Newgarden, Palou share Iowa Speedway poles

Josef Newgarden will start on pole for Saturday's Synk 275 at Iowa Speedway with the No. 2 Team Penske Chevy after setting a best lap of 183.999mph in the unique two-lap format. With the first lap counting for race one and the second for Sunday’s race two, Newgarden will start fourth for the Farm To Finish 275.

Points leader Alex Palou had the inverse results with the No. 10 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, where he’ll start fourth for race one and captured pole for race two with the only lap above 184mph – a 184.014mph to be precise – which added another point to his tally.

Conor Daly was quick for Juncos Hollinger Racing in the No. 76 Chevy (race one: second/race two: seventh), along with Meyer Shank Racing’s Felix Rosenqvist in the No. 60 Honda (third/second), and Arrow McLaren teammates Pato O’Ward in the No. 5 Chevy (fifth/ninth) and Nolan Siegel in the No. 6 Chevy (eighth/fifth) mirrored each other in qualifying.

Penske’s Will Power (seventh/sixth) and Ganassi’s Scott Dixon (sixth/eighth) lacked pole-winning speed but are in solid starting spots for both races. AJ Foyt Racing was expected to feature in time trials and David Malukas was able to deliver on his second lap which placed the No. 4 Chevy in third.

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Newgarden was the ninth driver to qualify and the first to fire into the 183mph level, recording a 183.999mph lap for race one and a 183.316mph on the second lap which placed him atop both races. His speed for race one held, but his pole for race two was surpassed soon after by Malukas who put up a 183.369mph tour.

Malukas held P1 for race two until Rosenqvist hit the track and turned a second lap of 183.975mph. It stood until the last run of the session as Palou came close to beating Newgarden for the race one pole, but fell slightly short and backed it up with a second lap that was fastest of all at 184.104mph.

Rinus VeeKay was the first driver to greet the wall, introducing his right-rear wheel and tire to the exit of Turn 4 while completing his first lap. The Dale Coyne Racing driver kept his foot in the throttle – with a new white stripe on the tire – and then had to catch a big wiggle on the second lap that left him slowest among those who completed their runs.

Scott McLaughlin’s season of oval inconsistency had another chapter added with the latest oval crash in the No. 3 Team Penske Chevy. Big oversteer on entry to Turn 1 to start his first flying lap triggered a half-spin and hard hit with the back of the car. He climbed from the car without issue and will start both races from the back of the field.

The broadcast for the Synk 275 starts at 5 p.m. ET on FOX.

QUALIFYING 1 RESULTS

QUALIFYING 2 RESULTS