05/17/26 06:15:00
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05/17 18:13 CDT Alex Palou starts his Indianapolis 500 title from the pole
after taking the top spot in qualifying
Alex Palou starts his Indianapolis 500 title from the pole after taking the top
spot in qualifying
By MICHAEL MAROT
AP Sports Writer
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) --- Alex Palou had his best qualifying attempt on his final
four-lap run Sunday and took his second career Indianapolis 500 pole with an
average speed of 232.248 mph. He's the first defending champion to claim the
No. 1 starting spot since 2010.
He's the only starter on the 33-car starting grid with a qualifying average
topping 232. Alexander Rossi will start a career-best second after going
231.990. He'll start between Palou and Team Penske driver David Malukas on the
front row in next Sunday's sold-out race. Malukas went 231.877.
Felix Rosenqvist was in position to become Indy's first pole-winner from Sweden
after he posted the fastest averages in the first two rounds of qualifying. But
he finished the third and final round with a 231.375 and will start fourth.
Palou is trying to become the seventh driver in race history to win
back-to-back 500s. The Spaniard with Chip Ganassi Racing has dominated this
season and in recent years --- winning three of IndyCar's first six races this
year and 11 of the last 23 overall, and he leads the series points standings as
he chases a fourth straight series title and the fifth of his career.
Rossi is on Indy's front row for the first time since his second Indy start in
2017. The 2016 race winner has never started higher than third in the 500.
Rosenqvist looked like the favorite to take the top spot after producing an
average of 232.599 on the 11th qualifying attempt of the day, and then after
watching the other 22 drivers fail to bump him out of the No. 1 spot posting
the best average, 232.065 on the final attempt in the semifinal round. But the
Meyer Shank Racing driver who had posted the fastest overall lap and fastest
four-lap average in practice Friday when series officials gave each car a boost
of about 100 horsepower came up just short on his final run on the 2.5-mile
oval.
Katherine Legge cleared the initial step in trying to complete racing's
"double" by qualifying 27th. She's also hoping to qualify for next weekend's
Coca-Cola 600. She's trying to become the first female to attempt the one-day,
1,100-mile marathon in Indianapolis and Charlotte.
Helio Castroneves, the Brazilian driver with Meyer Shank Racing, will start his
quest for a record-breaking fifth Indy win from the No. 15 starting spot, the
outside of Row 5. Indy rookie Mick Schumacher, the son of seven-time world
champion Michael Schumacher, will make his first start from No. 28.
But it was much tougher for two-time Indy winner Josef Newgarden and Kyle
Kirkwood, who trails only Palou in this season's points chase.
Newgarden was the only Team Penske driver to miss the shootout and wound up
qualifying 24th with a 230.165. It's still better than starting 32nd as he did
in last year's 500 following a penalty that sent two Penske drivers to the back
of the field.
Kirkwood and each of his Andretti Global teammates were shut out of the
shootout, too. Marcus Ericsson, the 2022 Indy champ, will start 18th, while
2018 race winner Will Power earned the No. 20 starting spot. Kirkwood is
starting 26th.
Race organizers revised the schedule after heavy rain washed out the first
scheduled qualification day --- the first time since 2008 a full day of Indy
500 qualifications was lost. When drivers returned Sunday, they competed in the
hottest temperatures of the week on a track with less grip than they had in
practice.
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AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing
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