IndyCar cancels qualifying, Kanaan tops Texas practice

The grids for the IndyCar Series’ double-header at Texas Motor Speedway will be set by entrant points after qualifying was cancelled due to inclement weather.

Series leader Alex Palou will start today’s Genesys 300 from the pole position for Chip Ganassi Racing alongside Team Penske pilot Will Power.

Palou’s team-mate Scott Dixon will line up on the inside of the second row with Andretti Autosport’s Colton Herta on the New Zealander’s outside.

Simon Pagenaud (Team Penske), Jack Harvey (Meyer Shank Racing), Sebastien Bourdais (AJ Foyt Enterprises), Rinus VeeKay (Ed Carpenter Racing), Marcus Ericsson (Chip Ganassi Racing), and Josef Newgarden (Team Penske) will make up the top 10 starting order.

Scott McLaughlin, the sole rookie in this weekend’s double-header, will start from 15th for Team Penske.

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Qualifying was to consist of a two-lap run with Lap 1 and Lap 2 deciding the grids for the 212-lap Genesys 300 and 248-lap Xpel 375 respectively.

The grid for the Xpel 375 will be set based on the entrant points after the Genesys 300.

The weekend’s only practice was hit by rain, the 90-minute session initially postponed two hours due to bad weather.

IndyCar then cancelled qualifying, rescheduling practice in its place to give drivers a lengthy hit-out before the evening’s race.

Series returnee Tony Kanaan wasted no time getting up to speed, ending the session on top for Chip Ganassi Racing.

Kanaan, who this weekend has replaced seven-time NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson in the #48 entry, was followed by Arrow McLaren SP driver Pato O’Ward.

Kanaan will start the first race from 23rd on the grid, courtesy of Johnson’s placing in the entrant points.

Two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Takuma Sato was third for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing while Dixon was fourth.

Pagenaud, Ericsson, Felix Rosenqvist (Arrow McLaren SP), Newgarden, James Hinchcliffe (Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport), and Graham Rahal (Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing) completed the top 10 running order. Dual pole-sitter Palou was 11th fastest.

Power was 16th fastest while McLaughlin ended the session 20th out of 24 cars.

The start of the Genesys 300 at Texas Motor Speedway has been brought forward by 35 minutes due to the threat of rain and will get underway this morning a 09:10 AEST.

Results: IndyCar Series Genesys 300 Practice 

Num	Name	Team	Lap	Diff	Gap	Laps	FL	FSpeed	Engine
48	Tony Kanaan	Chip Ganassi Racing	23.5451	23.5451	0	54	16	220.173	Honda
5	Pato O’Ward	Arrow McLaren SP	23.5707	0.0256	0.0256	73	45	219.934	Chevy
30	Takuma Sato	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	23.5778	0.0327	0.0071	70	36	219.868	Honda
9	Scott Dixon	Chip Ganassi Racing	23.5933	0.0482	0.0155	56	10	219.723	Honda
22	Simon Pagenaud	Team Penske	23.595	0.0499	0.0017	62	10	219.708	Chevy
8	Marcus Ericsson	Chip Ganassi Racing	23.596	0.0509	0.0010	88	65	219.698	Honda
7	Felix Rosenqvist	Arrow McLaren SP	23.6317	0.0866	0.0357	71	44	219.366	Chevy
2	Josef Newgarden	Team Penske	23.6899	0.1448	0.0582	67	49	218.827	Chevy
29	James Hinchcliffe	Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport	23.7029	0.1578	0.0130	87	10	218.707	Honda
15	Graham Rahal	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	23.7072	0.1621	0.0043	81	9	218.668	Honda
10	Alex Palou	Chip Ganassi Racing	23.7684	0.2233	0.0612	86	67	218.105	Honda
59	Conor Daly	Carlin	23.7787	0.2336	0.0103	55	45	218.01	Chevy
27	Alexander Rossi	Andretti Autosport	23.8118	0.2667	0.0331	37	6	217.707	Honda
28	Ryan Hunter-Reay	Andretti Autosport	23.8914	0.3463	0.0796	47	5	216.982	Honda
60	Jack Harvey	Meyer Shank Racing	23.9331	0.388	0.0417	52	11	216.604	Honda
12	Will Power	Team Penske	23.9379	0.3928	0.0048	56	13	216.56	Chevy
26	Colton Herta	Andretti Autosport w/ Curb-Agajanian	23.9382	0.3931	0.0003	42	7	216.558	Honda
21	Rinus VeeKay	Ed Carpenter Racing	23.9777	0.4326	0.0395	39	11	216.201	Chevy
20	Ed Carpenter	Ed Carpenter Racing	23.9869	0.4418	0.0092	55	19	216.118	Chevy
3	Scott McLaughlin	Team Penske	24.0393	0.4942	0.0524	83	11	215.647	Chevy
18	Ed Jones	Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser Sullivan	24.1053	0.5602	0.0660	79	46	215.056	Honda
14	Sebastien Bourdais	AJ Foyt Enterprises	24.1119	0.5668	0.0066	71	8	214.998	Chevy
4	Dalton Kellett	AJ Foyt Enterprises	24.2113	0.6662	0.0994	93	60	214.115	Chevy
51	Pietro Fittipaldi	Dale Coyne Racing w/Rick Ware Racing	24.2923	0.7472	0.081	85	55	213.401	Honda