Qualifying Report: Bommarito Automotive Group 500

MADISON, Ill. – Tony Kanaan and Matheus Leist were both on the same page when it came to describing their qualifying runs here at Worldwide Technology Raceway at Gateway this afternoon.

 

Oversteer. Too much of it.

 

It didn’t help that they were third and fourth to go out on the 1.25-mile oval which is always a disadvantage in qualifying as the track grip improves as each car lays down more Firestone rubber.

 

Kanaan qualified the No. 14 ABC Supply Chevrolet at a speed of 178.974mph and will start 20th in the Bommarito Automotive Group 500.

 

“It wasn’t a good run for us, the car had a lot of oversteer which was the opposite of what we had in practice and that slowed the car quite a lot,” Kanaan said. “We’ll have to work on the race setup this next session and see what we can come up with for the race.”

 

Matheus Leist was right behind him with a speed of 178.290mph and will start 21st.

 

“I thought we had a better pace but we just struggled with oversteer in both turns and I don’t think it was because the track was a little bit dirty, I think overall we were more to the oversteer side,” Leist explained. “We’ll work on the car to make some changes for the last practice and try to get a good baseline car for the race tomorrow.”

 

NTT IndyCar Series points leader Josef Newgarden won the pole with a speed of 186.508mph. Second through fifth were Sebastien Bourdais, Will Power, Simon Pagenaud and Takuma Sato.

 

The 248-lap race will be broadcast live on NBC Sports Network Saturday night starting at 8 p.m. ET