Power Lands Penske’s 700th Pole with Front Row Lockout at Gateway

Will Power delivered a historic milestone for Team Penske in Madison, Illinois, claiming pole for the Bommarito Automotive Group 500 and securing the team’s 700th pole across all racing disciplines.

The Queenslander set a two-lap average of 180.329mph (290.169km/h) around the 1.25-mile (2.01km) World Wide Technology Raceway to edge teammate Scott McLaughlin and notch up the 71st pole of his INDYCAR career—a record he continues to extend.

“I sent it a lot,” Power said. “I knew you would have to. You’d have to drive it flat in 3 and 4. I wasn’t quite flat, but very, very close. Cool, man. It’s been a while since I’ve had a pole, so really, really excited. Hopefully we can execute in the race. Man, it would be awesome to get a win here.”

Power’s last pole came at Iowa in July 2023, and Saturday’s result also marked his fifth pole at Gateway, where he won back in 2018.

McLaughlin made it a Penske front-row lockout with a 179.783mph (289.279km/h) run in the No. 3 DEX Imaging Chevrolet, reinforcing the team’s qualifying dominance at a track where Josef Newgarden has won five times.

Team Penske is yet to record a race win in 2025, with podium finishes from McLaughlin, Newgarden, and Power their best results. A breakthrough win from any of the trio would be timely after a torrid two months for the team.

Pato O’Ward will start third for Arrow McLaren with a 179.190mph average, while David Malukas impressed with fourth in the A.J. Foyt Chevrolet—an entry that benefits from Penske technical support. Newgarden completed the top five.

Newgarden, the most successful driver at Gateway, aims to convert his strong starting position into his sixth career win at the venue.

Young Kiwi Marcus Armstrong led the Honda charge with sixth place for Meyer Shank Racing, clocking 178.754mph in the No. 66 entry. Championship leader Alex Palou, who has won five of the opening seven races this season, will start ninth.

Cooler track conditions late in the session gave later runners a slight edge, with light cloud cover helping drop surface temperatures by nearly 10 degrees.

Sunday’s race will begin at 10am AEST, live on FOX Sports.

Qualifying Top 10

Full Results