Josef Newgarden, Alex Palou Win Poles at Iowa
Josef Newgarden and Alex Palou will be the polesitters for this weekend's Sukup INDYCAR Race Weekend at Iowa Speedway.
In qualifying, Team Penske driver Newgarden earned the top spot for today's Synk 275 powered by Sukup with a lap of 183.999 mph. Palou, the NTT INDYCAR SERIES points leader who drives for Chip Ganassi Racing, grabbed the No. 1 starting spot for Sunday's Farm to Finish 275 powered by Sukup with a session-best 184.014.
Today's race (5 p.m. ET, FOX, FOX Sports app, INDYCAR Radio Network) will be the 11th race of the season. Sunday's race will be at 1 p.m. on the same broadcast outlets.
Coincidentally, Newgarden and Palou will each start fourth in the race where they aren't the polesitter.
Qualifying was based on two-lap runs, with the first lap setting the table for Race 1 and the second lap determining where the driver will start in Race 2. Newgarden is a six-time series race winner at this short oval.
Newgarden's pole was his first of the season and the 19th of his career. That ties him with Danny Sullivan for 16th place on the sport's all-time list.
Palou earned his fourth pole of the season and the 10th of his career. He became the 42nd driver to score double-digit poles in INDYCAR. His other poles this season came at Barber Motorsports Park, on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course and last weekend at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. He has a series-high six race wins and leads Andretti Global's Kyle Kirkwood by 113 points with a pole point earned here.
Juncos Hollinger Racing's Conor Daly will join Newgarden on the front row for today's race; Felix Rosenqvist of Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb-Agajanian will be alongside Palou when the green flag drops Sunday.
Scott McLaughlin and Will Power won last year's races at this .894-mile oval. McLaughlin will start at the tail end of both fields this weekend after crashing in Turn 1 on his first lap. He was not injured.
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