Simon Pagenaud earned his second career Indy car pole and first on an oval in leading a Team Penske sweep of the front row for the MAVTV 500 with a two-lap average speed of 218.952 mph at the 2-mile Auto Club Speedway.
Pagenaud, driving the No. 22 Penske Truck Rental Chevrolet, topped teammate Helio Castroneves’ 2014 pole-winning average speed of 218.540 mph and will start on the front row for the third consecutive Verizon IndyCar Series race. Castroneves qualified second with a two-lap average speed of 218.734 mph in the No. 3 Auto Club of Southern California Chevrolet.
It is the fifth consecutive race that Team Penske entries have occupied the front row.
“Thanks to my crew for the preparations and it’s exciting to get a superspeedway pole,” said Pagenaud, who is in his first season with Team Penske. “Qualifying is one thing. It’s a reward for performance. We have a 500-mile race and hopefully I can reward the team for its hard work. It’s a brand new team that is gelling really well.
“This (pole) is nice, but frankly you can win from the back in a 500-mile race like (Juan Pablo) Montoya did (in the Indianapolis 500). Being able to run in different lanes and being smart in traffic is going to be key.”
Marco Andretti, whose two-lap average speed of 217.797 mph in the No. 27 Snapple Andretti Autosport Honda was third best of the 22 qualifiers, posted his highest qualifying result since securing the pole for the July 2013 race at Pocono Raceway.
“We maximized everything in qualifying, and I’m really happy with the race car for the long race. That’s the important thing,” said Andretti, who won the pole for the 2012 race at Auto Club Speedway.
CFH Racing co-owner/driver Ed Carpenter, who has finished first, second and third in the past three races at Auto Club Speedway, qualified on the outside of Row 2 (217.666 mph) in the No. 20 Fuzzy’s Vodka Chevrolet.
Pagenaud won his first Verizon P1 Award on June 28, 2014, at Houston. He has qualified in the top five in 10 of the 11 Verizon IndyCar Series races this season. Pagenaud also qualified on the front row for the 99th Indianapolis 500 Mile Race and the Firestone 600 at Texas Motor Speedway.
Montoya, the Verizon IndyCar Series championship points leader who is seeking to complete a career Triple Crown of 500-mile race victories at Pocono Raceway, Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Auto Club Speedway, qualified fifth at 217.250 mph in the No. 2 PPG Automotive Refinish Team Penske Chevrolet.
Montoya will share Row 3 with defending race winner Tony Kanaan, who posted a two-lap average of 217.184 mph. Scott Dixon, runner-up to teammate Kanaan in the MAVTV 500 last August, matched his teammate’s qualification speed average 217.184 mph and will start seventh.
Qualifying Results
Results of qualifying Friday for the MAVTV 500 Verizon IndyCar Series event on the 2-mile Auto Club Speedway, with qualifying position, car number in parentheses, driver, aero kit-engine, and speed:
1. (22) Simon Pagenaud, Chevrolet, 218.952
2. (3) Helio Castroneves, Chevrolet, 218.734
3. (27) Marco Andretti, Honda, 217.797
4. (20) Ed Carpenter, Chevrolet, 217.666
5. (2) Juan Pablo Montoya, Chevrolet, 217.250
6. (10) Tony Kanaan, Chevrolet, 217.184
7. (9) Scott Dixon, Chevrolet, 217.184
8. (1) Will Power, Chevrolet, 217.176
9. (14) Takuma Sato, Honda, 217.109
10. (8) Sage Karam, Chevrolet, 217.060
11. (26) Carlos Munoz, Honda, 216.878
12. (67) Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet, 216.490
13. (83) Charlie Kimball, Chevrolet, 216.242
14. (28) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Honda, 215.983
15. (11) Sebastien Bourdais, Chevrolet, 215.719
16. (5) Ryan Briscoe, Honda, 215.526
17. (41) Jack Hawksworth, Honda, 215.346
18. (98) Gabby Chaves, Honda, 213.720
19. (15) Graham Rahal, Honda, 213.639
20. (19) Tristan Vautier, Honda, 213.317
21. (4) Stefano Coletti, Chevrolet, 212.644
22. (18) Pippa Mann, Honda, 210.528
23. (7) James Jakes, Honda, no speed
SOURCE: INDYCAR