Simon Pagenaud wins pole for IndyCar race at Toronto

TORONTO (AP) — Indianapolis 500 winner Simon Pagenaud will start from the pole for the IndyCar race through the streets of Toronto.

Pagenaud has been on a tear around Exhibition Place all weekend as Team Penske Chevrolet has been consistently fast and paced Saturday morning’s final practice before qualifying. Then he took pole, edging out reigning series champion Scott Dixon for the top starting spot in Sunday’s race.

Dixon later said he’s been bothered almost a month with an elbow issue that is causing him discomfort while driving.

Dixon teammate Felix Rosenqvist qualified third for Chip Ganassi Racing, followed by Indy 500 runner-up Alexander Rossi for Andretti Autosport as Honda drivers took spots two through four.

The day got off to an explosive start when Takuma Sato confronted Sebastien Bourdais following the morning practice session. Bourdais was still in his cockpit when Sato approached and appeared to grab the Frenchman, Bourdais climbed out of his car throwing haymakers and a team representative tried to separate the two drivers. But the scuffle continued another few seconds and Bourdais said later Sato seemed to overreact to an on-track pass.