Scott McLaughlin earned his first career IndyCar pole position on the streets of Saint Petersburg, Florida during the first qualifying session of the 2022 season.
The three-time Australian Supercars champion found the speed on his final lap to oust his Penske team mate Will Power from the top spot in the Fast Six stage of qualifying, setting a lap time of 59.482 seconds to secure his maiden IndyCar pole.
McLaughlin had only managed a best qualifying result of fifth place throughout his first full season in IndyCar last year.
Power, who starts second, set a new course record at 59.347, during the second stage of qualifying.
Defending St. Petersburg race winner Colton Herta will line up third on the grid for Sunday’s 100-lap opening race, next to Rinus VeeKay in fourth.
Following an awkward collision with Takuma Sato in Saturday morning’s practice, Romain Grosjean recovered to qualify fifth, next to his compatriot, Simon Pagenaud, who was sixth in his first qualifying for Meyer Shank…