Josef Newgarden ran the fastest second lap of any qualifying run yesterday at the Milwaukee Mile, and it earned Newgarden pole position for Sunday's HyVee 250. The pole-winning time was 22.6980 seconds. it is the 18th pole position in the American's career and his second pole position of the season. This is the first time he has won multiple pole positions in a season since 2021. He has not won from pole position since Mid-Ohio in 2021. Newgarden has led at least 300 laps in nine consecutive seasons. He has only led 162 laps through the first 15 races this season with 456 laps left to run in the 2024 season. With his 26th-place result yesterday, Newgarden has four results outside the top twenty this season. His most finishes outside the top twenty in a season is five, which occurred in his first two IndyCar seasons.
Scott McLaughlin took pole position for the first Milwaukee race, but he could only manage second for race two. McLaughlin was 0.01 seconds slower than Newgarden on his second qualifying lap. McLaughlin has started no worse than second in an oval race this season. He is coming off an eighth-place finish in the first Milwaukee race, his worst oval result in his last nine oval races. McLaughlin is 92 points behind championship lead Álex Palou and he must outscore Palou by 43 points to remain championship eligible at the Nashville season finale. This will require McLaughlin winning the race and Palou finishing at least 19th or worse.
Marcus Armstrong matched the best starting position of his IndyCar career with a third-place qualifying effort. Armstrong was 0.1105 seconds off Newgarden's time. This is Armstrong's best starting position on an oval. His top ten finish streak was snapped yesterday when he finished 21st in the first Milwaukee race. It was his fifth finish outside the top twenty the season.
Will Power made it three Team Penske cars in the top four positions as the Australian was 0.1482 seconds off the top. Power is 43 points behind Álex Palou in the championship with two races remaining. There are 108 points left on the table over the final two races. Power must end this race within 49 points of Palou to remaining mathematically eligible for the championship in Nashville. Power currently holds the tiebreaker with three victories to Palou's two. Power also has more runner-up finishes with four to Palou's three.
Linus Lundqvist makes it two consecutive races starting in the top five. After starting fourth in the first Milwaukee race, Lundqvist will start fifth for the second Milwaukee race. The Swede led 19 laps last night before finishing sixth, his third top ten finish of the season. Entering last night, he had only led eight laps in his career and his most laps led in a race was four.
Alexander Rossi rolls off from sixth on the grid. Rossi has started in the top ten in five of six oval races this season. His seventh-place finish last night snapped a three-race top ten drought. Last year at Portland was the second time Rossi did not finish in the top ten of the penultimate race in a season in his IndyCar career. His average finish in the penultimate race of the season is 9.375 with a victory and three podium finishes.
Yesterday's winner Patricio O'Ward is a position behind his Arrow McLaren teammate in seventh. Eighteen times has a driver won consecutive Milwaukee races. The most recent was Ryan Hunter-Reay, who won in 2012 and 2013. O'Ward joined Michel Jourdain, Jr. as the only Mexican drivers to win at Milwaukee. The only other track where multiple Mexican drivers have won at is Mid-Ohio, and that became the first track with multiple Mexican winners earlier this year when O'Ward won. Adrián Fernández was the other Mid-Ohio winner.
Felix Rosenqvist takes eighth on the grid for the second consecutive day. Rosenqvist ended up finishing 13th after starting eighth in the first Milwaukee race. It was the eighth time he has finished worse than his starting position this season, and in the first nine races where Rosenqvist has started in the top ten, he has finished better than his starting position only once. He went from fifth to fourth at Barber Motorsports Park in April
David Malukas has both Meyer Shank Racing drivers starting in the top ten, and Malukas will roll off from ninth starting position. This is the sixth time in nine races Malukas has started in the top ten this season. In his first five times starting in the top ten, Malukas has never finished better than his starting position. He started and finished sixth at Toronto.
Álex Palou rounds out the top ten in the grid after being 0.4184 seconds off pole position. With a 43-point lead over Will Power, Palou must gain at least seven points on Power to clinch the championship just by starting the Nashville race in two weeks. Palou has finished ahead of Power in eight of the first 15 races. Prior to yesterday's race, Palou had finished better than Power in three consecutive races.
Nolan Siegel matches the best starting position in his career in 11th. Siegel started 11th in the second Iowa race and wound up finishing 14th. He was 17th in yesterday's Milwaukee race, finishing one lap down. Siegel has not finished on the lead lap in four consecutive starts.
Santino Ferrucci starts on the outside of row six. Ferrucci went from 19th to fourth in the first Milwaukee race. It was his first top five finish of the season and his ninth top ten result this season. It was the fourth time this season Ferrucci has finished inside the top ten after starting outside the top fifteen.
Jack Harvey has his best starting position of the season in 13th. Prior to this weekend, Harvey had not started better than 17th this season. He started 14th for the first race this weekend, and he finished 16th. It was Harvey's best result since he finished 17th at Detroit in June.
Romain Grosjean will take 14th starting position. Grosjean is the top driver in the championship without a lap led this season. He has only led four laps in his career on an oval, two in the 2022 Gateway race and two in the 2023 Texas race.
Rinus VeeKay finds himself starting 15th. Despite finishing a lap down in 14th last night, VeeKay has completed the most laps this season. He has completed 2,067 out of a possible 2,095 laps. Prior to last night's result, the Dutchman had finished in the top ten of every oval race this season
Marcus Ericsson will be the best Andretti Global start, but it will be from 16th on the grid. Along with his seventh-place starting position yesterday, the two Milwaukee races are the first two times Ericsson has been the best Andretti starter this season. He has finished outside the top twenty in three consecutive oval races and in four of five oval races this season.
Scott Dixon starts 17th for the second consecutive Milwaukee race. Dixon has started outside the top ten in six of 14 Milwaukee appearances. This is the eighth time this season he has started outside the top ten, and he has started outside the top ten for four of six oval races. Dixon will be mathematically eliminated from the championship once Álex Palou starts today's race.
Colton Herta is starting 18th. This is the third time in six oval races Herta has started outside the top ten. Herta enters today's race 88 points behind Álex Palou in the championship. Herta must outscore Palou by 39 points today to remain championship eligible at the Nashville season finale. If Herta wins the race, it would require Palou finishing at least 18th or worse.
Kyle Kirkwood is a position behind his Andretti teammate in 19th spot. This matches Kirkwood's worst starting position of the season. He went from 19th to seventh in the first Iowa race. After finishing 12th yesterday, he has finished outside the top ten in three consecutive oval races. This will be the 50th start of Kirkwood's career.
Conor Daly rounds out the top twenty. This will be Daly's second Milwaukee start. His father Derek made three Milwaukee starts and Derek's only podium finish in IndyCar competition came at Milwaukee, a third in 1987. Daly is coming off finishing third in yesterday's Milwaukee race. It was his second career podium finish after he was second in the first race of the 2016 Belle Isle doubleheader. Daly went 3,010 days between podium finishes.
Sting Ray Robb qualified 21st for race two. It is the 31st time in 33 starts Robb has started outside the top twenty in his IndyCar career. He started 20th history, matching his career best start. Robb ended up finishing 23rd, his worst finish on an oval this season.
Katherine Legge occupies the 22nd grid position. Legge overcame a spin to finish 19th, albeit two laps down in race one. She has only three top fifteen finishes in her last 17 starts. All three of those results came in 2012. Along with a ninth at Fontana, she was 15th at Texas and 15th at Iowa.
Christian Rasmussen started 23rd in race one and Rasmussen will start 23rd in race two. The Dane made up 12 spots yesterday to finish 11th, his second-best finish this season. This matches the most spots Rasmussen has made up in a race. He improved 12 spots in the Indianapolis 500 going from 24th to 12th.
Kyffin Simpson will have the 24th starting position. This is the 13th time this season Simpson has started outside the top twenty this season. He has finished outside the top twenty in eight races this season, including three of the last four events.
Christian Lundgaard is 25th, but he will lead a trio of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing drivers rounding out the grid. All three RLLR cars qualified over a second slower than Newgarden's pole position time. No other team qualified over a second behind the top spot. Lundgaard went from 26th to ninth in race one, his best finish ever on an oval in his IndyCar career.
Graham Rahal is in the middle of the RLLR sandwich at the back of the grid in 26th. This is the sixth time this season Rahal has started outside the top twenty. Only once has Rahal started outside the top twenty this season and finished in the top ten. He went from 24th to tenth at Road America.
Pietro Fittipaldi rounds out the grid in 27th, as Fittipaldi will have started last for both Milwaukee races this season. His worst starting position this season was 30th at the Indianapolis 500. Fittipaldi could become the second Brazilian to win at Milwaukee. Tony Kanaan won twice at the circuit in 2006 and 2007.
USA's coverage of the second HyVee 250 begins at 2:30 p.m. ET with green flag scheduled for 3:00 p.m. The race is scheduled for 250 laps.
