we got back in traffic with staying out to win the stage, but I was looking forward to see what our car was gonna do in dirty air and see what final adjustments we needed to make and have that opportunity to learn there. It's just a shame and a shame for everybody at Team Penske bringing such fast cars and all of them wreck out.' I'm a big believer in the law of averages and we've reset after Talladega and here we are.' Corey LaJoie —- 38th: "Saw a little smoke and then it was my hood on my windshield, unfortunately. We were getting it going, and I felt like the car was good right until the point of impact, unfortunately. Man, we had run so good here in the past, and I thought our car was really, too. Track position is so important. Who knows how the night could have gone. That's the risk you take just jamming it in there and being aggressive on restarts. I really appreciate Rick and everybody on that 01 team. I don't know when I'll be doing it again, hopefully in a couple of weeks. This is still the best seat in the house. The TV stuff was good, but driving these things at 200 mph is pretty badass. I don't know why we see guys pushing like dummies early down the backstretch. I don't know what we're doing. We just started the stage. I don't know why we're pushing like we're damn bumper cars at Frankie's Fun Park, but that's not to be surprised. I think there are a lot of guys who don't make wise decisions driving these things on speedways. Unfortunately, we were right smack in the middle of it." Advertisement Ryan Blaney — 40th: "I couldn't see much. As soon as they started spinning and coming down, I tried to get to the apron and finally got there and got blocked. Story of our year: Getting caught up in other people's garbage. As soon as I feel like we get it going pretty good and find some momentum, we never really seem to have things going our way. Tried to flip the stage and was right in the middle of it. Stinks and that's the way it goes sometimes. We'll be back and go at it in Chicago next week. I definitely thought we could improve (the car) in dirty air, but I was excited to work through it during the night and never got the chance." WILL BE UPDATED POSTRACE
