Alexander Rossi won pole position at Road America with a lap of 104.8656 seconds in the final round of qualifying. It is Rossi's first pole position since the first Belle Isle race in 2019. It is his seventh career pole position. Rossi is the eighth different pole-sitter through eight races this season. This is the most different pole-sitters to start a season since 1961, which opened with nine different pole-sitters. Rossi was second last week at Belle Isle. The only time Rossi has won after finishing runner-up in a race was in 2019 when he was second at Texas and then won at Road America. Last week was Rossi's ninth runner-up finish. His average finish in races after a runner-up result is 6.5 with five top five finishes and seven top ten finishes.
Josef Newgarden qualified second and Newgarden will start on the front row for a second consecutive race. Newgarden was 0.0715 seconds off Rossi's pole position time. This is the fourth time Newgarden has started on the front row at Road America. While he won from pole position in 2018, he was 14th in the first Road America race in 2020 and 21st last year. Newgarden has won from second on the grid eight times, including at Long Beach in April. Only four times has the Road America winner started second, Emerson Fittipaldi in 1992, Jacques Villeneuve in 1994, Cristiano da Matta in 2002 and Alexander Rossi in 2019.
Álex Palou leads an all-Chip Ganassi Racing row two. This is the third time Palou has started third this season. He has finished on the podium in the other two starts. Palou was over a half-second off Rossi's pole position lap. Palou could become the fourth driver to win consecutive Road America races joining Mario Andretti, Michael Andretti and Jacques Villeneuve.
Marcus Ericsson will start fourth. This is only the fourth time Ericsson has qualified in the top five in his IndyCar career. Ericsson had never started in the top ten at Road America prior to this race. He has finished in the top ten in the eighth race of the season every year he has run in IndyCar. Two of those results were top five finishes.
Patricio O'Ward moves up to fifth on the grid after Colton Herta serves a six-spot grid penalty for an unapproved engine change. O'Ward is looking for three consecutive top five finishes for the second time in his career. He was fourth at Indianapolis and then third and first at the Belle Isle doubleheader last year.
Romain Grosjean missed out on the final round of qualifying by 0.0810 seconds, but Grosjean will slide up to sixth on the grid. He has finished outside the top fifteen in three consecutive races. This is Grosjean's longest top ten drought in his IndyCar career.
Felix Rosenqvist will be seventh on the grid. This is the sixth time Rosenqvist has started in the top ten this season. Last year, he started in the top ten in only four races. A top ten finish would mean Rosenqvist would have four consecutive top ten finishes for the first time in his IndyCar career. Rosenqvist won from seventh position in the first Road America race in 2020.
Scott McLaughlin moves up to the outside of row four. Like Rosenqvist, this is the sixth time McLaughlin has started in the top ten this season. Last year, McLaughlin started in the top ten only twice, and one of those was the second Texas race where the field was set via entrants' points. McLaughlin has been the top Penske finisher in only one race this season, his St. Petersburg victory.
For the second consecutive race, Scott Dixon will start ninth. Dixon was the top Chip Ganassi Racing finisher last week at Belle Isle. It was the first time Dixon has been the top Ganassi finisher this season. He won from ninth in the first Road America race in 2020.
Simon Pagenaud is now tenth on the grid. Pagenuad has finished outside the top ten in his last three Road America starts. He has gone 32 starts since his most recent victory in the first race of the 2020 Iowa doubleheader. This is Pagenaud's longest drought since he went 38 starts before his first career victory.
Colton Herta qualified fifth but his six-spot grid penalty for an unapproved engine change drops him to 11th. This will be Herta's worst starting position at Road America. This is the third time in four races he has started outside the top ten. Herta has yet to have consecutive top ten finishes this season.
Callum Ilott starts 12th after causing a red flag at the very start of the second round of qualifying. Ilott is back after missing Belle Isle due to a broken hand suffered during the Indianapolis 500. This was the third time Ilott has advanced to the second round of qualifying this season.
Christian Lundgaard missed out from advancing from group one by 0.0118 seconds and Lundgaard will start 13th. Last year, Kevin Magnussen became the all-time leader in laps led for Danish drivers in IndyCar history with six laps led at Road America. Lundgaard has two laps led in his IndyCar career.
David Malukas was 0.0339 seconds off advancing to round two of qualifying for the second consecutive race, Malukas will start 14th. He has finished worse than his starting position in five of seven races this season. Malukas scored his first career fastest lap last week at Belle Isle.
Will Power starts on row eight for the second consecutive week, but this time in 15th position. Power was 0.0321 seconds off advancing from group one. This is the first time Power did not advance from the first round of qualifying at a Road America race. Power has six top five finishes this season. His most top five finishes in a season was 11 in 2010 and 2011.
Hélio Castroneves missed out on round two by 0.0539 seconds and Castroneves starts beside his former Team Penske teammate in 16th. Castroneves has two consecutive top five finishes at Road America in IndyCar competition, and he won his most recent start at the track in IMSA competition in 2020.
Rinus VeeKay leads an all-Ed Carpenter Racing row nine. This is VeeKay's third Road America appearance after missing last year's race due to a broken collarbone from a cycling accident. In his first two Road America starts, VeeKay started 16th and 15th. He has finished outside the top fifteen in the last three races and 11 of the last 15 races dating back to last season.
Conor Daly is next to VeeKay on the grid for a second consecutive race. This time the ECR drivers are two rows further back. Daly's best Road America finish was 15th in 2017. Ed Carpenter Racing's best Road America finish is eighth, which Josef Newgarden first achieved in 2016 and Spencer Pigot matched in 2018.
Takuma Sato qualified 19th, the sixth time he has failed to advance from round one in eight Road America appearances. Despite his qualifying record, Sato has five consecutive top ten finishes at Road America. Last year, he led two laps, his first laps led at the circuit.
Jack Harvey will be 20th on the grid for the second consecutive race. Last week, Harvey gained five positions and finished in 15th, his fourth top fifteen finish this season. Harvey has never finished better than 17th in three Road America starts.
Devlin DeFrancesco occupies 21st on the grid. DeFrancesco was second and fourth in the Indy Pro 2000 races held at Road America in 2020. Last year, he was outside the top five in both Indy Lights races.
Graham Rahal qualified 22nd, his worst starting position for a Road America race. This is the third consecutive race Rahal has started outside the top twenty. He has not finished in the top ten in the last three races. This is his longest slump since a four-race stretch between the final three events in 2019 and the 2020 season opener.
Dalton Kellett finds himself 23rd on the grid, his seventh consecutive start outside the top twenty. Kellett scored his best road/street course result this season at Belle Isle finishing 20th. It was the first time Kellett has been top A.J. Foyt Racing finisher this season. He was the top Foyt finisher only twice in his first 31 starts. Kellett's best Road America finish is 20th.
Kyle Kirkwood joins his A.J. Foyt Racing teammate Kellett on row 12. This is the fifth time Kirkwood has started outside the top twenty this season. He has finished outside the top twenty in four of seven races, three of which were retirements.
Tatiana Calderón makes it three consecutive Foyt cars on the grid as the Calderón starts 25th. This is her fourth time starting 25th in six appearances this season. Calderón has yet to finish outside the top twenty in consecutive races in her brief IndyCar career.
Jimmie Johnson joins Calderón on row 13. Johnson will be making his 20th career start this weekend. Only three drivers have had their first career victory come in their 20th start: Walt Brown on June 20, 1948 at Langhorne, Bobby Grim on September 10, 1960 at Syracuse and Justin Wilson on July 10, 2005 at Toronto.
Simona de Silvestro rounds out the grid in 27th position. This is her worst start on a road/street course since she started 27th for the 2012 Sonoma race when she drove a Lotus-powered car. She did finish 17th in that race. De Silvestro has five top ten finishes in her last six road/street course starts.
NBC's coverage of the Sonsio Grand Prix of Road America begins at 12:30 p.m. ET with green flag scheduled for 12:45 p.m. ET. The race is scheduled for 55 laps.
