Qualifying at Road America is always an important part of the race weekend. Although only two pole sitters have won this race since 2016, 25 of the 32 races here have been won by a driver starting inside the top-five. Andretti Autosport has been one of the fastest teams in Elkhart Lake this weekend, but they have only won here one time.
Alexander Rossi delivered that lone victory, and seems to finally be returning to form. After another rough start to the season, the talented driver finally got back on track at Indianapolis, with another top-five finish. He followed that up with a runner-up finish last weekend in Detroit, and today captured his first pole since the 2019 season.
Speaking of 2019, that is the last time Rossi went to victory lane, and it happened right here at Road America. This is the 7th career pole for Rossi, who earned another championship point for his efforts. In the six previous races where he started from pole, he ended up winning four of them, and finished 2nd in another.
“I love this place,” Rossi said. “I think it’s one of the top five road courses in the world in my book. It’s got everything. It’s just a joy to drive around here. Obviously the car rolled off really strong, which is positive on these weekends where it’s so close you’ve got to start from a good point.”
“It was an amazing job all weekend by the NAPA Auto Parts/AutoNation Andretti-Honda guys. It’s been a long time since we’ve been in this position. It’s amazing, it’s cool, we’ll enjoy it, but we’ve got a job to do tomorrow.”
The stars are beginning to align for the driver of the No. 27 Honda, who at the beginning of the month announced that he will be joining Arrow McLaren SP next season.
There have now been eight different pole sitters in the eight events this season.
Josef Newgarden narrowly missed his fourth Road America pole but will start alongside Rossi on the front row. The Team Penske ace has led the most laps (123) here among…
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