(Image: Joe Skibinski for IndyCar Media)
DETROIT – The fun continues as surprises continue to pop up and hinder race activities here on Belle Isle. But that didn’t stop yesterday’s Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix winner, Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden from nabbing P1 for this afternoon’s race with a 1:14.8607, just a hair faster than Andretti Autosport Alexander Rossi’s time of 1:15.1825 from the first qualifying group session.
The second group of qualifying had a bit of an advantage with a near hour delay when water was found all over the track in Turn 6, causing Andretti Autosport driver Zach Veach to slip a bit in the turn. The session was red-flagged less than two minutes in to investigate, repair and dry the track. The water issue was found to be caused by water collected in the tires and tarps from yesterday’s storm.
With warmer temps, the session reset and restarted with 12 minutes to go. Penske’s Will Power still experiencing some issues and skirted the sidewall a few times in his last lap around the track of session 2.