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| Mother Nature sets grid for IndyCar's Grand Prix of Louisiana |
Juan Pablo Montoya benefits greatly as the Colombian will start from pole position. The St. Petersburg winner was not going to advance to round two in qualifying after being seventh in round one group one. For the second consecutive race, Penske sweeps row one as Will Power will start second. The Australian was fourth in round one group one. Tony Kanaan was quickest in round one group one and quickest overall in round one. The Brazilian will start third and be joined by his fellow countryman Hélio Castroneves on row two. Like Montoya, Castroneves was not going to round two of qualifying after finishing ninth in round one group one.
Simon Pagenaud and Sébastien Bourdais starts on row three. Pagenaud was second quickest in round one group one while Bourdais would have started 23rd had qualifying been completed. Bourdais was quickest in round one group one but had his fastest time annulled after being penalized for impeding Kanaan during the session. Ryan Hunter-Reay and Jack Hawksworth make it an all-Honda row four. Hunter-Reay was second quickest in round one group two while Hawksworth was slowest in the same group. Luca Filippi and Marco Andretti round out the top ten.
Graham Rahal will start 11th while the fastest driver from round one group two, Josef Newgarden joins Rahal for an all-American row six. Takuma Sato and Carlos Muñoz make up row seven. While the likes of Montoya, Castroneves and Bourdais benefited greatly from the field being set by entrant points, Scott Dixon will suffer because of it. The New Zealander was third fastest in round one group two but will drop to 15th on the grid. James Hinchcliffe was also slated to advance to round two of qualifying but will start 16th.
Gabby Chaves has had a respectable weekend in practice but will have to start 17th just ahead of Simona de Silvestro. Like his Ganassi teammate, Sage Karam was in position to advance to round two but he drop to 19th on the grid with Stefano Coletti rounding out the top twenty. Charlie Kimball was fourth in round one group two while James Jakes was fifth in round one group one but both will comprise row 11 on the grid. The Dale Coyne Racing drivers Francesco Dracone and Carlos Huertas round out the grid on row 12.
NBCSN's coverage of the inaugural Grand Prix of Louisiana will begin at 2:30 p.m. ET with green flag pushed up to 2:45 p.m. ET due to the possibility of more heavy storms late Sunday afternoon.
