Alex Palou – Freedom 250 Grand Prix of Washington, D.C. – Photo by Joe Skibinski

By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio

INDYCAR’s contribution to America’s 250^th birthday celebration is poised to become another signature moment in the 2026 Summer of Spain.

Alex Palou – Freedom 250 Grand Prix of Washington, D.C. – Photo by Joe Skibinski

Alex Palou zeroed-in on a record-tying fourth consecutive NTT IndyCar Series championship and fifth overall by qualifying on-pole Saturday for the Freedom 250 Grand Prix of Washington, D.C. _ the historic first motor race conducted on the streets of the District of Columbia.

SEE: Qualifying Results 

The Spaniard recorded a single-season best seventh pole and 19th of his mercurial career with a lap of 56.8993-seconds/107.558 mph in the No. 10 OpenAI Chip Ganassi Racing Honda during the single-car/one-lap format of the Firestone Fast Six.

Alex Palou – Freedom 250 Grand Prix of Washington, D.C. – Photo by Joe Skibinski

Palou leads the series standings by a massive 133 points _ a gap of more than two races _ over Kyle Kirkwood of Andretti Global with four events remaining. The point separation between Palou and Kirkwood is the largest margin since 2008. Before this season, the average lead with four races to go since ‘08 was 35.7 points. Palou has absolutely crushed that stat.

So, while nine drivers will start the 147-lap/250-mile event mathematically eligible for the championship, the reality is Palou can clinch with a points advantage of 163 when the checkered flag falls.

Alex Palou – Freedom 250 Grand Prix of Washington, D.C. – (Photo by Travis Hinkle | IMS Photo)

Recall that Spain’s national men’s soccer team claimed FIFA’s World Cup Final with an upset 1-0 extra time victory over reigning champion Argentina on Sunday, July 19, at MetLife Stadium somewhere in the swamps of New Jersey. Ferran Torres tallied the decisive goal in the 106th minute during the second period of extra time.

Palou celebrated that victory in the paddock during a rain-delay at Nashville Superspeedway, then won the rescheduled Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix on the 1.33-mile oval in Lebanon, Tenn., on Monday, July 20.

Alex Palou – Freedom 250 Grand Prix of Washington, D.C. – Photo by James Black

Palou can give his countrymen another reason to party hearty Sunday afternoon. “We just need to win, right? That would be fun,” said Palou, a 29-year-old native of Barcelona, Spain. “I will work for it, absolutely.

“I don’t know if it will be a one-off (event), but if it is hopefully we can win the race and be the first and only INDYCAR winners in Washington, D.C.”

Should he win that fifth title, Palou would stand alone in the domestic open-wheel series record book behind Houston native A.J. Foyt Jr.’s seven titles and native New Zealander Scott Dixon’s six.

Alex Palou – Freedom 250 Grand Prix of Washington, D.C. – Photo by Joe Skibinski

“Such a privilege to be racing here,” said Palou, a six-time winner this season. “Spectacular place, spectacular fans, as well. My car was on rails. Super-fun lap, super-fun car to drive. Couldn’t be happier. Looking forward to (Sunday). Tomorrow is going to be a long day, man, 250 miles.”

Indeed, the 250-miler is the second-longest street race in INDYCAR history, as the 147 laps will evolve over a 1.7-mile/seven-turn temporary circuit winding around the National Mall and past many historic buildings and monuments. Staging of the Freedom 250 has come with a steep $35-million price tag for Penske Entertainment and partner FOX Sports, including approximately $3-million on upgrading and paving downtown D.C. streets to transform them into a smooth and safe street-course.

Extended live television coverage will start at 11:30 a.m. (EDT) on FOX and FOX One, with INDYCAR Radio powered by OnlyBulls also broadcasting live.

Kyle Kirkwood – Freedom 250 Grand Prix of Washington, D.C. – Photo by Joe Skibinski

Palou has won three of five previous street races this season. But Kirkwood _ winner of the inaugural Java House Grand Prix of Arlington, Texas, street race on Sunday, March 15 _ kept his faint title hopes flickering by earning the second spot at 57.4661-seconds/106.498 mph in the No. 27 Sam’s Club Honda of Andretti Global.

Kirkwood led the first two rounds of qualifying and set the new circuit’s lap record in Round 1 with a time of 56.7729-seconds. However, Kirkwood locked-up the front Firestone Firehawk tire on his car under braking in Turn 1 of his Fast Six hot lap. Even without that small bobble, Kirkwood admitted it would have been tough to top Palou.

“P1 both first and second group,” said Kirkwood, a 27-year-old resident of Jupiter, Fla. “And the last one Alex Palou is just a legend and goes faster on his one-lap dash than he did the whole rest of the run, I think. He made us look silly out there.

“But I’m telling you what _ it wasn’t that easy. I thought I put a stellar lap in and he just went six-tenths clear. So, hat’s off to them. But we’ll race them hard.”

Scott McLaughlin – Freedom 250 Grand Prix of Washington, D.C. – Photo by Joe Skibinski

Naturalized American citizen Scott McLaughlin was the quickest Chevrolet-powered driver in qualifying, third at 57.6200-seconds/106.213 mph in the No. 3 PPG Team Penske Chevy sporting a patriotic, stars-and-stripes livery.

“The PPG Chevy felt good, just struggling to get the tires up to temp like some of the cars,” said McLaughlin, a 33-year-old native of New Zealand. “We’ll go to work on that. I think we’re in a good spot for (Sunday). To get Fast Six around here is great. We’ll focus on tomorrow. I think we’ve got a great race car.” It marked the fifth time this season that McLaughlin has advanced to the Fast Six, with four of those coming on street circuits.

Star-crossed Christian Rasmussen produced one of the most impressive performances of the three-round session, ending up a career-best fourth at 57.8892-seconds/105.719 mph in the No. 21 Splenda Stevia Chevrolet of Ed Carpenter Racing.

“It was there from the beginning,” said Rasmussen, a 26-year-old native of Denmark. “We rolled off the truck super-well this weekend. We made a few improvements for the second practice and made a few improvements for qualifying. We improved the car; that’s just the name of the game. We started on the right progression and stepped-up each time, which is very big for us. I’m very happy. Putting the Splenda Stevia Chevy at the right end of the field is exciting and representing these brands well and hopefully have a good race.”

Marcus Armstrong – Freedom 250 Grand Prix of Washington, D.C. – (Photo by Travis Hinkle | IMS Photo)

Marcus Armstrong qualified fifth at 58.8145-seconds/104.056 mph in the Americana-themed No. 66 RE/MAX Honda of Meyer Shank Racing with Curb Agajanian, snapping a drought that saw him line up 20th or worse in three of the last four races.

“The car felt really great in qualifying, which was a nice feeling considering how our morning went,” said Armstrong, a 26-year-old native of New Zealand. “I felt like there was a lot of grip out there. Unfortunately, I hit the wall in the Fast 12 session and then the new tires we put on for the Fast Six just didn’t have enough heat in them to make it happen on the one-lap run. But pretty happy with it; let’s see where we can take it (Sunday).”

David Malukas, third in points, completed the Firestone Fast Six at 1-minute, 10.6709-seconds/86.599 mph in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet. Malukas locked both front tires under braking in Turn 1 and clipped the concrete wall with his right rear wheel, damaging the car’s alignment. He then opted to save the tires, leading to his relative snail’s-pace speed.

“It’s obviously a fantastic show for the fans, but for our car specifically, it’s tough because we always struggle with trying to build (tire) temps up,” said Malukas, a 24-year-old native of Chicago. “So, it’s a tough situation and I made a mistake on the lap. We had a big lock-up. Again, brakes aren’t up to temp and I had a tow link hit, very light, but I didn’t want to put…probably could have finished the lap, but I said, ‘You know what? The Verizon Chevy is in one piece, Fast Six, that’s good enough for tomorrow.’

“We can start there; it’s a long race. But yeah, fantastic shootout. I love it. I love the one-lap shootout, but we have to figure out how to get our temps up and be on the upper end of it.”

Pato O’Ward – Freedom 250 Grand Prix of Washington, D.C. – (Photo by Travis Hinkle | IMS Photo)

Pato O’Ward will start seventh after his lap of 57.3064-seconds/106.794 mph in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet. “It was a long day with a condensed schedule,” said Palou, a 27-year-old native of Mexico with family ties to San Antonio, Texas. “We kept making the car better each session. We’re starting P7 and just missed out on the Firestone Fast Six. Looking forward to the long race. It’s going to be a tough one, so I’m going to make sure I’m well-hydrated.”

Rookie Caio Collet led the two-car effort of Waller, Texas-based A.J. Foyt Racing in 11^th after a best lap of 57.7407-seconds/105.991 mph in the No. 4 Combitrans Amazonia Chevrolet.

“Quite decent. Just couldn’t really extract a lot of lap time in the Fast 12,” said Collet, a 24-year-old native of Brazil. “We need to understand why. We put new tires on and somehow we went a little bit slower. So just trying to analyze that, see what happened. Not a bad place to start _ 11th. So hopefully we can have a clean race.”

Andretti Global’s Marcus Ericsson of Sweden_ winner last Sunday of the inaugural Streets of Markham, Ontario, Canada, race _ failed to advance past the first round and qualified 15th in the No. 28 Acura Honda. Three multiple-series champions _ Andretti Global’s Will Power of Australia (qualified 13th); Chip Ganassi Racing’s Dixon (14th) and Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden (16th) also were eliminated in the first round.

Santino Ferrucci – Freedom 250 Grand Prix of Washington, D.C. – By: Joe Skibinski

Foyt Racing’s Santino Ferrucci will start 22^nd at 57.9615-seconds/105.587 mph in the No. 14 Homes For Our Troops Chevrolet after brushing the wall during his first-round segment. The impact was enough to knock the car’s front toe-in out of line, which wasn’t detected until the crew examined the chassis in the paddock after their session.

Ferrucci changed to a second set of Firestone alternate-compound (red) tires but did not get a chance to improve his time after the red flag came out for another competitor. In addition, INDYCAR officials served Ferrucci with a six-spot grid penalty for an unapproved engine change after the race on the Streets of Markham, placing him at the tail end of the 25-car grid.

“The only positives are that we’re racing in D.C. right now,” said Ferrucci, a 28-year-old resident of Dallas. “I hit the wall on the first set (of tires). Put on the second set but people go off in front of you, and then it goes red, so you just don’t get another lap.  It’s just a terrible situation to be put in, insanely unfortunate.  So, we’ll just see what happens in the race. I need to be able to have a car to drive and not stuff it in the wall. We’ve got a lot of work to do tonight.”

A 30-minute warmup session Sunday at 9:15 a.m. (EDT) will be carried on FS1, FOX One and INDYCAR Radio powered by OnlyBulls starting at 9 a.m.

Chip Ganassi, Palou’s car-owner, said this event is an opportunity to showcase INDYCAR before a new audience on a stage equal to the series’ premier event, the Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

“I think it’s certainly going to put us in front of a different audience, and in the nation’s capital, it’s a great opportunity for INDYCAR,” Ganassi said. “There’s certainly going to be opportunities for the series to be spotlighted, we’ve already seen a little bit of it. I think the important thing is we’re showing with this event that we are not an old dog that you can’t teach new tricks. The series is leaning into some new ideas and new venues, and that’s what the series needs right now. That’s what all sports need.”

Fully-aware of the inherent political dynamics surrounding anything in the nation’s capital, Ganassi stressed the importance of remembering the race is a sporting event meant to entertain fans and provide strong competition for the NTT IndyCar Series.

“I hope it stays a sporting event and doesn’t become something politically charged. That’s not what INDYCAR is about,” Ganassi said. “I’m sure both Republicans and Democrats go to races, so let’s keep the politics out of it. It’s going to be a great race and a great venue and surely a feather in the cap of the people who put it together.”

NTT IndyCar Series Point Standings _ 1, Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing, 542; 2, Kyle Kirkwood, Andretti Global, 409; 3, David Malukas, Team Penske, 405; 4, Christian Lundgaard, Arrow McLaren, 403; 5, Pato O’Ward, Arrow McLaren, 385; 6, Josef Newgarden, Team Penske, 352; 7, Scott McLaughlin, Team Penske, 345; 8, Felix Rosenqvist, Meyer Shank Racing, 344; 9, Marcus Ericsson, Andretti Global, 329; 10, Rinus VeeKay, Juncos Hollinger Racing, 295;

11, Will Power, Andretti Global, 292; 12, Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing, 264; 13, Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 258; 14, Kyffin Simpson, Chip Ganassi Racing, 252; 15, Marcus Armstrong, Meyer Shank Racing, 244; 16, Santino Ferrucci, A.J. Foyt Racing, 225; 17, Alexander Rossi, Ed Carpenter Racing, 218; 18, Romain Grosjean, Dale Coyne Racing, 209; 19, Louis Foster, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 200; 20, Nolan Siegel, Arrow McLaren, 195;

21, Dennis Hauger, Dale Coyne Racing, 189; 22, Christian Rasmussen, Ed Carpenter Racing, 164; 23, Caio Collet, A.J. Foyt Racing, 158; 24, Mick Schumacher, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 151; 25, Sting Ray Robb, Juncos Hollinger Racing, 150; 26, Derek Daly, Dryer & Reinbold Racing, 24; 27, Takuma Sato, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 20; 28, Jack Harvey, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing, 8; 29, Jacob Abel, Abel Motorsports, 6; 30, Helio Castroneves, Meyer Shank Racing with Curb Agajanian, 5;

31, Ed Carpenter, Ed Carpenter Racing, 5; 32, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Arrow McLaren, 5; 33, Katherine Legge, HMD Motorsports with A.J. Foyt Racing, 5.

FOX SPORTS’ 2026 NTT INDYCAR SERIES BROADCAST SCHEDULE/(RACE WINNER)

Note _ All times Eastern

Sunday, March 1 _ Streets of St. Petersburg, Fla., (Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing)

Saturday, March 7 _ Phoenix Raceway, Avondale, Ariz., (Josef Newgarden, Team Penske)

Sunday, March 15 _ Streets of Arlington, Texas, (Kyle Kirkwood, Andretti Global)

Sunday, March 29 _ Barber Motorsports Park, Birmingham, Ala., (Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing)

Sunday, April 19 _ Streets of Long Beach, Calif., (Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing)

Saturday, May 9 _ Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road-Course, (Christian Lundgaard, Arrow McLaren)

Sunday, May 24 _ 110^th Indianapolis 500, Indianapolis Motor Speedway Oval, (Felix Rosenqvist, Meyer Shank Racing with Curb Agajanian)

Sunday, May 31 _ Streets of Downtown Detroit, (Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing)

Sunday, June 7 _ World Wide Technology Raceway, Madison, Ill., (Josef Newgarden, Team Penske)

Sunday, June 21 _ Road America, Elkhart Lake, Wis., 2 p.m., (Christian Lundgaard, Arrow McLaren)

Sunday, July 5 _ Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Lexington, (Pato O’Ward, Arrow McLaren)

Monday, July 20 _ Nashville Superspeedway, Lebanon, Tenn., (Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing)

Sunday, Aug. 9 _ Portland (Ore.) International Raceway, (Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing)

Sunday, Aug. 16 _ Streets of Markham, Canada, (Marcus Ericsson, Andretti Global)

Sunday, Aug. 23 _ Freedom 250 Grand Prix of Washington, D.C., 1 p.m.

Saturday, Aug. 29 _ The Milwaukee Mile Race 1, West Allis, Wis., 2:30 p.m.

Sunday, Aug. 30 _ The Milwaukee Mile Race 2, West Allis, Wis., 1 p.m.

Sunday, Sept. 6 _ WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, Monterey, Calif., 2:30 p.m.

Note _ Dates and times subject to change.

2026 INDYCAR NXT BY FIRESTONE SCHEDULE/(RACE-WINNER)

Sunday, March 1 _ Streets of St. Petersburg, Fla., (Nikita Johnson, Cape Motorsports Powered by ECR)

Sunday, March 15 _ Streets of Arlington, Texas, (Max Taylor, Andretti Global)

Saturday, March 28 _ Barber Motorsports Park, Birmingham, Ala., (Nikita Johnson, Cape Motorsports Powered by ECR)

Sunday, March 29 _ Barber Motorsports Park, Birmingham, Ala., (Alessandro de Tullio, A.J. Foyt Racing)

Friday, May 8 _ Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road-Course Race 1, (Enzo Fittipaldi, HMD Motorsports)

Saturday, May 9 _ Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road-Course Race 2, (Tymek Kucharczyk, HMD Motorsports)

Sunday, May 31 _ Streets of Downtown Detroit, (Enzo Fittipaldi, HMD Motorsports)

Sunday, June 7 _ World Wide Technology Raceway, Madison, Ill., (Myles Rowe, Abel Motorsports)

Saturday, June 20 _ Road America, Elkhart Lake, Wis., Race 1, (Lochie Hughes, Andretti Global)

Sunday, June 21 _ Road America, Elkhart Lake, Wis., Race 2, (Matteo Nannini, Cape Motorsports powered by ECR)   

Saturday, July 4 _ Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Lexington, Ohio, Race 1, (Enzo Fittipaldi, HMD Motorsports)

Sunday, July 5 _ Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Lexington, Ohio, Race 2, (Enzo Fittipaldi, HMD Motorsports)

Sunday, July 19 _ Nashville Superspeedway, Lebanon, Tenn., (Matteo Nannini, Cape Motorsports Powered by ECR)

Sunday, Aug. 9 _ Portland (Ore.) International Raceway, (Alessandro de Tullio, A.J. Foyt Racing)

Sunday, Aug. 30 _ The Milwaukee Mile, West Allis, Wis.

Saturday, Sept. 5 _ Weather Tech Raceway Laguna Seca, Monterey, Calif., Race 1

Sunday, Sept. 6 _ Weather Tech Raceway Laguna Seca, Monterey, Calif., Race 2