Will Power Wins Seventh St. Pete Pole
Will Power, Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg Pole Winner. (Photo Courtesy IndyCar)
ST. PETERSBURG, FL – RIS - Will Power won the pole position Saturday for the seventh time in the last eight years for the opening race to the 2017 Verizon IndyCar Series season – The Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.
"I think that went very well,” Will Power said. “I saved a good set of tires for the end there. They had one lap on them - really happy for the guys at Verizon and the whole team. It's good to be starting on pole. That was everything I had at the end. I gave it all I had because I knew it was going to be close. I haven't put that much energy into a lap for a while. I'm really happy. We will do our best tomorrow in every condition."
Driving the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet, Power drove the 1.8-mile, 14-turn temporary street course in 1 minute, 1.0640 seconds (106.118 mph) on his final lap of the Firestone Fast Six - the third and final round of knockout qualifying. The 2014 series champion's lap was 0.1579 of a second better than Scott Dixon in the No. 9 GE LED Lighting Honda for Chip Ganassi Racing.
Power was fastest in his group in round 1 and fifth quick in round two before grabbing the top spot in the final round. The Australian is poised to redeem himself in Sunday's race after failing to start last year's race due to an illness.
Power's Chevrolet was the fastest but Honda dominated the top qualifying spots. Eight of the top ten drivers drove with Honda engines.
Dave Chess
Dave Chess has been writing for RIS since the late 1980s during the CompuServe days. His work has also appeared in Auto Week magazine, Chicago Gearhead News newspaper, ATA airlines in-flight magazine, National Speed Sport News and on many websites.