Will Power scored his fourth pole in the past five years at Sonoma Raceway, his fourth pole of the 2014 Verizon Indycar Series season, and also set a new track record. Yet it was the misfortunes of his Team Penske teammates Helio Castroneves and Juan Montoya that was one of the main talking points after qualifying for tomorrow’s GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma.

Castroneves and Montoya were judged to have shortcut the course on their fastest runs. It meant Montoya didn’t escape Q1, while Helio Castroneves, whose infraction came at Turn 9, will start sixth, after setting a time good enough for P2.

Instead, Power will be joined on the front row by Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing’s Josef Newgarden, as the Tennessee native grabbed his third P2 slot of the year. Newgarden, like Power, had looked only so-so through the two practice sessions but their setups came to life on red tires.

Scott Dixon and Ryan Briscoe put two Chip Ganassi Racing cars in the top six, taking third and fifth respectively, while James Hinchcliffe rose above his troubles in practice to grab a solid fourth place.

Hinchcliffe’s championship-contending teammate, by contrast was left languishing in 10th. Ryan Hunter-Reay was fastest this morning, third fastest this afternoon, but couldn’t escape Q2. He will start alongside his teammate, rookie Carlos Munoz, and behind Sebastien Bourdais (KVSH Racing) and Tony Kanaan (Ganassi).

Despite that, he’s in a happier state than another title contender, Schmidt Peterson Motorsports’ Simon Pagenaud who, following his braking problems through practice, could only take P8 in his Q1 group, and will thus roll off in 15th tomorrow.

1. (12) Will Power, Dallara-Chevy, 01:17.4126 (110.912)
2. (67) Josef Newgarden, Dallara-Honda, 01:17.7318 (110.457)
3. (9) Scott Dixon, Dallara-Chevy, 01:17.9044 (110.212)
4. (27) James Hinchcliffe, Dallara-Honda, 01:17.9565 (110.138)
5. (8) Ryan Briscoe, Dallara-Chevy, 01:18.1217 (109.905)
6. (3) Helio Castroneves, Dallara-Chevy, 01:18.8771 (108.853)
7. (11) Sebastien Bourdais, Dallara-Chevy, 01:17.7176 (110.477)
8. (10) Tony Kanaan, Dallara-Chevy, 01:17.7231 (110.469)
9. (34) Carlos Munoz, Dallara-Honda, 01:17.7257 (110.465)
10. (28) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Dallara-Honda, 01:17.7499 (110.431)
11. (83) Charlie Kimball, Dallara-Chevy, 01:17.7532 (110.426)
12. (7) Mikhail Aleshin, Dallara-Honda, 01:18.7700 (109.001)
13. (25) Marco Andretti, Dallara-Honda, 01:18.2681 (109.700)
14. (15) Graham Rahal, Dallara-Honda, 01:18.1249 (109.901)
15. (77) Simon Pagenaud, Dallara-Honda, 01:18.2767 (109.688)
16. (19) Justin Wilson, Dallara-Honda, 01:18.2296 (109.754)
17. (20) Mike Conway, Dallara-Chevy, 01:18.3518 (109.583)
18. (98) Jack Hawksworth, Dallara-Honda, 01:18.2310 (109.752)
19. (2) Juan Pablo Montoya, Dallara-Chevy, 01:18.8102 (108.945)
20. (14) Takuma Sato, Dallara-Honda, 01:18.4104 (109.501)
21. (18) Carlos Huertas, Dallara-Honda, 01:18.9603 (108.738)
22. (17) Sebastian Saavedra, Dallara-Chevy, 01:18.5202 (109.348)