Munoz, Honda Take Pole in Texas Qualifying
• Career-first pole for Munoz
• Second consecutive super speedway pole for Honda
• Sato, Indy-winner Rossi, Hinchcliffe all complete top-10 qualifying runs

After finishing a close second two weeks ago at the Indianapolis 500, Carlos Munoz posted a two-lap average speed of 217.137 mph to score his first Verizon IndyCar Series pole Friday at Texas Motor Speedway. It is Honda’s second consecutive Indy car superspeedway pole of 2016, as James Hinchcliffe took the pole last month for the Indianapolis 500, a race won by fellow Honda driver Alexander Rossi.

Takuma Sato will start Saturday night’s 600-kilometer race from the outside of the second row, fourth, after a tie-breaker with third-place Helio Castoneves was settled by a one-ten thousandth of a second differential in elapsed time. In an identical tie-breaker, Honda drivers Rossi qualified ninth and Hinchcliffe, 10th.

Saturday night’s 248-lap event, the second superspeedway race of 2016, starts at 8 p.m. EDT, with live television coverage on the NBC Sports Network.

Carlos Munoz (#26 Andretti Autosport Honda) pole qualifier, 1st career IndyCar Series pole: “You know, if I’m honest, I didn’t expect to be on the pole, and I didn’t expect to be qualifying at 217. I wasn’t that happy with my car in the first practice session. Conditions out there were tough, the cars were moving around a lot in the heat, and there was a lot of tire degradation. It is really nice to have my first pole, hopefully the first of many, but now we have to focus on night practice and setting up the car for the race tomorrow night. I want to win races.”