Alex Palou – Indianapolis 500 Qualification. Photo by John Cote

By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio

INDYCAR superstar Alex Palou completed a four-lap/10-mile qualifying run around the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway Saturday afternoon…and took the rest of the day off.

Just another day in the Dallara cockpit for Palou, the three-time/reigning NTT IndyCar Series champion who will chase his second career Indianapolis 500 pole during Day 2 of PPG Presents Armed Forces Qualifying Sunday afternoon.

Palou, winner of four of the season’s first five races, drove to P1 on the opening day of time trials for the 109th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge on May 25. Palou posted a four-lap average speed of 233.043 mph during his lone qualifying attempt in the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, and then watched his peers give chase.

SEE: Qualifying Results | Qualifying Format

Palou’s sole attempt began at 1 p.m. (EDT), two hours after qualifying opened on the famed oval with air temperatures around 70 degrees and track temperatures around 100 degrees _ approximately 20 and 35 degrees cooler, respectively, than Fast Friday presented by Turtle Wax practice. Wind speeds picked up to 15-20 mph, with gusts exceeding 30 mph while the wind direction shifted from the south to the west.

“It’s tough conditions out there,” said Palou, the unflappable 28-year-old native of Spain. “Yesterday it was with the temperature; today it was with the wind. The car has been really good. We were struggling this morning (in practice). I was unable to finish a four-lap (qualifying simulation) run. Now we were able to finish it quite strongly.

“Super-happy. I don’t know if there’s more (speed in the car), but there’s always more. The line between more and too much is very thin here at IMS. We’ll see what we have for tomorrow.”

Speeds soared Saturday as the twin-turbocharged Chevrolet and Honda V-6 engines that power the field produced approximately 100 more horsepower via increased boost levels _ a rule change that also will be in effect on Sunday.

Palou and the 11 other fastest drivers methodically working through nearly six hours of time trials will participate in Top 12 Qualifying at 4:05 p.m. (EDT) Sunday, which will whittle the field to the Firestone Fast Six that will compete for the NTT P1 Award at 6:25 p.m.

In between those sessions, Rinus VeeKay of The Netherlands and Jacob Abel of Dale Coyne Racing, Marcus Armstrong of Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb-Agajanian and 2020 Indy 500 pole-sitter Marco Andretti of Andretti Herta w/Marco & Curb-Agajanian will compete for the three final spots in the traditional 33-car starting field in Last Chance Qualifying from 5:15-6:15 p.m.

FOX Sports, the FOX Sports app and the INDYCAR Radio Network will broadcast all three qualifying sessions live.

Practice for the Top 12 will take place from 1-2 p.m., with a final practice for the Last Chance Qualifiers from 2-3 p.m. Both sessions will be carried by FS2, FOX Sports app and the INDYCAR Radio Network.

Palou began his Month of May with a dominant victory in last Saturday’s Sonsio Grand Prix on the 2.439-mile/14-turn IMS Road-Course from pole position. While Palou has secured two consecutive championships, he has yet to win an INDYCAR oval-track race _ the only shiny object missing from Alex’s otherwise brilliant resume.

Palou is the first driver since Frenchman Sebastien Bourdais in 2006 to win four of the season’s first five races. Palou’s early-season report card features straight A’s _four victories (Streets of St. Pete, Thermal Club in California, Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Ala., and the IMS Road-Course) and one second-place finish (Streets of Long Beach).

Palou’s average finish of 1.2 through five events is the best start to a season since INDYCAR icon A.J. Foyt Jr. won the first seven races of the 1964 schedule during the front-engine roadster era. “Super Tex” scored the second of his eventual record-setting four Indy 500s on May 30, 1964 in the No. 1 Sheraton-Thompson Watson/Offy.

Palou, the Indy 500 pole-winner in 2023, will be joined in a Top 12 Qualifying scramble that includes 2024 pole-winner Scott McLaughlin of Team Penske, second Saturday at 233.013 mph.

McLaughlin is wheeling the No. 3 Pennzoil Team Penske Chevrolet _ latest iteration of the famed “Yellow Submarine” No. 4 Pennzoil Chaparral/Cosworth fielded by Jim Hall of Midland, Texas, and driven to victory in the 64th edition of the Indy 500 by Johnny Rutherford of Fort Worth, Texas, on May 25, 1980.

“I’m really proud of the guys, the Pennzoil ‘Yellow Submarine’ and Team Chevy,” said McLaughlin, a 32-year-old native of New Zealand. “This car’s good and we can definitely run for pole tomorrow. It’s good in race trim. But I tell you, it’s my fifth one of these and it just does not get any easier. It’s just like, I was nearly sick. I was nearly sick before the run.”

Third overall was two-time/reigning Indy 500 winner Josef Newgarden of Team Penske at 233.004 mph. Newgarden is seeking to become the first driver to win “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” three consecutive years.

“This team has done a good job. I thought it was really solid car,” said Newgarden, driver of the No. 2 Shell V-Power NiTRO+ Team Penske Chevrolet. “The conditions were pretty nice to me. It seems like the track (temperature) came down there with the clouds and the wind was lower, but gusty. Some corners it feels totally fine, some corners it makes you feel like you’re going to fly. But a good first run. Hopefully we can fight tomorrow.”

Pato O’Ward was solid in fourth at 232.820 mph in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet. “That’s what we wanted _ we wanted four very consistent laps, and in terms of consistency, that’s hard to beat,” said O’Ward, a native of Mexico with family ties to San Antonio, Texas. “We didn’t feel the need to practice this morning. The car was dialed-in. I was happy with it. I was playing around with my tools, giving me a big enough window to play in. I’ve got to give it to the guys and gals at Arrow McLaren and Team Chevy. We’ll see what we can make happen (today).”

Native New Zealander Scott Dixon, the 2008 Indy 500 winner and six-time series champion, was fifth at 232.659 mph in the No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda.

Rookie Robert Shwartzman of PREMA Racing placed himself squarely among the usual suspects in sixth with a lap he basically described as “crazy-fast” at 232.584 mph.

“Honestly, I was quite nervous before the run, wondering how it was going to be feeling,” said Shwartzman, a 25-year-old of Russian-Israeli descent. “It’s quite cooler today and we haven’t driven in these conditions. Everything is new to me, so I was like, ‘Woah, woah, woah! How is it going to be?’ Then, I was like, ‘It’s one chance, it’s my first qualifying, and I just have to go for it.’ I just floored it and went flat. The first two laps were really good, the car was hanging on and it was really fast. From Lap 3, it started to have a bit of a deg (tire degradation) on the rears and the car started to move, so the last two laps were on the edge. I was trying to hold onto it and I was really happy I managed to finish my qually run.

“I know I could have done an even faster lap time, but for my first time, I didn’t know how to react to these changes. Overall, I’m really happy. The emotions in the car…how fast it goes and how you’re playing it on the limit at 240 mph. That’s crazy. It’s a new experience.”

Native Chicagoan David Malukas led the two-car contingent from Waller, Texas-based A.J. Foyt Racing in seventh at 232.546 mph in seventh.

“What a morning!,” said Malukas, driver of the No. 4 Clarience Technologies Chevrolet. “With the timing of when we were going out, we were kind of on the crest of the wind picking up. And then we had the yellow and the delay and, obviously, we didn’t have the car set for those conditions. The wind picked up on that run. And I’m just gonna say that was the toughest, toughest four laps I’ve had to do here since I’ve driven here. I mean, it’s been a short time. It’s only my third year but, that was very, very difficult. (Turns) 1 and 2 were treacherous, but this team has built an incredible car.

“I mean, it all comes down to the cars at these speeds. These are the best drivers in the world so anybody can drive. And when it comes down to these qualifying days, a lot of it is on the team, and they’ve built an incredible car to withstand those tough conditions _ and we stayed flat. I think out of that run that we had to do, that is damn near the best.”

Sweden’s Felix Rosenqvist of Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb-Agajanian was eighth at 232.449 mph in the No. 60 SiriusXM Honda. “Qualifying went pretty good for us, but bit of a tough day for the team,” said Rosenqvist, alluding to the early morning crash involving teammate Marcus Armstrong of New Zealand. “A lot of work by everyone in the garage and we were all a little nervy today with the tricky conditions. But we did a good job and I think the car is quite a bit quicker than P8. So, I’m pretty excited to go back tomorrow with a new attempt and see if we can get on the front row.”

Two-time Indy 500 winner Takuma Sato of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing placed ninth at 232.415 mph.

“We almost lost confidence and kind of panicked,” said Sato, driver of the No. 75 AMADA Honda. “The practice session in the morning kind of indicated that the car had a balance issue that we really needed to fix and there was no more practice and we had to go straight into qualifying. I’m really proud of the No. 75 crew and engineers that made this happen. I’m so happy, so relieved that it was a strong run.

“Now we built up confidence and the second attempt was another great run where we saw that the potential speed was there. I had to lift on the last two laps but I think we had a good data so it was a productive day. Huge congrats to the whole team for being able to qualifying for the top-12 on Sunday. It was great teamwork. The first time I was able to do four laps flat (on the power) was my four laps in qualifying. I wasn’t able to do so on Fast Friday and this morning it was virtually impossible, so I lost confidence, but this is the name of the sport. You really need to build character and have a supportive group around you. I had to nail it and they gave me a good car to do so. I am very proud of the team.”

A 48-year-old native of Tokyo, Sato started 10^th in his 15^th Indy 500 last May, and sixth with RLLR. “Taku” finished 14^th in last year’s race.

Will Power, the 2018 Indy 500 champion, was 10^th at 232.144 mph in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet. Power, a 44-year-old native of Australia and two-time series champion, may be racing for his future as he is in the final year of his contract with the team owned by Roger S. Penske.

Sweden’s Marcus Ericsson, the 2022 Indy 500 champion, was 11^th at 232.132 mph in the No. 28 Allegra Honda fielded by Andretti Global.

The 12^th and final pole contender is Denmark’s Christian Lundgaard, who ran 231.809 mph in the No. 7 VELO Arrow McLaren Chevrolet.

“It was a good day,” Lundgaard said. “I think we started a bit on the back foot, but we had a very good second run which got us into the Fast 12 for Sunday. I’m very happy and think we can carry that momentum into tomorrow. We’ll see if we can find some speed in the car and make tomorrow interesting.”

Seventy-three qualifying attempts were run on a hectic Saturday of track activity, none more frantic perhaps than Indiana native Conor Daly’s last-chance effort to earn a spot in Top 12 Qualifying. A native of Noblesville, Ind., Daly rolled his No. 76 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet onto the track at 5:46 p.m. as the last driver eligible to run before the session ended. Daly already had qualified 21st but was attempting to improve his speed and earn a spot in the top-12 that get a shot at the NTT P1 Award.

Daly was fast enough to secure the 12th and final spot after three laps, but slowed on the last trip around the historic oval to end up 13th with a four-lap average of 231.725 _ just 0.0564-seconds short after 10 miles at top speed.

“I really wanted to get into that Fast 12,” said Daly, the son of former Formula One and INDYCAR driver Derek Daly. “I investigated holding sixth gear through Turn 1 and 2, and it worked for those middle two laps. But I didn’t get the weight jacker back in time for Turn 1 on the last lap. Literally, the team deserves to be in the Fast 12. I made the mistake of trying to push it too much and not getting the weight jacker back in time. Just got a little bit tight in (Turns) 1 and 2.”

Santino Ferrucci will be driving the No. 14 Homes For Our Troops Chevrolet for A.J. Foyt Racing. Photo courtesy of A.J. Foyt Racing

Dallas resident Santino Ferrucci is locked-into the 17^th slot after his best four-lap effort at 231.593 mph in the No. 14 Homes For Our Troops Chevrolet fielded by A.J. Foyt Racing. On his first of what would be three qualifying runs, Ferrucci posted a four-lap average of 230.837mph for 10th on the grid. He hopped out of the car and knew he would be going out later in the day.

By the time all 34 drivers had made their first runs and several drivers made second runs, Ferrucci had slipped to 19th. He went out to make a second run and averaged 231.593 mph which put him 13th, just missing the Fast 12. Once again, he knew he would be making another attempt.

Ferrucci’s third attempt was cut short when a gust of wind hit his car in Turn 2; he lost the front end and the car nearly hit the wall. With that second lap in the 228 mph range, the team knew it was now a lost cause and the run was aborted.

“Obviously we’ve been very behind all month,” Ferrucci said. “Catching up on the car today, honestly, we’re finding such a great balance on being able to enter in super-strong, get the car to the apex, find confidence in my lines. And just to be honest with you, our luck has been so bad, I don’t even know how to explain it. And I get it all the way down to the apex in (Turn) 2 on Lap 1, and sticks. Get it down to the apex in Lap 2, and it takes off. I caught a gust of wind, and it just pushed the car off the line. There’s literally nothing I can do. The car was good. It’s just bad luck.”

Four-time Indy 500 champion Helio Castroneves was 24th overall at 230.978 mph in his one-off bid in the No. 06 Cleveland-Cliffs Honda fielded by Meyer Shank Racing. The popular Brazilian won the 2021 Indy 500 with MSR to join the exclusive Four-Timers Club featuring Houston native Foyt, Al Unser and Rick Mears. Castroneves, 50, won his first three Indy 500s with Team Penske.

“Definitely an interesting day for us,” Castroneves said. “However, the team did a great job to find a lot of the issues we had and we were able to execute. Unfortunately, was a little late in the day for us to keep trying to improve, so we have to start in a position we were not expecting. But we have a really good race car and can do well next weekend.”

There was further drama under partly cloudy skies. Andretti, grandson of 1969 Indy 500 winner Mario Andretti, made four attempts in a one-off bid to earn his 20th Indy 500 start but fell short. The son of former INDYCAR champion Michael Andretti, Marco will compete for a spot in the 11^th and last row on Sunday.

Graham Rahal, who struggled with car handling all week, was the final driver to earn a guaranteed spot. He qualified 30th at 229.863 mph in the No. 15 United Rentals Honda fielded by Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing on his second attempt, at 3:27 p.m. Graham then dealt with an agonizing wait of nearly two and one-half hours to see if his speed would keep him in the field.

“This day didn’t start off well, but we found a lot and we improved a lot as this day went on,” said Rahal, the son of team-owner and 1986 Indy 500 champion Bobby Rahal. “Our guys kept our cool today and head’s down. That beer’s going to taste good tonight. I was praying all day somehow this would happen.”

Two drivers had mixed results after big crashes earlier in the day. Colton Herta qualified 29th at 230.192 mph after hitting the SAFER Barrier and flipping upside down in Turn 1 on his first attempt at 12:05 p.m., making secondary contact in Turn 2. The Andretti Global team thrashed to prepare what remained of the No. 26 Gainbridge Honda, and Colton bravely made the show at 4:45 p.m. without recording a practice lap.

Armstrong hit the SAFER Barrier heavily in Turn 1 during pre-qualifying practice Saturday morning in the No. 66 SiriusXM/Root Insurance Honda, which was damaged beyond immediate repair. The Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb-Agajanian crew hustled to convert a road-course car into an oval car in Gasoline Alley, but Armstrong wasn’t fast enough in two attempts in the final 55 minutes and will try to gain a starting spot in Row 11 on Sunday.

“It was a rather large hit but I’m OK,” said Armstrong, a 24-year-old native of Christchurch, N.Z. “One of my first reactions when I got to the medical unit was that I’m ready to go flat into Turn 1 again. We have fast cars and I’m looking forward to the race. Massive credit to the MSR crew for putting the car together so quickly. We made our two attempts, the first one we didn’t have telemetry and the second we went out with the same exact setup. I said, ‘If the car is good enough to do it, then I’m not going to be the reason we can’t.’^”

Kyle Larson, the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion, qualified 21st at 231.326 mph in the No. 17 HendrickCars.com Arrow McLaren Chevrolet. The 2024 Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year, Larson is again attempting to complete “The Double” of competing in the Indy 500 and NASCAR’s Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C., on Sunday, May 25. Larson drives the No. 5 Chevrolet fielded by Hendrick Motorsports in Cup.

“After the first run, I was a bit nervous that I might be one of the guys battling for the final spots,” Larson said. “Obviously, we’d love to be in the Fast 12 again, but overall a good day with two runs in. I felt pretty balanced, but that comes with a compromise of a bit of speed. I had a bad restart last year and fell back toward this starting position, and we were able to fight our way forward. We’ll be ready to execute some good laps and have a good result.”

Broadcast coverage of the 109th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge will begin at 10 a.m. (EDT) on FOX Sports, FOX Deportes, the FOX Sports app and INDYCAR Radio Network.

NTT IndyCar Series Point Standings _ 1, Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing, 248; 2, Kyle Kirkwood, Andretti Global, 151; 3, Christian Lundgaard, Arrow McLaren, 150; 4, Pato O’Ward, Arrow McLaren, 148; 5, Scott McLaughlin, Team Penske, 137; 6, Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing, 134; 7, Will Power, Team Penske, 128; 8, Felix Rosenqvist, Meyer Shank Racing, 125; 9, Colton Herta, Andretti Global, 104; 10, Rinus VeeKay, Dale Coyne Racing, 100;

11, Alexander Rossi, Ed Carpenter Racing, 98; 12, Josef Newgarden, Team Penske, 96; 13, Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 92; 14, Marcus Armstrong, Meyer Shank Racing, 91; 15, Santino Ferrucci, A.J. Foyt Racing, 73; 16, Marcus Ericsson, Andretti Global, 70; 17, Christian Rasmussen, Ed Carpenter Racing, 66; 18, Nolan Siegel, Arrow McLaren, 65; 19, David Malukas, A.J. Foyt Racing, 63; 20, Kyffin Simpson, Chip Ganassi Racing, 62;

21, Conor Daly, Juncos Hollinger Racing, 58; 22, Sting Ray Robb, Juncos Hollinger Racing, 56; 23, Louis Foster, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 49; 24, Robert Shwartzman, Prema Racing, 47; 25, Devlin DeFrancesco, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 44; 26, Callum Ilott, Prema Racing, 32; 27, Jacob Abel, Dale Coyne Racing, 28.

FOX SPORTS’ 2025 NTT INDYCAR SERIES BROADCAST COVERAGE SCHEDULE

Sunday, March 2 _ Streets of St. Petersburg, Fla. (Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing)

Sunday, March 23 _The Thermal Club, Thermal, Calif.  (Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing)

Sunday, April 13 _ Streets of Long Beach, Calif. (Kyle Kirkwood, Andretti Global)

Sunday, May 4 _ Barber Motorsports Park, Birmingham, Ala. (Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing)

Saturday, May 10 _ Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road-Course (Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing)

Sunday, May 25 _ Indianapolis Motor Speedway Oval (FOX, 10 a.m.)

Sunday, June 1 _ Streets of Detroit (FOX, 12:30 p.m.)

Sunday, June 15 _ World Wide Technology Raceway, Madison, Ill. (FOX, 3 p.m.)

Sunday, June 22 _ Road America, Elkhart Lake, Wis. (FOX, 3:30 p.m.)

Sunday, July 6 _ Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Lexington (FOX, 2 p.m.)

Saturday, July 12 _ Iowa Speedway, Newton, Race 1 (FOX, 5 p.m.)

Sunday, July 13 _ Iowa Speedway, Newton, Race 2 (FOX, 2 p.m.)

Sunday, July 20 _ Streets of Toronto, Canada (FOX, 2 p.m.)

Sunday, July 27 _ WeatherTech Raceway, Laguna Seca, Monterey, Calif. (FOX, 3 p.m.)

Sunday, Aug. 10 _ Portland (Ore.) International Raceway (FOX, 3 p.m.)

Sunday, Aug. 24 _ The Milwaukee Mile, West Allis, Wis. (FOX, 2 p.m.)

Sunday, Aug. 31 _ Nashville Superspeedway, Lebanon, Tenn. (2:30 p.m.)

NOTE _ All times Eastern. Dates and times subject to change.