Montoya takes pole at Pocono, first Verizon P1 Award since IndyCar return

[Source: INDYCAR press release]

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For the day’s full results, visit our Pocono IndyCar 500 Event Summary.

LONG POND, Pa. (Saturday, July 5, 2014) — Juan Pablo Montoya was a standout in the late-afternoon qualifying session as driver after driver took turns at shattering Marco Andretti’s year-old Pocono Raceway speed records.

The final participant in single-car qualifications for the Pocono INDYCAR 500 fueled by Sunoco broke the one- and two-lap track records to earn his first Verizon P1 Award of the season and 15th of his Indy car career.

Montoya recorded a first lap of 223.920 mph and a two-lap average of 223.871 mph on the 2.5-mile tri-oval in the No. 2 PPG Team Penske. The previous two-lap average record was 221.273 mph, which came in 2013 at Indy car racing’s return to Pocono Raceway after a 24-year absence. Denny Hamlin holds the NASCAR Cup Series record of 181.415 mph, set on June 6.

NBCSN will televise the 200-lap race — the middle round of the Triple Crown series — at noon (ET) July 6. The 500-mile races at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Pocono Raceway and Auto Club Speedway on Aug. 30 carry double points. Will Power, the championship front-runner who will join Montoya and rookie Carlos Munoz on the front row for the three-wide start, has a 39-point lead over Team Penske teammate Helio Castroneves entering Round 11 of 18.

Montoya is the eighth different Verizon P1 Award winner this season.

Montoya’s last Indy car pole came at Surfers Paradise in October 2000. He earned the pole for the August 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Pocono.

“It’s the luck of the draw, but the big thing was we had good balance,” said Montoya, who returned to Indy car racing this season after 14 years competing in Formula One and stock car racing.

“Am I back? Well, I’m getting there. I feel like I’m getting there every week. We keep working harder and keep finding speed and more results. So it’s exciting. I think we’re going in the right direction.

“(The track is) so different (from NASCAR). We run wide open all the way around here. I think the average speed is 30 or 40 miles per hour faster than we do in a Cup car. It’s fast.”

Takuma Sato (222.798 mph), Andretti (222.715) and James Hinchcliffe (222.544) will occupy Row 2.

POCONO INDYCAR 400 FUELED BY SUNOCO QUALIFYING NOTES:

• This is Juan Pablo Montoya’s first Verizon P1 Award this season. It is his 15th career pole and is his first pole in Indy car racing since he won the pole at Gateway in 2000.

• Team Penske drivers Juan Pablo Montoya and Will Power earned two of the three front-row starting spots. It is the second consecutive year a team has swept the top two starting positions.

• Carlos Munoz qualified third, his season-best start and first front row start since qualifying second at Indianapolis in 2013.

• Juan Pablo Montoya set Pocono Raceway one and two lap track records during his two-lap qualifying run. Montoya’s first lap was 40.1929 (223.920 mph) and his average qualifying speed was 223.827 mph. The previous one-lap record was 221.377 mph and two-lap record was 221.273 mph, both set by Marco Andretti last year.

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NEXT PAGE: Quotes from much of the field qualified for the 2014 Pocono IndyCar 500 at Pocono Raceway