Herta, McLaughlin get pole as hybrid crisis affects qualifying

The double-header format sees each driver get two single-car laps, with the first determining their position for the opening race on Saturday night and the second determining their position for Sunday’s event. The qualifying order ran opposite to the entry points.

Herta, driving the No. 26 Andretti Global Honda, ran a quick first lap of 187.655 mph to take his first pole at the oval. He will start from fourth position for the second race.

Herta almost went out for another attempt when it was revealed he suffered deployment problems during his race.

Scott McLaughlin’s No. 3 Team Penske Chevrolet ran a first lap of 187.526 mph to finish second for the first race, but his second lap of 188.248 mph took the pole for the second race and a new track. Made a record.

Following Herta and McLaughlin in third place for Race 1 is defending and two-time champion Alex Pallo, with Team Penske’s Will Power in fourth.

Palo would start second for Race 2, with Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Scott Dixon third and Herta fourth.

What happened in a bizarre qualifying session?

Meyer Shank Racing’s David Malukas was the fourth driver out and managed to put down a strong opening lap of 184.151 mph and an even more impressive 185.595 mph to set the benchmark.

The Malukas set the initial fastest time until Graham Rahal, the 11th driver out, drove fast back-to-back laps of 184.810 mph and 185.690 mph respectively. Rahal has a nine-spot grid spot penalty for Race 1 for an engine change.

Chip Ganassi Racing’s Marcus Armstrong finished 13th and set a fast opening lap of 185.337 mph, but then touched the wall at the exit of Turn 2 on his second lap and faltered at 173.682 mph.

Santino Ferrucci’s No. 14 AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet finished 15th and rocketed to a sporty first lap of 185.405 mph before clocking a second lap of 181.408 mph.

Josef Newgarden struggled during his race, posting two laps of 182.763 mph and 184.154 mph, respectively, during his qualifying encounter in the No. 2 Team Penske Chevrolet. He said, “That’s all we had” and explained that the balance was not good during the race.

The No. 18 Dale Coyne Racing Honda of Jack Harvey, who is battling serious back pain that has caused Conor Daly to be placed on standby, got another chance to qualify after 18 cars were out, when it was revealed that His hybrid unit was not working. In its initial phase.

Harvey completed the first lap at 182.661 mph and the second lap at 182.263 mph. He was seen struggling to get out of the car.

Penske’s McLaughlin followed, with Meyer Shank Racing’s Felix Rosenqvist coming in 19th and setting his pace with a strong performance of 185.196 mph on Lap 1 and then an impressive 186.835 mph on his second lap. And inserted himself into the conversation with a remarkable run of 187.526 mph. on the first lap and reached a speed of 188.248 mph on the second lap to break the track record.

Herta ran 23rd in the order and flew 187.655 mph, just over a second behind at 186.980 mph. He shared that “the battery didn’t turn on” during his race despite finishing first and second, so race director Kyle Novak allowed him another qualifying attempt.

After IndyCar granted another set of attempts for Harvey and Herta, Scott Dixon was finally allowed to start in pit lane. The six-time IndyCar champion posted quick opening laps of 186.208 mph and 187.162 mph to temporarily move up to third and fourth respectively.

The driver to roll 25th was Pato O’Ward, who temporarily placed fourth and sixth respectively by driving the No. 5 Arrows McLaren Chevrolet at 186.075 mph and 185.857 mph.

Team Penske’s Will Power, who has seven pole positions at Iowa, finished 26th and posted an opening lap of 186.328 mph, before the second lap saw him tap the wall and send him down to 179.302 mph. Dropped to 22nd place while racing from.

Championship leader Pallo was the last driver out of non-permitted re-attempts and drove his No. 10 CGR Honda to a lap of 186.841 mph on lap 1 and a lap of 187.572 mph to move into second place for the race. Fixed speed per hour.

Herta, who was on provisional pole in the opening race and fourth in the second race, was bundled into his car and prepared to go out, but was pulled back from the line and out on his second attempt. It has been done.

This situation left Harvey with a third and final attempt, causing his time to drag once again. He clocked a speed of 183.556 mph on the opening lap and a speed of 183.331 mph on the second lap, finishing 19th and 18th respectively.

Race One begins tonight at 8 p.m. ET with coverage on NBC, Peacock and IndyCar Radio Networks.

Iowa IndyCar Race 1 Starting Grid

Iowa IndyCar Race 2 Starting Grid