Despite a serious accident, Josef Newgarden qualifies fifth at Road America

Newgarden was examined by the IndyCar medical department and released.

“I’m glad I got to see the replay. It’s exactly what I thought happened,” Newgarden told NBC’s Kevin Lee. “I feel like an idiot. I just went a little wide. You can’t do that in those conditions. I mean, this is IndyCar, it gets tight, you know, and I went a little wide there, so I apologize to my guys. That was a rocket car, man, it was really good. I don’t know if the lap was good enough, but I think it would have been in a decent range, so I was definitely trying to go for it like everybody else and just went too wide.”

The 14-turn, 4.014-mile track was wet at the start of qualifying, but the rain stopped shortly after the start of lap two. When the Firestone Fast Six started, all six drivers put on slick tires to begin the eight-minute session.

The track gradually picked up speed as Colton Herta clocked the first timed lap of the session at 1:57.2604. Herta’s fastest lap on Lap 2 was almost two seconds slower on Firestone’s wet compound.

Rookie Linus Lundqvist crossed the alternate timing line before Turn 14 just before the session time expired to secure pole position. Newgarden then hit the SAFER Barrier shortly after Herta crossed the alternate timing line, setting a lap time that earned the Californian second place on the grid.

Because of Newgarden’s accident, no other driver was able to set a lap time to improve their position before Sunday’s 55-lap race. Also because of the incident, race officials eliminated Newgarden’s best two lap times of the session. Because the Tennessee native was only able to complete two laps in the third qualifying round, Newgarden finished the session without an official time.

Newgarden will start sixth behind Lundqvist, Herta, Marcus Armstrong, Kyle Kirkwood and Will Power. Power spun and stalled the No. 12 Team Penske Chevrolet on his first timed lap. Because Power was faster on the second qualifying lap, he will start ahead of Newgarden.

Speak with Front stretch After what felt like an endless time at the medical center, Newgarden praised the medical team for their efforts.

“They’re just super thorough here, which is great,” he said. “I think INDYCAR wants to make sure everyone’s OK, especially after an impact like that. All good.”

Sunday’s race will be broadcast live on NBC and Peacock. The broadcast begins at 3:30 p.m. ET, with the race itself starting 15 minutes later.