Rosenqvist Wins INDYCAR Pole, Allmendinger Takes Xfinity Pole at IMS
July 29, 2022 | By Paul Kelly
On-track action at the Brickyard Weekend shifted into high gear Friday on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, with Felix Rosenqvist and AJ Allmendinger winning the pole position for their respective races.
Rosenqvist sped to the NTT P1 Award for the Gallagher Grand Prix NTT INDYCAR SERIES race with a top lap of 1 minute, 10.2265 seconds in the No. 7 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet. Allmendinger won the pole for the Pennzoil 150 at the Brickyard NASCAR Xfinity Series race with a best lap of 1:29.748 in the No. 16 Nutrien Ag Solutions Chevrolet.
All three series competing this weekend on the 14-turn, 2.439-mile road course will be in action Saturday. The 85-lap Gallagher Grand Prix at noon ET and the 62-lap Pennzoil 150 at the Brickyard starts at 3:30 p.m. NBC will broadcast both races live.
The NASCAR Cup Series also will make its weekend debut with practice at 9:35 a.m. and qualifying at 10:35 a.m. The 82-lap Verizon 200 at the Brickyard for the Cup Series starts at 2:30 p.m. Sunday, with live coverage on NBC.
Rosenqvist earned his second NTT INDYCAR SERIES pole of the season. His previous 2022 pole came at Texas Motor Speedway. This was Rosenqvist’s third career pole, as his first came in 2019 on the IMS road course.
“I felt so calm in the car,” Rosenqvist said. “I think I knew when I did that lap that it was the one. Big, big thanks to the team. Really good car.”
The gap between Rosenqvist’s lap and the best lap of No. 2 qualifier Alexander Rossi was .2765 of a second, the second-largest margin this season on a road or street course. Only Colton Herta’s pole-winning margin of .4455 of a second at the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach was bigger.
Rossi will join Rosenqvist on the front row after qualifying second at 1:10.5030 in the No. 27 NAPA AUTO PARTS/AutoNation Honda. It was Rossi’s best career qualifying position on the IMS road course.
Allmendinger, who also will defend his 2021 Verizon 200 at the Brickyard victory Sunday, grabbed his third Xfinity Series pole this season. 2013 Indianapolis 500 veteran Allmendinger also won the pole for this race last year, when he finished second to Austin Cindric.
“This is what I dreamed of with racing,” Allmendinger said. “What we got to experience last year with Kaulig Racing can never be taken away from us. We know this is a new year and we’ve got to go out there and do it again, but I just love this place.
“We’re gonna go try to get something tomorrow.”
Rookie Ty Gibbs, grandson of legendary NFL coach and race team owner Joe Gibbs, qualified second at 1:29.842 in the No. 54 Monster Energy Toyota.
Tickets are available at IMS.com for Saturday and Sunday action.