When all the celebrations were over Monday morning on Belle Isle, it was Graham Rahal on the pole for the first Dual in Detroit Race at the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear.
The pole was originally given to Helio Castroneves, who set a qualifying record lap of 1:13.8901. He was celebrating the pole on pit lane when he was informed of a penalty that erased his fastest lap.
Castroneves was penalized for not slowing down for a local yellow flag. His second fastest lap was still good enough to sit on the front row.
That gave the pole to Rahal with a time of 1:13.9681. It was his first pole since 2009.
"I'm used to having to charge from the back," Rahal said of his first pole this year. "Fortunate that he had a penalty, but he'll start next to us."
Rahal said he hopes most of the race on Saturday stays green, meaning he hopes there aren't many caution flags thrown. That way strategy doesn't get involved.
"I think we've found a fairly good balance," Rahal added. "I'm hopeful our race car will be stronger than our qualifying car."
Alexander Rossi qualified third, followed by 2017 Indy 500 winner Takuma Sato, Scott Dixon, Mikhail Aleshin, Simon Pagenaud, Max Chilton and Josef Newgarden.
Dual in Detroit race one from the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix will air at 3:30 p.m. on Channel 7.
