TORONTO – Josef Newgarden waited until the last possible instant to insert himself into the Honda Indy Toronto pole position conversation, winning the Verizon P1 Award on the final lap of qualifying in changing conditions on the temporary street course at Exhibition Place.

Newgarden’s climactic lap of 59.4956 seconds (108.068 mph) in the Firestone Fast Six, the third and final round of knockout qualifying, earned the No. 1 Hitachi Team Penske Chevrolet driver his fourth pole of the season and sixth of his Verizon IndyCar Series career. The reigning Verizon IndyCar Series champion will lead the 23-car field to the green flag in Sunday’s 85-lap race (3 p.m. ET, NBCSN and Advance Auto Parts INDYCAR Radio Network).

HONDA INDY TORONTO: Unofficial qualifying results

Scott Dixon, the championship leader heading into the race weekend, qualified second in the No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, at 59.6920 seconds (107.713 mph). Dixon paced two of the three practices this weekend and was fastest in his first two qualifying rounds – including setting a lap record for the current track configuration, 58.5546 seconds (109.805 mph), in Round 2. It eclipsed the record set last year by Simon Pagenaud (59.9124 seconds).

Pagenaud qualified third on Saturday in the No. 22 DXC Technology Team Penske Chevrolet, with a lap of 59.7630 seconds (107.585 mph), with teammate Will Power fourth in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet (59.8818, 107.372 mph).

Andretti Autosport teammates Alexander Rossi and Ryan Hunter-Reay will start in Row 3 on Sunday. Rossi qualified the No. 27 NAPA AUTO PARTS Honda fifth (1:00.6273), with Hunter-Reay sixth in the No. 28 DHL Honda (1:00.6615).

Hometown favorites and Schmidt Peterson teammates James Hinchcliffe and Robert Wickens qualified ninth and 10th, respectively. Conor Daly, driving in his only race this season other than the Indianapolis 500 in May, qualified the No. 88 Harding Group Chevrolet 11th.

Rain dampened the 11-turn, 1.786-mile temporary street circuit moments before qualifying began, forcing the first group of drivers in Round 1 to use Firestone wet-condition tires in their session. The track was mostly dry by the time the second group went out for its 10-minute session, with participants relying on the dry-condition tires to set their best times.

Light rain returned just before the Firestone Fast Six but the drivers opted to use dry-condition tires throughout the six-minute session and benefited when the moisture subsided and track conditions improved at the end, allowing Newgarden – the defending Honda Indy Toronto winner – to capture the pole on the last lap.