FORT WORTH, Texas – Team Penske swept the first three positions in qualifying this afternoon for the DXC Technology 600 at Texas Motor Speedway, with reigning Verizon IndyCar Series champion Josef Newgarden collecting the Verizon P1 Award for winning the pole position.

Newgarden drove the No. 1 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet to a two-lap average speed of 220.613 mph on the 1.5-mile high-banked oval. It earned Newgarden the fourth pole position of his seven-year career and first on a superspeedway. It’s also the eighth pole at Texas for Team Penske, the most of any team at the track.

DXC TECHNOLOGY 600: Unofficial qualifying results

Simon Pagenaud qualified second in the No. 22 DXC Technology Team Penske Chevrolet, at 220.311 mph. Will Power, who won the 102nd Indianapolis 500 on May 27 and defending Texas race winner, was third at 220.194 mph in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet.

Qualifying took place in sweltering midday conditions, with the track temperature surpassing 130 degrees Fahrenheit.

Twenty-two cars qualified for Saturday night’s race. Schmidt Peterson Motorsports’ Robert Wickens continued his impressive rookie season by qualifying fourth in the No. 6 Lucas Oil SPM Honda (219.561 mph).

Power entered the race weekend as the championship leader, with a five-point advantage over Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon, who qualified seventh on the No. 9 PNC Bank Honda (219.112 mph). Andretti Autosport’s Alexander Rossi is third in points, 11 behind Power, and qualified eighth in the No. 27 NAPA AUTO PARTS Honda (218.894 mph).

A final 60-minute practice is set to begin at 7:15 p.m. ET today and streams live on RaceControl.IndyCar.com, youtube.com/indycar and the INDYCAR Mobile app.

Race coverage on NBCSN and the Advance Auto Parts INDYCAR Radio Network begins at 8 p.m. Saturday. The DXC Technology 600 is the ninth of 17 races on the 2018 Verizon IndyCar Series schedule.