Alex Palou starts his Indianapolis 500 title defense from pole after taking top spot in qualifying

INDIANAPOLIS — 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.

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He’s the only starter on the 33-car starting grid with a qualifying average topping 232.

“We did not have speed like that even on Fast Friday,” said Palou, who celebrated by jumping up and down with team members in his pit stall. “We did tires and tried and tried to get more speed. It was OK, I think we were top five, top six but then there were cars that just had a huge advantage on everyone and then, this morning, we barely made it into the top 12.”

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.

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.

“Very happy, that was the goal — we wanted to be on the front row,” Malukas said. “It feels good. Just took a fantastic job getting the car where we needed it to be, and making me feel comfortable in it. So, yeah, it feels good.”

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.

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“It’s not often that you’re happy with second place, but with some of the challenges everyone faced,” Rossi said, not needing to finish the sentence.

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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