By Kirby Arnold, Special Contributor
INDIANAPOLIS – Alex Palou wasn’t the fastest Sunday in the early rounds of qualifying for the Indianapolis 500. A challenging racing surface on a hot afternoon, plus a late draw that sent him out 31st of the 33 entries when qualifying began, put him in survival mode just to advance into the later rounds.
But when Palou rolled out during the money laps that would determine the pole winner for next Sunday’s race, he showed what made him a four-time NTT IndyCar Series champion and reigning winner of the 500.
His last run in the Firestone Fast Six was his best drive of the day in his Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, rolling off a four-lap average speed of 232.248 mph.
Meyer Shank Racing’s Felix Rosenqvist, fastest in the early rounds, was more than 1 mph slower on his first lap in the Fast Six and never a threat to Palou. He wound up fourth of the six at 231.375.
Alexander Rossi, who won the 500 in 2016, will start second after a strong run – 231.990 – in his Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet.
David Malukas (231.877) will start on the outside of Row 1, giving Team Penske its 50th front-row start in the 500. Rosenqvist will start on the inside of Row 2, with A.J. Foyt Racing’s Santino Ferrucci (230.846) in the middle and Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward (230.442) on the outside.
This is Palou’s second Indy 500 pole (he also won it in 2023) and he became the first defending race champion to win the pole the following year since Helio Castroneves in 2010.
“We went very, very aggressive to try and get the pole,” Palou said of his team’s setup for each of the three qualifying rounds.
It was a necessary approach.
When he rolled off 31st in the opening round, the track temperature was about 15 degrees warmer than when the first cars went out, and a strong run was paramount if he hoped to advance. His speed in the first round, 231.155, was 11th fastest of the 12 who moved on to the second round. Those who didn’t advance to the top 12 were finished for the day and will start the race according to their speed.
Several heavy hitters will start deep in the field after disappointing runs in the first round, including two-time winner Josef Newgarden, whose 230.667 was 24th fastest. Marcus Ericsson (230.667) will start 18th, Will Power (230.279) 20th, Kyle Kirkwood (229.607) 26th and Graham Rahal (229.017) 30th.
Palou was in danger of joining that group in the early qualifying.
“Getting into the Fast 12, we didn’t have any margin, and we did everything (to the car),” Palou said. “So it made us work on those conditions. For us, qualifying just got better and faster, and for everybody else it just got slower and greasier. We saw a lot more mistakes or just people not being able to be flat out.”
It’s Palou’s 15th career pole and fourth on an oval track, and Chip Ganassi Racing’s ninth in the 500.
“It’s incredible, but it’s totally different to the race,” Palou said. “That doesn’t guarantee us having an easier race. It guarantees us to have the best view heading into the first corner, but that’s about it.”
With 33 entries this year, every car was guaranteed a spot in the 500. That didn’t make qualifying any easier, especially with temperatures Sunday in the mid-80s and wind that strengthened later in the afternoon.
“It was brutal,” Malukas said. “I mean, you come out of turn four and you get the headwind and it pins the nose down and the car’s all over the place. Then you try to come out of turn two and it just feels good, and then all of a sudden you lose the front. Now it feels like you’re going into the wall.”
Nobody has crashed since practice on the oval began on Tuesday. The only thing close to a blemish occurred in Sunday morning’s practice when Takuma Sato white-walled his right rear tire when his car brushed the wall.
“It’s no easier, I can promise you that,” Rossi said. “This was one of the harder qualifying days I’ve had around here.”
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