The Portland International Raceway saw a piece of IndyCar history as a driver claimed their first ever pole position.
Santino Ferrucci flew around the Portland road course to grab his maiden pole in IndyCar.
The result is also A. J. Foyt Racing’s first pole position in a decade, going back to the second race at Belle Isle in 2014, set by Takuma Sato.
Ferrucci will line up for the race with Penske’s Will Power in second, with championship leader Alex Palou locking out the top three.
Will Power congratulates Santino Ferrucci on his maiden pole
With a minute to go in the Fast Six qualifying, Graham Rahal set the benchmark time as he knocked Palou down from the top spot.
A flying lap from Ferrucci saw him move to the top with a 58.3042s time. Power’s best efforts for pole were in vain as he missed out to the A. J. Foyt driver, who went even faster on his ultimate lap with 58.2046s, ending up 0.1074s ahead of the Penske driver.
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Taking to his X account after qualifying, Power offered his congratulations to Ferrucci for his maiden pole in IndyCar.
He wrote: “P2 and front row start for the #PortlandGP tomorrow. Ready to get another win with the 12 crew!
“Congrats to @SantinoFerrucci on an absolute heater of a pole lap.”
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Santino Ferrucci is searching for his maiden IndyCar win
With pole position, Ferrucci has put himself in the best possible place to win at Portland, which would mark his first ever victory in IndyCar.
The 26-year-old started his career in the series with Dale Coyne Racing, making four appearances in the 2018 season. He would be offered a full time seat the next year, where Ferrucci finished fourth three times and 13th overall in the standings.
Ferrucci would repeat his 13th place in 2020 before joining Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing the next season. For the next two seasons, the American would compete part time, with RLL in 2021 and with Dreyer & Reinbold Racing and Juncos Hollinger Racing in 2022.
Ferrucci returned to full time racing with A. J. Foyt in 2023. That season, he would achieve only one top 10 finish with third at the Indianapolis 500; his only podium and best result to date in IndyCar.
Results have been much stronger in 2024 thus far, with seven top 10 finishes as Ferrucci sits 11th in the standings, level on points with Felix Rosenqvist in 10th.