Juan Pablo Montoya is on pole position for Sunday’s IndyCar Series race Pocono Raceway, delivering two record-breaking laps around the tri-oval to pip Penske teammate Will Power for top qualifying honours. it was the Colombian’s fifth American open-wheel racing pole, although the first in his comeback.
Montoya’s two-lap average of 223.871mph was the fastest ever recorded around the three-turn speedway; his first flying lap – averaging 223.920mph (360.511km/h) – broke the fastest single-lap record around the circuit.
Teammate Power bounced back from a disastrous weekend last time out in Houston to start alongside Montoya on the front row; the pair line up ahead of series rookie Carlos Muñoz and the mercurial Takuma Sato.
Marco Andretti qualified fifth-fastest on his home track; he and teammate James Hinchcliffe ensured three Andretti Autosport entries qualified inside the top-six. Hélio Castroneves and Tony Kanaan made it an all-Brazilian fourth row, with Ryan Hunter-Reay and Ryan Briscoe completing the top ten.
While Kanaan and Briscoe delivered one half of the Chip Ganassi stable a solid qualifying result, the same could not be said for reigning champion Scott Dixon (15th) and Charlie Kimball (17th), who qualified well down the order. Neither Josef Newgarden nor Jack Hawksworth managed a time; the latter’s BHA entry suffered damage in an earlier practice accident.
2014 IndyCar Series Pocono 500 – Final Qualifying:
Driver | Team / Entry | Avg. Speed | |||
1. | Juan Pablo Montoya | ![]() |
Team Penske Chevrolet | ![]() |
223.871mph |
2. | Will Power | ![]() |
Team Penske Chevrolet | ![]() |
223.725mph |
3. | Carlos Muñoz | ![]() |
Andretti Autosport Honda | ![]() |
223.083mph |
4. | Takuma Sato | ![]() |
A.J. Foyt Enterprises Honda | ![]() |
222.798mph |
5. | Marco Andretti | ![]() |
Andretti Autosport Honda | ![]() |
222.715mph |
6. | James Hinchcliffe | ![]() |
Andretti Autosport Honda | ![]() |
222.544mph |
7. | Hélio Castroneves | ![]() |
Team Penske Chevrolet | ![]() |
222.517mph |
8. | Tony Kanaan | ![]() |
Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet | ![]() |
221.970mph |
9. | Ryan Hunter-Reay | ![]() |
Andretti Autosport Honda | ![]() |
221.950mph |
10. | Ryan Briscoe | ![]() |
Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet | ![]() |
221.565mph |
11. | Simon Pagenaud | ![]() |
Schmidt Peterson Hamilton Motorsports Honda | ![]() |
221.547mph |
12. | Mikhail Aleshin | ![]() |
Schmidt Peterson Hamilton Motorsports Honda | ![]() |
221.221mph |
13. | Ed Carpenter | ![]() |
Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet | ![]() |
221.019mph |
14. | Graham Rahal | ![]() |
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda | ![]() |
220.747mph |
15. | Scott Dixon | ![]() |
Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet | ![]() |
220.604mph |
16. | Justin Wilson | ![]() |
Dale Coyne Racing Honda | ![]() |
220.439mph |
17. | Charlie Kimball | ![]() |
Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet | ![]() |
220.377mph |
18. | Sébastien Bourdais | ![]() |
KV Racing Technology Honda | ![]() |
219.741mph |
19. | Sebastián Saavedra | ![]() |
KV Racing Technology / AFS Racing Honda | ![]() |
218.502mph |
20. | Carlos Huertas | ![]() |
Dale Coyne Racing Honda | ![]() |
216.261mph |
21. | Josef Newgarden | ![]() |
Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing Honda | ![]() |
no time |
22. | Jack Hawksworth | ![]() |
Bryan Herta Autosport Honda | ![]() |
no time |
Image via Chevrolet Motorsport
Matt Lennon
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