Daly and Newgarden win poles for Iowa Twin 250s

Conor Daly

Chris Jones/IndyCar

In a very unique qualifying session where a driver's first lap secured his starting position for tonight's Race One of the Iowa IndyCar 250s, and lap two was the lap of record for his strarting position Saturday night at Iowa Speedway, Conor Daly made a very strong statement he was going to be contender.

Not only did Daly score his career first NTT IndyCar Series P1 award, but he also won the first pole for his Carlin team. Daly powered the No. 59 Gallagher Carlin Chevrolet to the Race One pole with a lap of 175.188 mph.

Newgarden, winner of last year's Iowa race and defending series' champion, picked up his third NTT P1 Award of the season with a lap 175.333 mph to grab the pole for Race Two. Newgarden will start his No. 1 Hitachi Team Penske Chevrolet second alongside Daly.

Daly will start 3rd in Race #2 as Newgarden's Penske Chevy teammate Will Power also pipped Daly for outside pole in Race #2.

Chevy powered cars will start 1-2-3 for both races. While Honda powered cars have the upper hand on road courses, Chevy powered cars continues to show strength on the ovals.

For race #1 Colton Herta was fourth in his Andretti Harding Steinbrenner Autosport Honda, ahead of Andretti Autosport teammate Alexander Rossi who will start 5th after a wild 1st lap, but he scared himself and slowed on his 2nd lap and will start 21st rather than stuffing it into the wall.

Takuma Sato was sixth for Rahal Letterman Lanigan ahead of the Chip Ganassi Racing-Honda of Felix Rosenqvist and the Arrow McLaren SP-Chevy of Patricio O’Ward.

The 2016 and ’19 Iowa polesitter Simon Pagenaud was unable to take his qualifying run reportedly because of no fuel pressure, and he is therefore will start last for both races.

Champion Scott Dixon also struggled and will line up 17th.

Pole Winner Quotes

CONOR DALY, NO. 59 GALLAGHER CARLIN CHEVROLET – Pole Winner, Race 1:

WHAT’S GOING THROUGH YOUR HEAD RIGHT NOW?

“Man, it’s just way better than last weekend, that’s for sure. I’m just super happy to be here. I’ve struggled at Iowa, personally; and I’ve learned a lot lately. Carlin and this team has done an incredible job. We’ve improved exactly where we needed to from last year. We did the same at Texas. So mission one is accomplished; obviously starting up front is super, super helpful. So, we’ve just got one more mission left tonight and hopefully we can come out of here with some trophies."

DID YOU THINK YOU COULD EVER ACHIEVE A POLE, ESPECIALLY HERE AT IOWA SPEEDWAY?

“At Iowa, absolutely not! I’ve started on the last row here pretty much every time I’ve run here. So, that’s quite a difference. If I have the car to do what I just did, I thrive it seems to be like. So, I’m super thankful that these guys have worked with me and have listened to what I’ve said, and we’ve all worked together as a team. And, we’re the only one-car team out here, so it’s nice to have us up front."

Newgarden on pole for Race #2

JOSEF NEWGARDEN, NO. 1 HITACHI TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET – Pole Winner, Race 2:

“It’s going to be physical. You know, this place is very short and very fast. This is my favorite type of INDYCAR racing. If we ran here ten times a year, I’d be all about it. But, absolutely 2 races is a big order for all of us. So, we’ll try and get through tonight’s Race 1, and have a good race, and then get ready to go again tomorrow. But, I’m so excited. This Is one of my favorite tracks."

YOU ARE THE DEFENDING RACE WINNER HERE. YOU’VE WON HERE BEFORE. BUT YOU’VE NEVER STARTED ON THE POLE. HOW WILL THAT CHANGE YOUR RACE?

“I don’t think starting on the pole is going to change things too much. We’ve normally been close to the front row in qualifying here. You want to take your time at the beginning of this race. Your race car is really be the thing that matters at the end of the day. So, it’s not how you start. It’s how you finish. But I feel confident that our Hitachi Chevrolet car is good off the truck and feels good behind other cars in dirty, which is critical. So, I think we’re going to be able to make something happen."

Friday Race 1 Lineup

(R) Rookie

Saturday Race 2 Lineup

(R) Rookie

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