Colton Herta & Scott McLaughlin Split IndyCar Pole Positions for Iowa Doubleheader (2024)

Colton Herta and Scott McLaughlin will lead the NTT IndyCar Series field to the green flag for Saturday’s (July 13) and Sunday’s, respectively, races at Iowa following an eventful qualifying session Saturday afternoon.

As is the norm for qualifying for the Hy-Vee INDYCAR Race Weekend, each car made one run consisting of a warm-up lap and two timed laps with the first timed lap setting the driver’s position for the Saturday’s race and the second determining the starting order for Sunday.

“It’s the most bizarre pole I think IndyCar has seen for a while,” Herta said after taking his first top qualifying spot on an oval. “I’m happy that we ended up holding on. It’s tough, this is my first oval pole and it means a lot to finally get that monkey off my back.”

Herta had dealt with battery deployment issues during his first run and had been offered a second run by IndyCar, however the team pulled him from the opportunity at the last moment as making the second run would require the No. 26 team to forfeit its starting positions of first and fourth.

McLaughlin’s second lap was a track-record-setting 188.248 mph, or 17.0966 seconds, while Herta’s pole speed for Race 1 was 187.655 mph, or 17.1506 seconds.

“It’s a big deal,” McLaughlin said of his starting position and the track-position advantage that comes with it. “Absolutely, you want to be up front as far as you can be but, ultimately, a lot of things can dictate this race with the pit stops and what not. And honestly, in the Indy [NXT] race, that second groove was working so if enough people get up there it’s going to be, hopefully, like old Iowa.

Aside from the two polesitters, Jack Harvey saw perhaps the most time in the spotlight throughout the day, though not for pleasant reasons. The 31-year-old from England has been dealing with neck and back spasms since last week’s race at Mid-Ohio and word was already circulating before qualifying that he may not partake in this weekend’s racing.

Harvey was the first to run in qualifying but did not have any available hybrid power deployment throughout his attempt. Harvey and Dale Coyne Racing were offered a second attempt by INDYCAR after it was determined that the No. 18 car’s failure to deploy its hybrid stores was neither the fault of the driver nor the team.

Harvey made a second run and bettered his times, but was in visible pain afterward and was helped from the car by a team member.

Still, the day wasn’t over as Harvey’s No. 18 car was rolled back on to pit road to run for a third time. Harvey ended the day with starting positions of 19th and 18th place, respectively.

Frontstretch spoke with Harvey between his qualifying runs.

Will Power, who swept the pole positions for the doubleheader weekend in both 2022 and 2023, had a heart-in-throat moment exiting turn 2 on his second timed lap, but kept the car out of the wall when it drifted wide and will start fourth on Saturday and 23rd on Sunday.

Josef Newgarden, who has been to the Iowa races as Power has been to Iowa qualifying, also ended the day disappointed. The driver of the No. 2 will start 22nd and 14th in the doubleheader’s two races after a poorly-handling car disrupted his timed laps.

Hy-Vee Homefront 250 Qualifying Results

Hy-Vee One Step 250 Qualifying Results

Saturday’s Hy-Vee Homefront 250 will begin at 8 p.m. ET and Sunday’s Hy-Vee One Step 250 will kick off at 12 p.m. ET. Both events will be live on NBC and Peacock.