Colton Herta became the first two-time winner this season in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, winning the NTT P1 award for the Honda Indy Toronto on Saturday.
Herta’s best time was 59.2698 seconds on his last flying lap with the No. 26 Gainbridge Honda as he added that pole to his No. 1 at the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach in April. The first nine races of that season featured a different pole winner, and Herta was happy to spoil the INDYCAR SERIES’ chance to tie a record of 10 different pole winners to start a season set in 1952.
SEE: Qualification results | Qualification highlights
“It was an intense session,” Herta said. “We didn’t really find that time until the very end. I was really happy with this tour. It all came together somehow. The car ran brilliantly. You usually don’t see this, guys go faster with used reds (alternative Firestone tires) instead of new. There’s something to think about for tomorrow, but I’m happy with my Gainbridge Honda.”
The 85-lap race is scheduled for Sunday. Exclusive live coverage of the race begins at 3:00 PM (ET) on Peacock Premium – with limited commercial breaks – and the INDYCAR Radio Network. Both editions will cover the morning warm-up session live at 10:55am
Six-time NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion Scott Dixon will join Herta – who also led morning practice – on the front row after a best qualifying lap of 59.3592 in the No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. It was the best non-oval qualifying performance this season for the Indianapolis 500 by Gainbridge pole winner Dixon, whose previous best road/street qualifying effort was fifth in the last race, the Honda Indy 200 on July 3 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.
Two-time series champion Josef Newgarden, who leads the series this season with three wins, qualified third with a 59.5257 in the No. 2 Hitachi Team Penske Chevrolet. He will share row 2 with Alexander Rossi, who qualified fourth at 59.5544 in the No. 27 NAPA AUTO PARTS/AutoNation Honda.
David Malukas was the best-qualified rookie with a career-best start of fifth after a lap of 59.6140 in the No. 18 HMD Honda. Scott McLaughlin finished the Firestone Fast Six at 59.9558 in the No. 3 XPEL Team Penske Chevrolet.
Qualifying for the NTT P1 Award provided mixed results for the Astor Challenge Cup contenders as series champion on the 11-turn, 1.786-mile temporary track on the streets of Exhibition Place in Canada’s largest city.
Points leader and 2021 Indianapolis 500 represented by Gainbridge winner Marcus Ericsson qualified ninth in the No. 8 Huski Chocolate Chip Ganassi Racing Honda.
Ericsson’s closest pursuer, 2014 series champion Will Power, endured a third consecutive event with a disappointing qualifying result. He will start 16th in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet after his final hot lap in the first qualifying session was halted when Kyle Kirkwood crashed his No. 14 Sexton Properties Chevrolet in Turn 8, triggering a red flag and ending the session at the group.
Power has finished 15th or lower in the last three road races on the schedule, but has managed to finish first and third in two of them, at Belle Isle and Mid-Ohio, respectively.
“I have to know you have to stay in the top six every time because it can happen,” Power said of losing his lap in the Kirkwood incident. “I had a very fast car again. This is crazy. That’s three races in a row where we were P2 in practice before qualifying and then between 15th and 19th. Disappointing, man. Disappointing. I got to turn 6 and was up by four tenths. That would help us.”
Newgarden, third in the points, is in good form to potentially earn a spot on Ericsson and Power with the third starting spot on Sunday.
But the next two drivers in the standings, fourth-placed Alex Palu and fifth-placed Pato O’Ward, have a lot of work to do.
Reigning series champion Palu was slow on track and stopped in his qualifying group in the first session and will start 22nd in the 25-car field in the No. 10 NTT DATA Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. O’Ward hit the wall in his No. 5 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet during his first group run, did not advance and would start 15th.
There was a bright spot for the enthusiastic crowd of Canadian fans who returned in droves under sunny skies after this event was suspended in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Toronto-area native and series rookie Devlin DeFrancesco posted a career-best 12th in the No. 29 PowerTap Honda.
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