Newgarden edges Penske teammate Power for Barber pole

By Mark Robinson | Published: Apr 21, 2018

Josef Newgarden

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama – Josef Newgarden, who used a win at Barber Motorsports Park a year ago as a catapult to the 2017 Verizon IndyCar Series championship, narrowly edged teammate Will Power to win the Verizon P1 Award and pole position today for the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama presented by America’s First.

Driving the No. 1 Hitachi Team Penske Chevrolet, Newgarden put down a fast lap of 1 minute, 7.4413 seconds (122.773 mph) in the Firestone Fast Six climactic round of knockout qualifying. Newgarden’s lap denied Power, in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet, a record fifth pole at Barber’s 2.3-mile, 17-turn permanent road course by a mere 0.0128 of a second.

HONDA INDY GRAND PRIX OF ALABAMA: Unofficial qualifying results

Simon PagenaudFor Newgarden, it is the third pole position of his eight-year Verizon IndyCar Series career and first since the 2017 season finale at Sonoma Raceway, where he wrapped up his first championship with a second-place finish in the race. It is also the 256th Indy car pole for Team Penske, the most of any team in history.

Power, a two-time winner at Barber, will start on the front row for the eighth time in the track’s nine-race history.

Sebastien Bourdais nailed down his best Barber qualifying effort in eight tries, earning the third starting position with a lap of 1:07.5338 (122.605 mph) in the No. 18 Team SealMaster Honda for Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan. Bourdais, who won the season-opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, has never finished better than eighth at Barber.

Ryan Hunter-Reay qualified fourth in the No. 28 DHL Honda for Andretti Autosport (1:07.7807, 122.159 mph), ahead of James Hinchcliffe in the No. 5 Arrow Electronics SPM Honda (1:07.9472, 121.859 mph) and Scott Dixon in the No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda (1:08.0303, 121.710 mph).

Points leader Alexander Rossi, who won the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach on April 15, qualified eighth in the No. 27 Kerauno / MilitaryToMotorsports.com Honda for Andretti Autosport. By capturing the pole. Newgarden earned one point and closed within 21 of Rossi.

NBCSN has a re-air of today’s qualifying telecast at 6:30 p.m. ET today. Sunday’s 90-lap race airs live at 3 p.m. on NBCSN and the Advance Auto Parts INDYCAR Radio Network.