Written By Fleur Rogerson
In a weekend marred by engine penalties for the title contenders, Scott McLaughlin, one of the few contenders without a penalty, managed to fend off his teammates and rivals to take his fourth pole of the season.
The summer break came to an end with INDYCAR hitting the World Wide Technology Raceway for the Gateway 500. Alex Palou, who is yet to take an oval win, will face a nine place grid penalty for the race, making his qualifying as the championship leader vital.
Qualifying
Qualifying began and immediately issues with the new hybrid engines reared its head, for Jack Harvey in the Dale Coyne Racing. The DCR car was stopped at the pit exit, with the car unable to restart. It took just over five minutes for the car to be towed, but eventually the car was returned to the pit lane and the cars were ready to head back out.
Conor Daly was the first driver to actually hit the track with Catherine Legge, missing her opportunity because of a failed technical inspection. Daly's average speed on the board was 177.126 MPH. Stingray Robb lifted more than Daly on his two runs, only managing an average of 172.782 MPH.
Ed Carpenter, who drives only the ovals of his team Ed Carpenter Racing, found himself off the pace of Daly with an average of 174.752 MPH but ahead of Robb and then the rookie Kyffin Simpson, who managed a 173.900 MPH.
Next up was David Malukas in the Meyer Shank racing, who proved he still had the pace from the practice session earlier in the day. Almost brushing the wall, he crossed the line with an average speed of 179.503 MPH, putting him on provisional on pole over two seconds faster than Daly's Juncos Hollinger and the fastest time of the weekend at that point.
The wind picked up halfway into the first round, Newgarden commenting that it may influence the stability and confidence of the drivers heading into their qualifying laps. Nolan Siegel in the Arrow McLaren was potentially affected, putting himself temporarily sixth, with an average of 174.854 MPH, his second lap being noticeably slower.
Romain Grosjean went out onto the track with the previous knowledge from his teammate Conor Daly. It clearly had a positive impact as the Frenchman put himself into second, with an average speed of 178.321 MPH. A yellow flag was waved on the front straight when a wrapper found its way onto the track.
Felix Rosenqvist follows in the way of his teammate, with an impressive 180 MPH on his first lap. His average was 179.796 MPH, taking the top spot from Malukas provisionally. Although fastest with 15 minutes to go, Rosenqvist has a nine-place grid penalty because of an engine change.
Newgarden went, aiming to put his Penske in first. He managed to get himself into third, with an average of 179.424 MPH. Josef Newgarden was just an average of one tenth off of David Malukas - and provisional pole.
Kyle Kirkwood's Andretti managed to put himself behind Josef Newgarden. With an average of 178.417 MPH, he found himself fourth. However, there was still a significant margin to Newgarden, especially with Scott Mclaughlin heading out after him. McLaughlin showed his strength on the ovals yet again, with an average of 179.972 MPH, taking a provisional pole after his impressive lap.
The Arrow McLarens continued to struggle as Pato O'ward only managed eighth fastest, with a few drivers left to run. Although he leads the McLaren's, they were not where they would've wanted to be.
Colton Herta took to the track, aiming to recreate his recent performances after his win in Toronto. His first lap was a 179.9 MPH, putting himself in contention for pole, but his second lap ended with him sliding and hitting the wall. He finished the second lap but will start from the back. The damage luckily didn't seem too extensive and Andretti hoped to get the car out for the practice session later in the evening.
The final three drivers to do their laps were Scott Dixon, Will Power and Alex Palou. Dixon and Palou are both Chip Ganassi drivers, also facing penalties for approved engine changes. Dixon managed an average of 177.905 MPH, which put him in eighth before his penalty.
Power was the only driver of the three not taking a penalty. His first lap was a 170.038 MPH, which unfortunately wasn't fast enough for pole or even the front row.
Finally championship leader Alex Palou took to the World Wide Technology Raceway. The Chip Ganassi cars seemed to struggle on the oval so far, and Palou proved that when his first was only in the 178s. His second lap put him seventh, but his penalty puts him further down the grid.
Scott Mclaughlin took pole for the Gateway 500, his fourth in the season, leading from Malukas and Newgarden. The penalties being taken on by multiple championship contenders means the fight for the title remains wide open.
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