By alley - Sep 3, 2016, 7:07 PM ET

INDYCAR: Hawksworth's pace pays off

Positivity has been in short supply for Jack Hawksworth since he started and finished ninth at Detroit 2 in early June. If numbers matter, his strong performance all weekend at Watkins Glen, which produced a ninth-place starting position Saturday afternoon, could suggest a good run can be expected on Sunday in the No. 41 AJ Foyt Racing Honda.

"It's been nice so far, we've been competitive since we rolled out, and we've been doing damn good," the 25-year-old Englishman told RACER. "We were held up a bit by Will Power, who was backing up on us in qualifying, and it's going to be hard to pass tomorrow, but we'll give it our best shot as usual."

Hawksworth's best qualifying and race result in 2016 came at the Grand Prix of Indianapolis in May where he started and finished fourth. Since then, outside of Detroit 2, the No. 41 team has not started or finished better than 12th. Starting ninth is little more than a small victory for the 2013 Pro Mazda champion, but in light of the team's recent struggles, it could lead to the start of a strong finish to the season.

"The thing is, we've been fast many times this year, but we've struggled to put everything together in the races," he said after posting the best qualifying performance among all Honda-powered drivers. "It's often one thing or another, but it's not as if the ABC Supply team hasn't put its entire effort into making the car fast. We simply need to put the race together here, and at Sonoma, which I know we can do."

Speed at Watkins Glen won't necessarily translate to another top-10 start at Sonoma Raceway, and as Hawksworth sees it, the season finale will pose his greatest challenge this year.

"Sonoma's probably the hardest track on the schedule for me, and for setup, with so many different surface changes and everything you have to figure out to be quick," he added. "I don't think we'll struggle on setup there, and I expect our pace to be good, but we just need to carry our momentum from here into that last race. Everybody on this team is ready for some good results."