Qualifying report

IndyCar Madison

IndyCar St. Louis: McLaughlin snags pole as Herta crashes

Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin claimed pole in an intense qualifying bout at the track formerly known as Gateway Motorsports Park, replicating his run last year to make it back-to-back.

Joey Barnes

Edited: Aug 17, 2024, 3:58 PM

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Scott McLaughlin, Team Penske Chevrolet, NNT P1 Award, Pole

Photo by: Jake Galstad / Motorsport Images

The New Zealander rocketed to the top spot with a two-lap average of 179.972 mph around the 1.25-mile oval based just outside of St. Louis, Missouri. The pole marks his fourth of the season and ninth of his career.

“I'm so stoked,” McLaughlin said. “We rolled out of the truck, the DEX Imaging Chevrolet has been great. I’m really proud of (it), we had a procedure and went through it and then got it done. It just makes me proud of everyone. At the end of the day, tomorrow is payday, and we’ll make sure that we were on top of things”

McLaughlin’s pace outmatched the Meyer Shank Racing duo of Felix Rosenqvist and David Malukas, who were second and third when the session came to an end. Rosenqvist, who was a narrow 0.0489s off the pole mark, won’t start second after receiving a nine-spot grid penalty for an unapproved engine change ahead of the weekend.

Scott McLaughlin, Team Penske Chevrolet, Felix Rosenqvist, Meyer Shank Racing Honda

Photo by: Jake Galstad / Motorsport Images

Josef Newgarden, a four-time winner at Gateway, ended up fourth, ahead of Team Penske team-mate Will Power in fifth.

Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood was sixth. Championship leader Alex Palou, who also received a nine-spot grid penalty for an unapproved engine change, was seventh in the No. 10 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda.

Juncos Hollinger Racing’s Romain Grosjean was eighth, followed by Andretti Global’s Marcus Ericsson in ninth.

Six-time IndyCar Series champion Scott Dixon was 10th, but will also lose nine spots for the race for an unapproved engine change.

Herta "just broke loose" in qualifying shunt

The biggest incident of qualifying came after Colton Herta, pressing with a run to challenge for pole after a first lap of 179.909 mph, lost the backend of his No. 26 Andretti Global Honda and slid into the Turn 2 wall on the second lap. He was able to continue, but at a reduced pace with the rear wing noticeably bent.

“Just broke loose,” Herta said. “It’s unfortunate. I think that first lap was decent. I don’t think it would have gotten us the pole, but I do think it could have gotten us in the top five there. And then second lap, yeah, I don’t know if we just wore the tires too much or what happened, and it just let go pretty early and that’s all she wrote, unfortunately. Sucks.”

Herta will start 25th, ahead of Dale Coyne Racing’s Jack Harvey and Katherine Legge. Harvey had a suspected hybrid issue impact his run, while Legge wasn’t able to qualify after her No. 51 Honda failed technical inspection.

CLA DRIVER # LAPS TIME INTERVAL MPH 1 S. McLaughlinTEAM PENSKE 3 2

50.0079

179.972 2 F. RosenqvistMEYER SHANK RACING 60 2

+0.0489

50.0568

0.0489 179.796 3 D. MalukasMEYER SHANK RACING 66 2

+0.1306

50.1385

0.0817 179.503 4 J. NewgardenTEAM PENSKE 2 2

+0.1526

50.1605

0.0220 179.424 5 W. PowerTEAM PENSKE 12 2

+0.1980

50.2059

0.0454 179.262 6 K. KirkwoodANDRETTI GLOBAL 27 2

+0.4357

50.4436

0.2377 178.417 7 A. PalouCHIP GANASSI RACING 10 2

+0.4509

50.4588

0.0152 178.363 8 R. GrosjeanJUNCOS HOLLINGER RACING 77 2

+0.4630

50.4709

0.0121 178.321 9 M. EricssonANDRETTI GLOBAL 28 2

+0.5215

50.5294

0.0585 178.114 10 S. DixonCHIP GANASSI RACING 9 2

+0.5809

50.5888

0.0594 177.905 11 P. O'WardARROW MCLAREN 5 2

+0.7936

50.8015

0.2127 177.160 12 C. DalyJUNCOS HOLLINGER RACING 78 2

+0.8035

50.8114

0.0099 177.126 13 M. ArmstrongCHIP GANASSI RACING 11 2

+0.9270

50.9349

0.1235 176.696 14 R. van KalmthoutED CARPENTER RACING 21 2

+0.9370

50.9449

0.0100 176.661 15 A. RossiARROW MCLAREN 7 2

+1.1678

51.1757

0.2308 175.865 16 G. RahalRAHAL LETTERMAN LANIGAN RACING 15 2

+1.1918

51.1997

0.0240 175.782 17 P. FittipaldiRAHAL LETTERMAN LANIGAN RACING 30 2

+1.2286

51.2365

0.0368 175.656 18 S. FerrucciA.J. FOYT ENTERPRISES 14 2

+1.2700

51.2779

0.0414 175.514 19 L. LundqvistCHIP GANASSI RACING 8 2

+1.2712

51.2791

0.0012 175.510 20

N. SiegelARROW MCLAREN

6 2

+1.4635

51.4714

0.1923 174.854 21 E. CarpenterED CARPENTER RACING 20 2

+1.4937

51.5016

0.0302 174.752 22 K. SimpsonCHIP GANASSI RACING 4 2

+1.7459

51.7538

0.2522 173.900 23 C. LundgaardRAHAL LETTERMAN LANIGAN RACING 45 2

+1.7991

51.8070

0.0532 173.722 24

R. RobbA.J. FOYT ENTERPRISES

41 2

+2.0810

52.0889

0.2819 172.782 25 C. HertaANDRETTI GLOBAL WITH CURB-AGAJANIAN 26 2

+15.7430

1'05.7509

13.6620 136.880 26 J. HarveyDALE COYNE RACING 18 0

27 K. LeggeDALE COYNE RACING 51 0

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