Palou wins pole position in a record-breaking Indy 500 qualifying shootout

Alex Palou will start from pole position in the 107th Indianapolis 500, heading up a record-setting front row and the fastest field of 33 cars in the history of the event.

Palou’s four-lap average speed was recorded at 234.217 miles per hour – which equals 376.935 kilometres per hour. The 2021 IndyCar Series champion, who finished second in the 500 that year, was the third driver to go out during the Fast Six qualifying session after he went only fourth-fastest in the preceding Top 12 qualifying runs earlier that afternoon.

But Palou set the tempo early and emphatically, his first lap averaging 235.131 mph. His pace tailed off somewhat over the following three laps but it was enough to put him on provisional pole after Pato O’Ward and Scott Dixon went out for their runs.

His closest competition for the top spot ended up being Ed Carpenter Racing’s Rinus VeeKay, who was just 0.006 mph – or four milliseconds – short of surpassing Palou at 234.211 miles per hour.

Santino Ferrucci and Felix Rosenqvist weren’t able to dislodge Palou from the top spot on their runs, and Palou raised his arms skyward in celebration after winning pole position.

That’s the third straight Indy 500 pole for Chip Ganassi Racing after Dixon won the pole in 2021 and 2022 – the latter of which was won ahead of Palou. VeeKay will start on the front row for the third consecutive Indy 500, and a second-place starting position was a great effort to complete a day which began with his #21 car suffering a blown header in the morning’s practice session.

Rosenqvist, who was fastest yesterday, and fastest earlier today in the Top 12 qualifying session, settled for third place with a run of 234.114 mph – but it’s also his first front-row start at the 500.

The trio of Palou, VeeKay, and Rosenqvist all surpassed the previous record for the fastest pole position qualifying run in Indianapolis Motor Speedway history, which was 234.046 set by Dixon last year. Dixon had surpassed the pole record of the late Scott Brayton, who should have started up front in 1996 before he lost his life in a practice accident just six days after winning the pole.

Arie Luyendyk’s all-time record run of 236.986 mph / 381.392 kmh, set on the second day of time trials in ’96 under a different qualifying format, remains intact.

Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free

Palou will try to be the first Indy 500 pole winner to convert their run into a win in IndyCar’s crown jewel event since Simon Pagenaud in 2019.

Ferrucci qualified fourth for the long-beleaguered AJ Foyt Racing, who’s suddenly found real speed out of their two cars. O’Ward ended up fifth, matching his car number, and Dixon, the 2008 Indy 500 race winner who’s spent the last 15 years desperately searching for a second win, will start sixth.

Three Indianapolis 500 winners will share the third row of the grid, headed by 2016 centenary champion Alexander Rossi starting seventh in car number seven, two-time winner Takuma Sato starting in eighth, and 2013 winner Tony Kanaan, in his 22nd and final run at the Indy 500, starting ninth.

Defending Indianapolis 500 winner Marcus Ericsson will start on the inside of the fourth row, with 2018 race winner and defending IndyCar Series champion Will Power on the outside – and in the middle, the fastest rookie in the field, Benjamin Pedersen in 11th driving the second Foyt car.

All of them will line up ahead of the first-day qualifiers on the fourth through tenth rows, and the three drivers on the 11th row who survived the Last Chance qualifying session on Sunday afternoon. They combined to qualify at an average speed of 232.184 miles per hour – resetting the record for the fastest Indy 500 field set officially in 2021.

Next Sunday, the 107th Indianapolis 500 will begin. The green flag for the race is scheduled for 12:45 EDT (local time), 17:45 BST.

Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free

Indianapolis 500 qualifying results

Position	Car	Driver	Team	Engine
1	10	Alex Palou	Ganassi	Honda
2	21	Rinus VeeKay	Carpenter	Chevrolet
3	6	Felix Rosenqvist	McLaren	Chevrolet
4	14	Santino Ferrucci	Foyt	Chevrolet
5	5	Pato O’Ward	McLaren	Chevrolet
6	9	Scott Dixon	Ganassi	Honda
7	7	Alexander Rossi	McLaren	Chevrolet
8	11	Takuma Sato	Ganassi	Honda
9	66	Tony Kanaan	McLaren	Chevrolet
10	8	Marcus Ericsson	Ganassi	Honda
11	55	Benjamin Pedersen	Foyt	Chevrolet
12	12	Will Power	Penske	Chevrolet
13	33	Ed Carpenter	Carpenter	Chevrolet
14	3	Scott McLaughlin	Penske	Chevrolet
15	27	Kyle Kirkwood	Andretti	Honda
16	20	Conor Daly	Carpenter	Chevrolet
17	2	Josef Newgarden	Penske	Chevrolet
18	23	Ryan Hunter-Reay	Dreyer & Reinbold	Chevrolet
19	28	Romain Grosjean	Andretti	Honda
20	106	Helio Castroneves	Meyer Shank	Honda
21	26	Colton Herta	Andretti	Honda
22	60	Simon Pagenaud	Meyer Shank	Honda
23	18	David Malukas	Coyne/HMD	Honda
24	98	Marco Andretti	Andretti	Honda
25	24	Stefan Wilson	DRR/Cusick	Chevrolet
26	29	Devlin DeFrancesco	Andretti	Honda
27	78	Agustin Canapino	Juncos Hollinger	Chevrolet
28	77	Callum Ilott	Juncos Hollinger	Chevrolet
29	50	RC Enerson	Abel	Chevrolet
30	44	Katherine Legge	RLL	Honda
31	45	Christian Lundgaard	RLL	Honda
32	51	Sting Ray Robb	Coyne/RWR	Honda
33	30	Jack Harvey	RLL	Honda

Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free

IndyCar

• Andretti confirms he’s stepping down in charge of racing team
• Ilott gets first seat in Prema’s new IndyCar team
• Palou clinches third IndyCar title as Herta passes O’Ward to win finale
• Kirkwood takes pole for finale, Palou only 24th after penalty
• Ferrucci secures second Foyt IndyCar seat for 2025 alongside Malukas

Browse all IndyCar articles