Scott McLaughlin won pole position for the Bommarito Automotive Group 500 with a two-lap average at 179.972 mph in qualifying on Friday afternoon at Gateway Motorsports Park. This is the second consecutive year McLaughlin has won pole position at Gateway and it is his fourth pole position of the season. The New Zealander has won pole position for three of four oval races this season. McLaughlin has been in the top five in all three of his Gateway appearances. He has six consecutive top ten finishes on ovals, five of which have been top five finishes. His worst finish over that span was sixth at the Indianapolis 500 this past May. This is the 13th race of the season and McLaughlin has finished no worse than fourth in the 13th race of the season every year of his IndyCar career. McLaughlin enters this race with 960 laps led in his career.
David Malukas starts in second position after running two laps at an average of 179.503 mph. This is Malukas' best career starting position. His previous best was third in the second Iowa race last year and at Mid-Ohio this past July. Malukas has finished on the podium in both his Gateway starts. He went from 12th to second in 2022 before going from sixth to third last year. His only other top five finish in his career was fourth at Texas last year.
Josef Newgarden has his best starting position since Detroit as Newgarden takes third. He ran two laps at 179.424 mph. This is the eighth time in nine Gateway appearances Newgarden is starting inside the top three. Newgarden has won four of eight Gateway starts and he has led at least 50 laps in five of his Gateway starts. He has won multiple oval races in four of the last five seasons.
Will Power makes it three Team Penske cars in the top four spots as Power had a two-lap average at 179.262 mph. Power has finished outside the top ten in three of the last four races. Power has finished inside the top ten of the 13th race of the season in ten consecutive seasons. He has won the 13th race of the season three times in his career. Power has led a lap in all eight of his Gateway starts.
Kyle Kirkwood has his first career top ten starting position on an oval, and it is also his first career top five starting position as Kirkwood moves up to fifth after Felix Rosenqvist had a nine-spot grid penalty for an engine change. Kirkwood was a little more than a mile-and-a-half per hour off McLaughlin's qualifying run. Kirkwood has finished seventh in two of the three oval races this season. Seventh is Kirkwood's best finish on an oval in his career.
Romain Grosjean will start sixth, his second consecutive race starting in the top ten and it is his second-best start ever on an oval. Grosjean started fifth at Gateway last year. The Frenchman has finished in the top ten in the last two races. He has never had three consecutive top ten finishes in his IndyCar career. The only oval top ten finishes in his career were in both races of the 2022 Iowa doubleheader.
Marcus Ericsson takes seventh on the grid, his best starting spot on an oval this season. Ericsson has three consecutive top ten finishes at Gateway and has four top ten finishes in the last five Gateway races. He has finished outside the top ten in six of 12 races this season. Ericsson had finished outside the top ten in only six of the previous 22 races.
Patricio O'Ward winds up starting eighth after a trio of penalties for engine changes. It is O'Ward's worst starting position in his career at Gateway. O'Ward has finished in the top five in all five of his Gateway starts, which includes four podium finishes. His average finish is 2.6 at the 1.25-mile circuit. He has led a lap in every one of his Gateway starts, but he has not led more than 20 laps in the last three Gateway races.
In for the final five races of the season with Juncos Hollinger Racing, Conor Daly starts his deputy role with the team in ninth starting position. It is Daly's best starting position ever at Gateway in eight appearances. Daly is making his 111th start this weekend driving for 11th team in his IndyCar career. He has a top ten finish with seven teams in his career, including at the Indianapolis 500 earlier this year when he was tenth with Dreyer & Reinbold Racing.
Thanks to some grid penalties for engine changes, Marcus Armstrong ends up as the top Chip Ganassi Racing starter, and Armstrong is starting in the top ten. After opening the season starting in the top ten of the first four races, this is only the third time in the last nine races Armstrong has started in the top ten. He is coming off a fifth-place finish at Toronto. In the race following his previous two top five finishes, Armstrong has failed to finish the race.
Felix Rosenqvist has a nine-spot grid penalty for taking on his fifth engine this season, dropping him to 11th starting spot after Rosenqvist qualified second at 179.796 mph. Rosenqvist has finished outside the top ten in six consecutive races and he has been outside the top twenty in his last two starts. This is his longest top ten drought since the final two races of 2021 and the first four races in 2022. He has finished outside the top ten in 21 of 28 oval starts in his career.
Rinus VeeKay misses out on the top ten but 12th is VeeKay's best starting position ever at Gateway. VeeKay enters with three consecutive top ten finishes for the first time in his career since a four-race streak in 2021 over the second Texas race, the two Indianapolis races and the first race of the Belle Isle doubleheader. Since finishing sixth and fourth in his first two Gateway starts in 2020, VeeKay has an average finish of 19.333 at the track.
Starting in the lucky 13th starting position for the 13th race of the IndyCar season will be Alexander Rossi. Rossi is back after missing the Toronto round due to a broken thumb. It ended a 142-consecutive start streak, the 20th longest in IndyCar history. It will soon drop to 21st as Will Power will be making his 143rd consecutive start this weekend. Rossi has 49 top five finishes in his career. He is one start away from becoming the 34th driver with 50 top five finishes in a career.
Graham Rahal makes it an all-American row seven. In eight Gateway starts, Rahal has an average finish of 16.375 with his best finish being tenth on two occasions. This is only the fourth time in nine Gateway appearances he is starting inside the top fifteen. After finishing eighth and tenth in the last two races, Rahal is looking for three consecutive top ten results for the first time since the 2021 season when he finished sixth, fifth and seventh over Mid-Ohio, Nashville and the August Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course race.
Pietro Fittipaldi is a spot behind his Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing teammate in 15th. This is Fittipaldi's best starting position since he started 15th at Detroit in June. He has finished 19th or worse in his last four races. His average finish in nine oval starts is 20.888. Fittipaldi's best oval finish was 11th at Gateway in 2018.
Álex Palou would have been starting seventh, but a nine-spot grid penalty for taking his fifth engine of the season has relegated Palou to 16th starting spot. Gateway is Palou's worst track in his IndyCar career. In five starts, his best finish is seventh and he has an average of 12.6. He has never led a lap at the track. Palou has led 953 laps in his first 76 starts. The good news is Scott Dixon won last year's Gateway race from 16th on the grid.
Santino Ferrucci starts 17th for a second consecutive race and for the fourth time this season. Ferrucci has finished in the top ten twice this season after starting 17th. He went from 17th to seventh at Barber Motorsports Park and from 17th to ninth at Laguna Seca. Ferrucci has 12 top ten finishes in 22 oval starts in his career. All five of his top five finishes in his career have come on ovals.
Linus Lundqvist is to Ferrucci's outside on row nine. This is the ninth time this season Lundqvist is starting outside the top fifteen. Lundqvist has not finished in the top ten in nine consecutive races, four of which have been finishes outside the top twenty. He ran last year's Gateway race driving for Meyer Shank Racing and ended up 18th, but he also scored fastest lap in the race.
Scott Dixon is the second Chip Ganassi Racing entry with a nine-spot grid penalty, and this one drops Dixon from starting tenth to 19th. Dixon has won twice this year. He closed last season with three victories in the final four races. Dixon has not won at least three races in consecutive seasons since a four-year run from 2007 through 2010.
Nolan Siegel will make his Gateway debut from 20th starting position. Siegel was sixth at Gateway last year in his only Indy Lights appearances at the track. He was second in the 2022 Indy Pro 2000 race at the track finishing behind Salvador de Alba.
Ed Carpenter starts 21st. Carpenter has finished outside the top fifteen in seven consecutive races, four of which have been results outside the top twenty. He has finished outside the top ten in 14 consecutive starts. His last top ten result was fifth in the 2021 Indianapolis 500.
Kyffin Simpson makes it three consecutive rookies on the outside covering rows nine through 11 as Simpson starts 22nd. Simpson is still looking for his first career top ten finish. He has finished outside the top twenty in six of the last eight races. The two races during that stretch where Simpson finished in the top twenty were the two Iowa races.
Christian Lundgaard is starting outside the top twenty for the third time in four oval races this season, as the Dane will occupy 23rd on the grid. In 13 career oval starts, Lundgaard's average finish is 17.846 with only one top ten finish, a tenth in the first race of the 2022 Iowa doubleheader. He has finished better than his starting position in all three oval races this season, but he only finished a spot better than his grid position in both Iowa races.
Sting Ray Robb takes 24th starting spot. This is the tenth time this season Robb is starting 24th or worse in a race. Robb scored his best finish on an oval last month at Iowa when he was 15th in the first race of the doubleheader. His average finish in eight oval starts is 22.75.
Colton Herta was on pace to start second after his first lap in qualifying was at 179.909 mph, but a spin in turn two on the second lap meant Herta would be relegated to 25th on the grid. Herta surpassed the 1,000 laps led milestone in his career during the Toronto race after leading 81 laps. He became the 42nd driver in IndyCar history to reach 1,000 laps led in a career. Herta enters this race tied for 37th all-time with Scott Sharp on 1,067 laps led.
Jack Harvey suffered a technical issue on his out lap for his qualifying run and he was unable to start a qualifying run let alone complete one. This means Harvey will start 26th for the Gateway race. Harvey has a 26-race top ten drought. He has not finished in the top ten in his last ten oval starts. His most recent top ten finish on an oval was tenth at Gateway in 2021.
Katherine Legge's #51 Honda did not pass technical inspection prior to qualifying, preventing her from attempting a qualifying run. The #51 Honda also had a nine-spot grid penalty for changing to the team's fifth engine this season. This places Legge last on the grid in 27th. Legge will be making her fourth of the season. This will be the 44th start of her career.
USA's coverage of the Bommarito Automotive Group 500 from Gateway Motorsports Park begins at 6:00 p.m. ET with green flag scheduled for 6:30 p.m. ET. The race is scheduled for 260 laps.
