Indy 500 Qualifying Shootouts: Alex Palou conquers the pole!

– Alex Palou is the polesitter for the 110th running of the 500 Miles of Indianapolis! In the decisive third qualifying segment on Sunday, the Fast-6 shootout, Palou prevailed against his five competitors for the top six starting positions. Thus, the four-time and reigning IndyCar champion, who is also the current points leader, will start from pole position in the season highlight 2026 on the upcoming Sunday (May 24) (schedule, entry list, track data, background, livestream, TV: All information about the Indy 500 of the 2026 IndyCar season)..

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For Palou, this is the second Indy 500 pole after 2023, but one that is somewhat surprising. Because Felix Rosenqvist (Shank-Honda) had won the first two of the total three qualifying segments.

But in the Fast-6 shootout, Palou struck. His four-lap average of 232.248 miles per hour (373.687 km/h), which he set as the penultimate of the six Q3 participants, held up against the four-lap average of the last driver Rosenqvist.

Noteworthy: Including the now completed qualifying, driving activity around this year’s Indy 500 has been continuous since Tuesday, with Saturday completely canceled due to weather. But even in the “only” five days of driving so far, there has not been a single incident, let alone an accident.

Second fastest behind Alex Palou in the six-man final qualifying segment was Alexander Rossi (Carpenter-Chevrolet), followed by David Malukas (Penske-Chevrolet) as third fastest. Thus, a Spaniard and two Americans will start from the front row at this year’s Indy 500. From the second row will start Felix Rosenqvist, Santino Ferrucci (Foyt-Chevrolet), and Patricio “Pato” O’Ward (McLaren-Chevrolet).

Scott Dixon & Co. out in Q2 – Mick Schumacher & Co. out in Q1

Before the Fast-6 shootout in Indianapolis on early Sunday evening, the Top-12 shootout took place late afternoon, in which the 12 fastest drivers from the 33-man Q1 in the early afternoon fought for entry into the final segment with its six participants.

While Felix Rosenqvist was the fastest in both the and after his best time and therefore drove last in the Fast-6 shootout, six drivers failed to advance to the Fast-6 shootout. They are: Kyffin Simpson (Ganassi-Honda), Conor Daly (Dreyer/Reinbold-Chevrolet), Scott McLaughlin (Penske-Chevrolet), Caio Collet (Foyt-Chevrolet), Scott Dixon (Ganassi-Honda), and Rinus VeeKay (Juncos-Chevrolet).

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Simpson, Daly, and McLaughlin will take the starting positions in row 3 on the upcoming Sunday. Collet as the clear fastest rookie, the five-time Indy 500 polesitter Dixon, and finally VeeKay after the first Top-12 entry of the Juncos team ever, will start from the fourth row into the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing”.

Mick Schumacher (Rahal-Honda) was one of the total 21 drivers for whom the nearly three-hour Q1 segment ended immediately. Schumacher will start from 28th place and thus from row 10 in his first Indy 500 on the upcoming Sunday. This makes him the second-best rookie in the starting grid behind Caio Collet (starting position 10) and ahead of Dennis Hauger (starting position 31).

Two more free practice sessions until the race – actually

Now that the qualifying weekend for this year’s Indy 500, shortened from two days to one day due to weather, has been completed, the turbo engines of the 33 IndyCar cars will be downgraded back to the boost pressure of the first three practice days, i.e., to 1.3 instead of 1.5 bar.

With the standard engine configuration and race setup of the cars, the 200-lap distance will be tackled on the upcoming Sunday (May 24). But before that, two free practice sessions are still on the schedule, namely on Monday and Friday.

However, the weather forecast for Monday afternoon is not promising. At the scheduled time of the penultimate practice, rain is expected again according to the current situation (schedule, entry list, track data, background, livestream, TV: All information about the Indy 500 of the 2026 IndyCar season).

Read more Indy 500 Qualifying: Starting position of Mick Schumacher is set