After a few “off” weeks by the standards of the 2014 Verizon IndyCar Series Champion, Will Power is back at home on the pole position for the second annual Angie’s List Grand Prix of Indianapolis on the road course at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. On an overcast and windy day, it was a dominating performance for Power, Team Penske, and Chevrolet, as Chevrolet claimed the top ten starting positions and had 11 of the 12 cars in the second round of qualifying. After such great hope at Barber Motorsports Park, Honda has been solidly relegated to the back of the field here in the heart of IndyCar country.

Here’s how the session went down:

Qualifying Group 1

Group 1: Coletti, Hildebrand, Saavedra, Montoya, Power, Hinchcliffe, Huertas, Munoz, Hunter-Reay, Rahal, Filippi, Bourdais

After learning his lesson at Barber, Will Power and Team Penske made sure to go out early and turn some solid laps early. That resulted in Power setting the fastest lap of the group, while fellow Team Penske driver Juan Pablo Montoya was just behind him. Also advancing from the group were Bourdais, Filippi, Colletti, and Saavedra—making it an all-Chevy group advancing to the next round. Said Rahal after the session, “I’m out there driving harder than I’ve ever driven before and it’s just not enough.” The frustration for the Honda runners has been palpable here at IMS.

Qualifying Group 2

Group 2: Dixon, Kimball, Andretti, Castroneves, Pagenaud, Jakes, Newgarden, Dracone, Wilson, Kanaan, Sato, Chavez, Hawksworth

The notable story from the second qualifying group was the plight of Honda around the road course here at IMS. After Honda was shut out of Group 1, it was all up to the seven Honda runners to salvage something out of today. As they have been at times, AJ Foyt Racing was the last great hope for Honda, with Jack Hawksworth finishing fifth in the group and the only Honda runner to advance. Dixon was quickest in the session, followed by Castroneves, Pagenaud, Kanaan, Hawksworth, and Newgarden.

Round Two
Fast 12: Power, Pagenaud, Helio, TK, JPM, Dixon, Bourdais, Saavedra, Filippi, Coletti, Hawksworth, Newgarden

Two weeks after claiming an amazing first win at Barber Motorsports Park, Newgarden has been unable to replicate the same kind of success on the IMS road course. Despite advancing to the second round, Newgarden was the slowest of the 12 cars in the session. At the front, it was a Team Penske 1-2-3, with Power, Pagenaud, and Castroneves leading the Chevy sweep of the Firestone Fast Six. Kanaan was able to lead the Ganassi show by putting in a last-gasp lap to jump into the top six. Montoya put all four Penskes in the Firestone Fast Six, while Dixon maybe it an all-Penske/Ganassi show in the final round. Bourdais just missed out on the Fast Six and will start seventh, while Hawksworth’s Honda hopes could only will him to P11 in the session.

Firestone Fast Six

It was the Power show in the Firestone Fast Six, as Power went out early on Firestone Reds and set a new track record on his first timed lap in the session. That lap would have been good enough for the pole alone, before Power went out again at the end of the session and threw down an even better lap, setting the new track record at a 1:09.4886. Dixon was able to break up the Team Penske sweep and claim a spot on the front row next to Power, albeit 0.227 seconds slower than the reigning champion. Castroneves, Montoya, Pagenaud, and Kanaan completed the running order in the session.

Indianapolis Road Course