Herta Leads Honda Sweep Indy Car Qualifying In Monterey

MONTEREY, Calif., Sept. 21, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- NTT IndyCar Series rookie standout Colton Herta edged five-time series champion Scott Dixon to claim the pole today for Sunday's season-ending Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey. In an exciting final round of knockout qualifying, Herta's last lap time of 1:10.1405 bettered Dixon's best effort by just over four one-hundredths of a second. Today's run is the third pole of the season for Herta, and the eighth of the 2019 season for Honda.

Dixon will start on the outside of the front row, second, as the Chip Ganassi Racing driver maintains an outside shot at claiming his sixth series championship in tomorrow's 90-lap contest. Primary championship contenders Alexander Rossi and Josef Newgarden will start third and fourth, respectively. Advancing to the "Fast Six" final qualifying round for the third time this season, James Hinchcliffe qualified fifth in his Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda; while the fourth and final championship contender, Simon Pagenaud, will start sixth.

Heading into tomorrow's season finale, Honda holds a 34-point advantage over Chevrolet in the battle for the 2019 Manufacturers' Championship (1351-1317). In the Drivers' Championship fight, Rossi trails Newgarden by 41 points (593-552). Pagenaud lies third with 551 points, while Dixon rounds out the title hopefuls with 508 points. This weekend's season-finale race is a "double-points" event, with 100 points awarded for a race win rather than the usual 50.

Television coverage of the final round of the 2019 season begins at 2:30 p.m. EDT Sunday on NBC.

Colton Herta (Harding Steinbrenner Racing Honda) Pole qualifier, third pole of 2019 in his rookie IndyCar Series season: "This team has been great all weekend, and the car is phenomenal. We've had such good pace. It seems like we've made some real gains in recent weeks, both on the team side and my side. At the start of the year, I was hoping to be in this position by the end of the season - fighting for top six starting positions. Once you know you can do it [qualify on the pole] it kind of relieves a lot of the stress. You know you can make the fast six [final qualifying] and will be really disappointed if you don't. I'm really looking forward to the start of the race tomorrow from the best seat in the house!"

NTT IndyCar Series Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey
Circuit:
WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca (2.238-mile road course) Monterey, Calif.
Weather: Sunny, warm, 86 degrees F


       
        Top-12, Honda Qualifying Results:


             Ps.    
            
              Driver             
     
              Team                        
     
             Manufacturer             Best Time 
     
              Notes

    ---                                                                                                                                                                                   ---

     
       
        1.    
            
              Colton Herta-R     
     
              Harding Steinbrenner Racing 
     
             Honda                    1:10.1405 
     
              114.867 mph average


     
       
        2.    
            
              Scott Dixon        
     
              Chip Ganassi Racing         
     
             Honda                    1:10.1831 
     
              +0.0426 seconds


     
       
        3.    
            
              Alexander Rossi    
     
              Andretti Autosport          
     
             Honda                    1:10.2105 
     
              Fast Six Final Qualifying


           
      4.    
            Josef Newgarden               
     Team Penske                            
     Chevrolet              
     1:10.6719           
     Fast Six Final Qualifying


     
       
        5.    
            
              James Hinchcliffe  
     
              Arrow Schmidt Peterson      
     
             Honda                    1:10.8003 
     
              Fast Six Final Qualifying


           
      6.    
            Simon Pagenaud                
     Team Penske                            
     Chevrolet              
     1:10.8616           
     Fast Six Final Qualifying


           
      7.    
            Will Power                    
     Team Penske                            
     Chevrolet              
     1:10.6086           
     2nd Round Qualifying


     
       
        8.    
            
              Graham Rahal       
     
              Rahal Letterman Lanigan     
     
             Honda                    1:10.6296 
     
              2nd Round Qualifying


     
       
        9.    
            
              Ryan Hunter-Reay   
     
              Andretti Autosport          
     
             Honda                    1:10.6919 
     
              2nd Round Qualifying


          
      10.    
            Max Chilton                   
     Carlin Racing                          
     Chevrolet              
     1:10.7257           
     2nd Round Qualifying



       
        11.    
            
              Marcus Ericsson    
     
              Arrow Schmidt Peterson      
     
             Honda                    1:11.1666 
     
              2nd Round Qualifying



       
        12.    
            
              Santino Ferrucci-R 
     
              Dale Coyne Racing           
     
             Honda                    1:12.4137 
     
              2nd Round Qualifying





       
        
                Other Honda Results

    ---


       
        13.    
            
              Conor Daly         
     
              Andretti Autosport          
     
             Honda                    1:10.7787 
     
              1st Round, Group 1



       
        14.    
            
              Felix Rosenqvist-R 
     
              Chip Ganassi Racing         
     
             Honda                    1:10.5649 
     
              1st Round, Group 2



       
        16.    
            
              Takuma Sato        
     
              Rahal Letterman Lanigan     
     
             Honda                    1:10.8393 
     
              1st Round, Group 2



       
        17.    
            
              Zach Veach         
     
              Andretti Autosport          
     
             Honda                    1:10.8407 
     
              1st Round, Group 1



       
        19.    
            
              Sebastien Bourdais 
     
              DCR with Vasser-Sullivan    
     
             Honda                    1:11.0095 
     
              1st Round, Group 1



       
        22.    
            
              Marco Andretti     
     
              Andretti Autosport          
     
             Honda                    1:11.0527 
     
              1st Round, Group 2



       
        24.    
            
              Jack Havey         
     
              Meyer Shank Racing          
     
             Honda                    1:11.2710 
     
              1st Round, Group 2

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SOURCE Honda Racing/HPD