Team Penske swept qualifying for this weekend’s Hy-Vee Milwaukee doubleheader with Scott McLaughlin taking pole for tonight’s first race and Josef Newgarden securing pole for Sunday afternoon’s race two.
McLaughlin wheeled the No. 3 Chevy to the top with a lap of 162.341mph and will start second for race two.
Behind the Penske duo for race one, taking place Saturday at 6 p.m. ET, the rest of the top six was completed by David Malukas, Alexander Rossi, Linus Lundqvist, and Will Power.
“It was hard, proper driving; I think Josef would concur that the UV of the track was high, was quite loose and a weird grip level,” McLaughlin said. “It’s nice to just wheel one and manage a pole here.”
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Mirroring his teammate, Newgarden will start second for Saturday’s race and is one pole for Sunday with a lap of 160.983mph in the No. 2 Chevy.
In race two, the Penske front row has Marcus Armstrong, Power, Lundqvist, and Rossi in tow.
“Hard laps around Milwaukee,” Newgarden said. “It makes you work for it. We probably overshot a little bit, but we weren’t going to undershoot today.”
Of the surprises, championship leader Alex Palou was missing speed with a run to 13th for race one and 10th for race two. Even worse, the entire Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing team missed something big as its trio were three of the four slowest for Saturday and earned the last three spots for Sunday.