Alex Palou, P1 Award – Sonsio Grand Prix – Photo by Chris Owens

By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio

As advertised, Alex Palou’s assault on the Month of May at Indianapolis Motor Speedway is off-and-running wide, flat open.

The three-time/reigning NTT IndyCar Series champion, Palou continued his early-season street and road-course brilliance Friday by qualifying on-pole for today’s Sonsio Grand Prix. Palou and his Chip Ganassi Racing crew parlayed timely tire strategy and Honda horsepower into his second consecutive NTT P1 Award.

Palou, winner of three of the season’s first four races, saved a set of new Firestone Firehawk alternate (soft) tires for his last run around the 2.44-mile/14-turn IMS Road-Course during the Firestone Fast Six. Palou’s lap of 1-minute, 9.3417-seconds/126.625 mph secured his second consecutive pole in this event and eighth of his INDYCAR career.

“We had a bit of an advantage there with a set of brand new soft tires,” said Palou, driver of the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. “I think some people used them in Q1 (first round of qualifying), and we didn’t. Maybe that’s where the time comes.

“But that No. 10 DHL car was amazing. Super-fast. It’s been super-fast all season, honestly, but today it’s been on fire.”

Indeed, Palou’s gap to surprise No. 2 qualifier Graham Rahal was 0.4099-seconds. Rahal recorded a lap of 1:09.7516-seconds/125.881 mph in the No. 15 Fifth Third Bank Honda fielded by Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing to post his best start of the season.

“This is great for Fifth Third Bank, all of our partners and our whole team. It feels so good,” said Rahal, son of team co-owner and 1986 Indianapolis 500 champion Bobby Rahal. “This was why we ran the reds to get through the rounds. I knew Palou was going to have a new set of reds for the Fast Six. I didn’t think we were going to be on the front row; I didn’t think we were really competing for that. There were others that had new reds too, but what a lap.

“In the Fast Six, we were just able to put it together. The balance was really consistent and matched my best of the whole day. It feels great for this entire team _ everyone on the No. 15, No. 30 and No. 45 teams. You know we needed this; we expect to be good at the Indy Road-Course race but to see it come together and have three cars in the top-five is amazing. It feels awesome for our team.”

The pole-winner for this event in 2023, Rahal will make his 17th INDYCAR start on the IMS Road-Course today.

Palou, who won this event last May from P1, maintained he merely is marching to the orders laid out by longtime strategist Barry Wanser. “We know it’s pretty special,” said Palou, a 28-year-old native of Spain. “It’s super-tough to be competitive in INDYCAR, to be running up-front race-in, race-out. So we’re enjoying it as long as this wave continues. Hopefully it continues for at least one more week _ two more weeks after this. But yeah, it’s been amazing for everybody at Chip Ganassi Racing and HRC.”

Saturday’s race is the fifth of the season, and serves as prelude for the series’ crown jewel _ the 109^th running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge on Sunday, May 25. Victory in “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” remains the one shiny object missing from Palou’s otherwise stellar open-wheel resume.

Meanwhile, Rahal paced an historic day for RLLR, which placed its three drivers into the Fast Six for the first time. Rookie Louis Foster qualified a season-best third in the No. 45 Mi-Jack Honda at 1:09.8801-seconds/125.650 mph. The Brit’s previous best start was 10th in March at The Thermal Club in California.

“For my fifth INDYCAR race, I think I’ll take a third-place start,” Foster said. “Like I’ve said a million times, it’s all credit to the Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing crew. We’ve been super-fast and obviously the proof of that is all of us are in the Fast Six. We’ve just got to continue this form. Although this is an amazing day for the team, and great progress, points get paid (in the race). So, we’ve got to make sure we keep our heads focused, look forward and do the right things and attack it how we’ve attacked it so far. Full-focus on (race day).”

Native Canadian Devlin DeFrancesco qualified fifth at 1:09.9432-seconds/125.536 mph in RLLR’s No. 30 EVTEC Honda, tying a career-best set in August 2023 on this circuit when he drove for Andretti Global.

“I’m hugely happy with a fifth-place start; mainly on the execution side,” said DeFrancesco, who did not compete in the series last year. “I feel our performance on the No. 30 car has been good. This is where I think our pace has been at certain rounds, especially at Barber last weekend. This is good redemption from Barber. We all sat down and spoke about execution.

“Hugely happy about today and now on to (Saturday) and making sure we control the tire degradation, have good pit stops and run good in-and-out-laps and making sure we get some good points for the EVTEC team.”

Native New Zealander Scott McLaughlin led the Team Chevy contingent in fourth after his best lap of 1:09.8910-seconds/125.630 mph in the No. 3 Sonsio Vehicle Protection Chevrolet fielded by Team Penske.

Two-time reigning Indianapolis 500 winner Josef Newgarden completed the Fast Six at 1:09.9829-seconds/125.465 mph in the No. 2 Astemo Team Penske Chevrolet.

Five-time IMS Road-Course winner Will Power of Australia just missed putting three Team Penske cars into the Fast Six for the first time this season. The 2018 Indy 500 champion, Power placed seventh at 1:09.9973-seconds/125.439 mph in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet.

Pato O’Ward placed eighth after touring the circuit in 1:10.0083-seconds/125.419 mph in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet.

“The car feels good,” said O’Ward, a native of Mexico with family ties to San Antonio. “I think the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet crew have done a great job in giving me a good balance in Practice 1 and 2. We missed the Firestone Fast Six because we’re losing speed on the straight, but hopefully we can find exactly what it is. This is a very straight-line, speed-sensitive track. We want to go forward (today), not backwards. I trust the team is going to find it, and we’ll be ready.”

O’Ward is fourth in championship points following a sixth-place finish in last Sunday’s Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix powered by AmFirst at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Ala.  O’Ward has logged 11 starts on the IMS Road-Course, including P1 in 2021. His best finish was second in 2023; last May, Pato placed 13^th.

Second-year driver Kyffin Simpson of the Cayman Islands continued to exhibit increasing pace in the No. 8 Journie Rewards Chip Ganassi Racing Honda by qualifying 10^th at 1:10.1423-seconds/125.180 mph. That effort tied Simpson’s career-best starting spot from last weekend at Barber Motorsports Park.

Dallas resident Santino Ferrucci paced the two-car effort of Waller, Texas-based A.J. Foyt Racing with a personal season-best of 11^th at 1:10.1736-seconds/125.124 mph.

“Obviously, quite an interesting up and down day,” said Ferrucci, driver of the No. 14 Sexton Properties Chevrolet. “Had a clutch issue so we missed a good part of FP1 (Free Practice 1) and almost all of FP2, but the guys just stuck with it. Had a really good qualifying to get an advance (out of Round 1) but kind of missed it a little bit in the second round. We’ll look back and see kind of why.

“I definitely left some time on the table in my driving and I just don’t feel like I started the tire very well either. So, kind of bummed not to advance to the Fast Six but we have a good starting spot.”

Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach winner Kyle Kirkwood _ the only driver to blemish Palou’s perfect start to the season _ qualified a disappointing 21st at 1:10.2554-seconds/124.978 mph in the No. 27 PreFab Honda fielded by Andretti Global.

Similarly, David Malukas of Foyt Racing struggled in practice and followed with a disappointing qualifying run of 1:10.6039-seconds/124.361 mph. Malukas and the No. 4 Foyt Racing Chevrolet are gridded 26^th in the 27-car field.

“Not much really to say other than it wasn’t good,” Malukas said. “We kind of knew going into it, the pace wasn’t really there as it was at Barber. I think Barber hurt quite a bit, just because we had a very good car. But here, obviously we never really had the confidence all day. Then we came into qualifying, I think that it was just a lot worse than we were even expecting _ so, not great.  We just need to keep our heads down and keep working at it and hopefully find some time.”

Coverage of the 85-lap/207.32-mile race will be carried by FOX Sports beginning at 4:30 p.m. (EDT), as well as on the FOX Sports app and INDYCAR Radio Network. A 25-minute warmup session at 11:30 a.m. (FS1, FOX Sports app, INDYCAR Radio Network) was set to precede the race.

Lochie Hughes – INDY NXT by Firestone – Indianapolis Grand Prix – Photo by Chris Jones

Rookie Lochie Hughes led all 35 laps of the Indianapolis Grand Prix Race 1 to earn his first career INDY NXT by Firestone victory Friday on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road-Course.

The 2024 USF Pro 2000 champion, Hughes drove his No. 26 McGinley Clinic/USF Pro Championship car fielded by Andretti Global to victory by 0.7229-seconds over the No. 76 HMD Motorsports car of veteran Caio Collet of Brazil.

SEE: Race Results

“This is an awesome weekend so far,” said Hughes, a 23-year-old native of Australia. “I can’t thank the whole team enough. It’s been a tough jump to this series. It’s a big step from what I was in, so I’ve been playing catch-up for a while.

“It’s nice to finally get a win, especially around here. What a day. My parents are here, as well, this weekend and they’re not usually here, so I think it’s the first time they’ll see me win in a long time because they don’t come over (to America) much. Pretty cool.”

Veteran Myles Rowe finished a career-best third in the No. 99 Abel/Force Indy machine. Callum Hedge of New Zealand (No. 17 Abel Motorsports) and Salvador de Alba of Mexico (No. 27 Grupo Indi of Andretti Global) completed the top-five.

Hughes started from pole and opened a 1.6813-second lead before a caution on Lap 10 when Juan Manuel Correa, an American of Ecuadorean descent, and Niels Koolen of The Netherlands went off- course in Turn 1. Hughes then led the field to green on the Lap 12 restart and quickly built a 2.3395-second advantage by the halfway mark on Lap 18. His lead grew to 2.6693-seconds before teammate James Roe of Ireland crashed in Turn 14 on Lap 29, collecting 16-year-old Nikita Johnson and triggering the race’s second and final caution.

Hughes kept the lead on a restart, this time on Lap 31, and held off Collet for victory. Andretti Global has won 12 of the last 14 INDY NXT by Firestone races, dating to Race 2 of last May’s Indianapolis race weekend.

“I was pretty annoyed when I kept seeing the yellow come out,” Hughes said. “I was just trying to get a good jump off the last corner there and brake late into (Turn) 1 and make sure I don’t get passed.”

Hughes pulled to within three points of series leader and Andretti Global teammate Dennis Hauger with the victory. Native Norwegian Hauger, who won the first two races of the season, finished eighth in the No. 28 Rental Group car.

Hauger started second but had contact with Hedge in Turn 1 on the opening lap, forcing his car off-track. After returning to the track last in the 21-car field, Hauger steadily climbed through the pack and was in 13th at the first caution and eighth by the second yellow.

Race 2 of the double-header _ another 35-lap/85.365-mile or 55-minute contest _ is scheduled to start at 1 p.m. (EDT) today with coverage provided by FS1, the FOX Sports app and the INDYCAR Radio Network. Hughes and Hauger once again will share the front row, with Hughes on pole.

NTT IndyCar Series Point Standings _ 1, Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing, 196; 2, Christian Lundgaard, Arrow McLaren, 136; 3, Kyle Kirkwood, Andretti Global, 127; 4, Pato O’Ward, Arrow McLaren, 108; 5, Scott McLaughlin, Team Penske, 105; 6, Felix Rosenqvist, Meyer Shank Racing, 105; 7, Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing, 104; 8, Colton Herta, Andretti Global, 99; 9, Will Power, Team Penske, 93; 10, Alexander Rossi, Ed Carpenter Racing, 82;

11, Josef Newgarden, Team Penske, 78; 12, Rinus VeeKay, Dale Coyne Racing, 78; 13, Marcus Ericsson, Andretti Global, 65; 14, Marcus Armstrong, Meyer Shank Racing, 64; 15, Santino Ferrucci, A.J. Foyt Racing, 63; 16, Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 61; 17, Kyffin Simpson, Chip Ganassi Racing, 57; 18, David Malukas, A.J. Foyt Racing, 56; 19, Christian Rasmussen, Ed Carpenter Racing, 55; 20, Nolan Siegel, Arrow McLaren, 48;

21, Sting Ray Robb, Juncos Hollinger Racing, 47; 22, Conor Daly, Juncos Hollinger Racing, 43; 23, Robert Shwartzman, Prema Racing, 35; 24, Callum Ilott, Prema Racing, 32; 25, Devlin DeFrancesco, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 30; 26, Louis Foster, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 30; 27, Jacob Abel, Dale Coyne Racing, 27.

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 (FOX, 4:30 p.m.)

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.