Qualifying Report: Verizon IndyCar Series

IOWA CORN 300
QUALIFYING REPORT
07.08.17

Tune in to NBC Sports tomorrow at 5 p.m. ET to catch 300 laps of action-packed Verizon IndyCar Series Racing from Iowa Speedway.

Takuma Sato
No. 26 #CheckIt4Andretti HONDA
STARTING POSITION: 5
QUALIFYING SPEED: 182.653 mph
Of Note: Secured the fastest Honda qualifying position
“This is a good result for the 26 team. Qualifying had tricky conditions – (qualifying was) a lot warmer than the practice earlier today and my teammates who qualified before me had tough runs. We saw their data and tried to learn from (their runs) and make the most of ours. I think we really did a great job pulling things together – qualifying fifth is really good.”

 

Alexander Rossi
No. 98 ShopAndretti.com / CURB HONDA
STARTING POSITION: 12
QUALIFYING SPEED: 181.136 mph
“It was a pretty greasy qualifying run. I don’t know whether it was the temperatures or the lack of support rubber on track, but I feel our car had a lot more in it than 12th. Drawing an early qualifying number is never ideal, so that didn’t help us either. It’s a pretty tight field for the most part, so we’ll just have to see what tomorrow holds for the race.”

Ryan Hunter-Reay
No. 28 DHL HONDA
STARTING POSITION: 15
QUALIFYING SPEED: 180.716 mph
Of Note: Is the only active driver to win at Iowa Speedway more than once; holds three race wins at Iowa (2012, 2014, 2015)
“We’re just missing speed. I don’t get it really. This morning in practice we did the same trim stuff that our teammates did and the speed just wouldn’t come with it, and then again in qualifying – we just aren’t getting the speeds we should be. We’re just not sure what’s going on, but we’ll put our heads together in final practice and overnight to see what we can do. Our goal is to get the DHL car into victory lane for a fourth time here in Iowa.”

 

Marco Andretti
No. 27 ANDRETTI AUTOSPORT HONDA
STARTING POSITION: 20
QUALIFYING SPEED: 171.710 mph
Of Note: Posted the fastest Honda time during morning practice session; Is one of only four current drivers to have competed at every Verizon IndyCar Series event at Iowa Speedway
“We looked good in practice and ended up the top Honda this morning, but then something went wrong for us in qualifying. Our starting position is not showing our potential and that’s disappointing. We need to figure out what went wrong and correct things for tomorrow – luckily we have another practice tonight to work on it.”