Newgarden wins Long Beach pole in tight IndyCar title race

Published September 25, 2021 1:51 PM

By JENNA FRYER
AP Auto Racing Writer

LONG BEACH, Calif. (AP) — The IndyCar championship race tightened ahead of the Grand Prix of Long Beach after a messy qualifying session put Alex Palou and Pato O’Ward in the middle of the pack. Josef Newgarden is a distant third in the standings but still mathematically eligible to win the title. He seized the opportunity and won the pole for Sunday’s season-ending race. Palou has a 35-point lead over O’Ward in the standings and needs only an 11th-place finish to make him the first Spaniard to win an IndyCar title. O’Ward will start eighth and Palou 10th.

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