NEWTON, Iowa -- After two years of Will Power pole domination since IndyCar's return to Iowa Speedway in 2022, two new drivers will start out front for Saturday and Sunday's pair of races.

Despite dealing with issues with his Energy Recovery System during his qualifying run -- one of several drivers to complain of an inability to deploy the several seconds of 60 extra horsepower during their two-lap runs -- Colton Herta snagged pole for Race 1 that will kickoff shortly after 8 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. CT Saturday night . The performance marks the 13th pole of his IndyCar career and the first for an oval race.

The Andretti Global driver currently sits 5th in points, but just nine points out of 3rd and 31 out of 2nd as he and the rest of the 27-car field chase down defending champion and current points leader Alex Palou (who starts 3rd Saturday). Among the other championship contenders, 2nd-place Will Power will start 4th; 3rd-place Pato O'Ward starts 6th; and 4th-place Scott Dixon starts 5th.

Joining him on the front row for Saturday night's Race 1 will be Scott McLaughlin, who enters 8th in points -- and more importantly, secured both a pole for Race 2 and a new single-lap track record during his qualifying run Saturday afternoon. Palou will join the Team Penske driver on the front row for Sunday's Race 2, which starts at 12:30 p.m. ET / 11:30 a.m. CT. Dixon (3rd) and Herta (4th), Felix Rosenqvist (5th) and Alexander Rossi (6th) make up the front three rows for the backend of the doubleheader.

Josef Newgarden, the winner of five of the last seven IndyCar races at Iowa Speedway -- including sweeping last year's weekend -- has a lot of ground to make up for both races and will start 22nd Saturday night and 14th Sunday.

Among concerns entering IndyCar's Iowa Speedway weekend are whether the field will manage to rubber-in a second lane in the turns after the NASCAR-owned track underwent a partial repave in the offseason ahead of the stock car series' inaugural visit to the track last month. Though the field started Friday practice with a 30-minute practice of strictly running in the second lane to try and rubber it in, cars struggled to run there towards the end of the day's traditional 90-minute practice session -- leading to a handful of spins in the closing minutes.

Teams are also battling a revamped tire compound from Firestone after the full-field test two weeks ago, in hopes of delivering some more tire degradation that had been a staple of the race and determined stint lengths. Without tire deg, and if cars can't safely and effectively run up high to make passes, the weekend's doubleheader could turn into a pair of processional affairs with passes largely made during pit sequences.

What to know: IndyCar Series at Iowa doubleheader concerts, schedule, TV, streaming, qualifying

IndyCar qualifying results for Race 1 at Iowa Speedway

*Graham Rahal and Kyffin Simpson will both drop nine spots on the starting grid for Saturday night's race due to the team making an unapproved engine change after Mid-Ohio. Below are the qualifying results.

1. Colton Herta

2. Scott McLaughlin

3. Alex Palou

4. Will Power

5. Scott Dixon

6. Pato O'Ward

7. Alexander Rossi

8. Santino Ferrucci

9. Marcus Armstrong

10. Marcus Ericsson

11. Felix Rosenqvist

12. Graham Rahal

13. Linus Lundqvist

14. Rinus VeeKay

15. David Malukas

16. Nolan Siegel

17. Agustin Canapino

18. Pietro Fittipaldi

19. Jack Harvey

20. Kyle Kirkwood

21. Romain Grosjean

22. Josef Newgarden

23. Christian Lundgaard

24. Sting Ray Robb

25. Ed Carpenter

26. Katherine Legge

27. Kyffin Simpson

IndyCar qualifying results for Race 2 at Iowa Speedway

1. Scott McLaughlin

2. Alex Palou

3. Scott Dixon

4. Colton Herta

5. Felix Rosenqvist

6. Alexander Rossi

7. Pato O'Ward

8. Graham Rahal

9. David Malukas

10. Agustin Canapino

11. Nolan Siegel

12. Kyle Kirkwood

13. Linus Lundqvist

14. Josef Newgarden

15. Rinus VeeKay

16. Romain Grosjean

17. Pietro Fittipaldi

18. Jack Harvey

19. Christian Lundgaard

20. Santino Ferrucci

21. Sting Ray Robb

22. Marcus Ericsson

23. Will Power

24. Kyffin Simpson

25. Katherine Legge

26. Marcus Armstrong

27. Ed Carpenter

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Colton Herta, Scott McLaughlin snag poles for IndyCar Iowa races