{"id":594,"date":"2026-05-18T07:33:14","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T07:33:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=594"},"modified":"2026-05-18T07:33:14","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T07:33:14","slug":"alex-palou-starts-his-indianapolis-500-title-defense-from-pole-after-taking-top-spot-in-qualifying","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=594","title":{"rendered":"Alex Palou starts his Indianapolis 500 title defense from pole after taking top spot in qualifying"},"content":{"rendered":"
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INDIANAPOLIS \u2014 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\u2019s the first defending champion to claim the No. 1 starting spot since 2010.<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more Thunder\u2019s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander becomes 14th player to win back-to-back NBA MVPs<\/a><\/p>\n

He\u2019s the only starter on the 33-car starting grid with a qualifying average topping 232. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe did not have speed like that even on Fast Friday,\u201d said Palou, who celebrated by jumping up and down with team members in his pit stall. \u201cWe 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.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Alex Palou stays inevitable \ud83e\udd2f pic.twitter.com\/qAZ8u4OHcU<\/p>\n

\u2014 NTT INDYCAR SERIES (@IndyCar) May 17, 2026<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Alexander Rossi will start a career-best second after going 231.990. He\u2019ll start between Palou and Team Penske driver David Malukas on the front row in next Sunday\u2019s sold-out race. Malukas went 231.877.<\/span><\/p>\n

Felix Rosenqvist was in position to become Indy\u2019s 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.<\/span><\/p>\n

Alexander Rossi will start a career-best second after going 231.990. He\u2019ll start between Palou and Team Penske driver David Malukas on the front row in next Sunday\u2019s sold-out race. Malukas went 231.877.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cVery happy, that was the goal \u2014 we wanted to be on the front row,\u201d Malukas said. \u201cIt 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.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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 \u2014 winning three of IndyCar\u2019s 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.<\/span><\/p>\n

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ALEX PALOU FINDS THE SPEED FOR POLE AT INDY! pic.twitter.com\/MMxbbVDrgh<\/p>\n

\u2014 NTT INDYCAR SERIES (@IndyCar) May 17, 2026<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Rossi is on Indy\u2019s 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.<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more Topsy-turvy Sabres-Canadiens series to be decided with Monday\u2019s Game 7 in Buffalo<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not often that you\u2019re happy with second place, but with some of the challenges everyone faced,\u201d Rossi said, not needing to finish the sentence.<\/span><\/p>\n

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.<\/span><\/p>\n

Katherine Legge cleared the initial step in trying to complete racing\u2019s \u201cdouble\u201d by qualifying 27th. She\u2019s also hoping to qualify for next weekend\u2019s Coca-Cola 600. She\u2019s trying to become the first female to attempt the one-day, 1,100-mile marathon in Indianapolis and Charlotte.<\/span><\/p>\n

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.<\/span><\/p>\n

But it was much tougher for two-time Indy winner Josef Newgarden and Kyle Kirkwood, who trails only Palou in this season\u2019s points chase.<\/span><\/p>\n

Newgarden was the only Team Penske driver to miss the shootout and wound up qualifying 24th with a 230.165. It\u2019s still better than starting 32nd as he did in last year\u2019s 500 following a penalty that sent two Penske drivers to the back of the field. <\/span><\/p>\n

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.<\/span><\/p>\n

Race organizers revised the schedule after heavy rain washed out the first scheduled qualification day \u2014 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. <\/span><\/p>\n

Read more Tabor captures its first ISL boys\u2019 lacrosse championship, holding off St. Sebastian\u2019s<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The four-time IndyCar champion is the first defending Indy 500 winner to claim the No. 1 starting spot since 2010.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":593,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-594","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sport"],"yoast_head":"\nAlex Palou starts his Indianapolis 500 title defense from pole after taking top spot in qualifying - Boston Relocation Insider<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=594\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Alex Palou starts his Indianapolis 500 title defense from pole after taking top spot in qualifying - 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