In a qualifying stunner, Santino Ferrucci outdueled the championship contenders at Portland International Raceway to capture the first pole position of his IndyCar career.
The A.J. Foyt Racing driver turned a lap of 58.2046 seconds in the No. 14 Dallara-Chevrolet to deliver the first pole to the team since 2014.
“This is definitely one of the greatest days of my career,” Ferrucci said. “In qualifying, it’s so tight. This series is so incredibly talented. To be doing this today is such a feat for us and the team, and it shows how hard we’ve been working. I can’t thank everybody enough for believing in me.”
QUALIFYING RESULTS: Click here for Portland qualifying speeds | Round 1, Group 1 | Round 1, Group 2 | Round 2 l Round 3
TIRE COMPOUND CHOICES: Click here for whether drivers are starting on primaries or alternates
Portland will mark only the third time in 74 IndyCar starts that Ferrucci will start in the first three rows of a road course event. His previous best start on a road or street course this season was 10th at Detroit.
Ferrucci’s pole was the first for legendary team owner A.J. Foyt since Takuma Sato at Belle Isle Raceway in June 2014.
With Ferrucci in a contract year, the top starting spot could help with negotiations as A.J. Foyt Racing seeks a teammate for David Malukas next season. Foyt has benefited from a strengthening of its alliance this year with Team Penske.
“Man, I think it’s no secret how hard we’ve been working this year, how hard I’ve been working, (team president) Larry (Foyt), our entire staff,” Ferrucci said. “I’m not known for being the best qualifier and today, we just felt it.
“Hell, I’ve got some more bargaining power for next year. I love it.”
Said Larry Foyt, the son of A.J. Foyt: “It’s just awesome. The trajectory where we’ve been headed as a team, it’s just been great. We’ve added so many great people to our group. Santino is just getting better all of the time. This is just a testament to everything we’re doing. Thanks to the affiliation with Penske. Certainly, a huge help. Those guys are awesome, but our guys just really delivered today and Santino drove the wheels off.
“It’ll be good to call dad. It’ll be a fun call for a change.”
Penske’s Will Power qualified second, followed by points leader Alex Palou and Christian Lundgaard.
Five drivers will be starting lower because of six-position grid penalties: Kyle Kirkwood, Graham Rahal, Scott McLaughlin, David Malukas and Kyffin Simpson.
Here’s the IndyCar starting lineup for Sunday’s Grand Prix of Portland on the 12-turn, 1.964-mile road course in Portland, Oregon (with qualifying position, car number in parentheses, driver, engine, time and speed):
ROW 1
1. (14) Santino Ferrucci, Chevrolet, 58.2046 seconds (121.475 mph)
2. (12) Will Power, Chevrolet, 58.3120 (121.251)
ROW 2
3. (10) Alex Palou, Honda, 58.4316 (121.003)
4. (45) Christian Lundgaard, Honda, 58.5809 (120.695)
ROW 3
5. (2) Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet, 58.4163 (121.035)
6. (77) Romain Grosjean, Chevrolet, 58.4494 (120.966)
ROW 4
7. (11) Marcus Armstrong, Honda, 58.4518 (120.961)
8. (26) Colton Herta, Honda, 58.4593 (120.946)
ROW 5
9. (9) Scott Dixon, Honda, 58.4772 (120.909)
10. (28) Marcus Ericsson, Honda, 58.5044 (120.852)
ROW 6
11. (27) Kyle Kirkwood, Honda, 58.5960 (120.664), six-position grid penalty
12. (15) Graham Rahal, Honda, 58.6332 (120.587), six-position grid penalty
ROW 7
13. (30) Pietro Fittipaldi, Honda, 58.4955 (120.871)
14. (21) Rinus VeeKay, Chevrolet, 58.5074 (120.846)
ROW 8
15. (75) Juri Vips, Honda, 58.6209 (120.612)
16. (20) Christian Rasmussen, Chevrolet, 58.5493 (120.760)
ROW 9
17. (7) Alexander Rossi, Chevrolet, 58.6822 (120.486)
18. (60) Felix Rosenqvist, Honda, 58.7179 (120.413)
ROW 10
19. (51) Toby Sowery, Honda, 58.7204 (120.408)
20. (3) Scott McLaughlin, Chevrolet, 58.4489 (120.967), six-position grid penalty
ROW 11
21. (8) Linus Lundqvist, Honda, 58.7726 (120.301)
22. (5) Pato O’Ward, Chevrolet, 58.7903 (120.265)
ROW 12
23. (6) Nolan Siegel, Chevrolet, 58.8205 (120.203)
24. (41) Sting Ray Robb, Chevrolet, 58.8687 (120.105)
ROW 13
25. (66) David Malukas, Honda, 58.6299 (120.594), six-position grid penalty
26. (78) Conor Daly, Chevrolet, 58.9721 (119.894)
ROW 14
27. (18) Jack Harvey, Honda, 59.1787 (119.475)
28. (4) Kyffin Simpson, Honda, 58.8525 (120.138), six-position grid penalty