Hunter-Reay Earns Long Beach Pole

RHRIt will be an Andretti front row to start the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach on Sunday. Ryan Hunter-Reay won the pole, and James Hinchcliffe will start beside him. It’s the sixth career pole for Hunter-Reay, his first since Mid-Ohio last year. Sebastien Bourdais and Josef Newgarden claimed row two, and Jack Hawksworth and Simon Pagenaud will share row three. The four drivers that just missed the Firestone Fast Six; Scott Dixon, Marco Andretti, Helio Castroneves, and Justin Wilson, round out the top ten starters.

For the first time since the Firestone Fast Six was created in 2005, there weren’t any Penske or Ganassi cars in the final round. It was a strong day for the Honda-powered teams, as they took five of the top six (9 of the top 12 overall) starting spots in qualifying.

There are some heavy weights that will be starting in the rear of the field on Sunday, including Will Power. Most expected Power to contest for the pole, but he will start tomorrow’s race in 14th position. His Penske teammate Juan Montoya will start one row behind him, in 16th position. Tony Kanaan and Mike Conway will also start in the rear, with Graham Rahal starting in the 23rd and final position. Graham is running out of excuses. His teammate, Oriol Servia will be starting in 12th on Sunday.

Click here for the full starting lineup for the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach

It was an impressive day for Hawksworth, who continues to turn heads around the IndyCar paddock. Carlos Munoz did well too, earning himself an 11th place starting position. Tomorrow marks the 40th running of the race in Long Beach, and will feature a standing start. Race coverage begins at 4 PM ET on NBC Sports Network.

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