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PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon Fastest On Day 2 At Indy

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Chris Jones

SPEEDWAY, IN (Pittsburgh Racing Now) – PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon posted the fastest lap in the second day of practice for the 104th running of the Indianapolis 500 present by Gainbridge.

Dixon’s fast lap of 226.102 mph in the No. 9 Honda came late in the session with the aid of an aerodynamic tow.

“Today, we made some minor changes and tried to figure out some different balances,” said Dixon, who opened the season with three-straight victories.  “We’re also focusing on how the cars feels.  We also worked on finding traffic today to see how the car would respond.”

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Takuma Sato posted the second fastest lap, 225.693 mph, which came early in the days action.

I’m pretty happy,” said Sato.  “I think it was quite a productive day.  Obviously the scoreboard was nice, being in the first place and second place felt good.  It means nothing, but I think that’s a reflection of the cars getting quite a good adhesion.  You get in a big tow, you’re able to follow people with the new tire.  Obviously, that pure speed is far off from non-tow situation, but I’m pretty happy with that speed.”

Andretti Autosport’s Marco Andretti continued his strong start by posting the third fastest lap of the day at 225.249 mph.  Andretti was 2nd fastest overall on Wednesday (day 1).

“We tried some things outside the box that didn’t really work,” said Andretti. “The good thing for me at Indy in the past has been what you go back to what you think is good, and it still works.  So we went back to what we had, and the car feels good like it did yesterday.”

Dixon’s Chip Ganassi Racing teammates were a little over a half-second behind their teammate.  Felix Rosenqvist’s fast lap in the No. 10 NTT DATA Honda was 222.645 mph and Marcus Ericsson was right behind him in the No. 8 Huski Chocolate Honda at 222.630 mph.

“We’re not where I want to be yet with the balance, and we’ve been going in circles a little bit,” said Rosenqvist, who picked up a win earlier in the season in the second race at Road America.  “It always feels bad when you’re running in traffic, but we really have to push it these next few days and put ourselves in the worst type of scenario to get really good in the race.  We’re sticking to our program and working hard.”

“I think it was another good day with a lot of laps done,” said Ericsson.  “We went through different setups again and tried some different downforce levels.  We’ve mainly been gathering information and focusing on the car.  I have a good feeling in the car.  It feels good in traffic, and that’s what you want.”

Sato’s teammates Graham Rahal was also a half-second behind his teammate in the No. 15 United Rentals Honda at 223.297 mph.  Spencer Pigot was a tick behind Rahal in the No. 45 Hy-Vee EMBRACE Pittsburgh Honda at 223.043 mph.

“We had a really good day for the No. 15 United Rentals team,” said Rahal.  “We did a couple of long runs, and the last one in particular felt really good.  We seemed to be competitive.  We tried a lot so we stopped a little bit early because we’ve got a lot of data to go through.”

“The day was okay,” said Pigot.  “I think we had a few things that we didn’t quite get a handle on today, but we definitely made some good changes throughout the day to the Hy-Vee/EMBRACE Pittsburgh car, so we will try to build on those for the next time we do race running.”

Teams get additional turbo boost on “Fast Friday” as they begin preparations for qualifying on Saturday and the “Fast 9 Shootout” on Sunday, which will decide the pole position and the first three rows (positions 1 thru 9) for “The Greatest Spectacle In Racing”.

“It’s always exciting when the boost gets turned up,” said Pigot.  “It’s definitely a little different going a lot faster with less downforce.  We’re just trying to get the opposite of today where we were looking for traffic, running with cars to improve our race setup, and now we’re looking to be all by ourselves.  It’s a totally different mindset, but Fast Friday is always a fun day.”

“It’s going to be cool,” said Dixon.  “It’s a big jump (in power).  I expect to see some pretty big speeds, especially in tows. I’m excited for Fast Friday.”

IndyCar

Alex Palou wins fourth straight pole position at World Wide Technology Raceway

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Photo: Honda Racing

MADISON, IL (June 6, 2026) – Alex Palou and the No. 10 Chip Ganassi Racing team are continuing to lay down fast laps when it counts with Palou earning the pole position for Sunday’s NTT IndyCar Series Bommarito Automotive Group 500 at World Wide Technology Raceway.  The pole position is Palou’s fourth straight NTT P1 Pole award.

“It was incredible and so much fun, especially that first lap,” said Palou, who turned a two-lap average speed of 174.353 mph in the No. 10 HRC Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. “The #10 Honda Honda had so much speed. The team I have around me is incredible. My car was on rails today; it was incredible.”

David Malukas starts second in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet after a two-lap average of 173.244 mph.  Malukas could only look on in disbelief as Palou knocked him off the pole.

Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood starts third in the No. 27 Sam’s Club Honda following a two-lap average of 173.206 mph.

“ It was a good run for us,” said Kirkwood, the 2025 WWWT Raceway winner. “P3 is a really good starting spot and we can definitely do some great things from there. Last year we won from 10th, so it’s nice to be able to be at the front.”

2026 Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge winner Felix Rosenqvist starts fourth in the No. 60 SiriusXM Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb Agajanian Honda.

Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin will start 5th in the No. 3 Dex Imaging Chevrolet.

Palou’s Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Scott Dixon starts 7th in the No. 9 PNC Bank Honda and CGR’s Kyffin Simpson will start 14th in the No. 8 Sunoco Honda.

Television coverage of Sunday’s Bommarito Automotive Group 500 begins at 8 PM CT / 9 PM ET on Fox. Complete, flag-to-flag race coverage also will be available on the INDYCAR Radio Network, and SiriusXM INDYCAR Nation (Channel 160).

WWTR IndyCar Qualifying

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Alex Palou wins IndyCar Detroit Grand Prix

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Photo: Penske Entertainment - Chris Owens

DETROIT, MI (May 31, 2026) – Alex Palou is back in victory lane after winning Sunday’s NTT IndyCar Series Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix, his fourth win of 2026 and 12th win in his past 25-races.

“It was a tough one,” said Palou. “The team did an incredible job one again with the strategy. Pit stops were incredible.  The number 10 Honda Honda looked really good and I think every time it has been on track it’s had a win.”

Palou and the No. 10 HRC Chip Ganassi Racing Honda fought off Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood on two late-race restarts as Palou was on the harder Firestone Primary tire and Kirkwood was on the softer Firestone alternate tire.

“It was very tough with the temperature on the tires,” explained Palou. “On the restarts I couldn’t really be at the level of Kirkwood, Power and some of the guys who were able to get a little more tire temp than I Wass able to.”

“The Sam’s Club Honda was really fast,” said Kirkwood, who is second to Palou in the Championship. “We took a little bit of a gamble on tires there being the only guy on reds (alternate) at the end. It nearly paid off. It was so, so, close. They’re a great team and he’s a great driver.”

Rahal Letterman Lanigan’s Graham Rahal finished third in the No. 15 Fifth Third Bank Honda, tying Rahal’s best finish of the year.

“We had a lot of pace when we needed it,” explained Rahal. “We go lucky a little bit with the yellow.”

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IndyCar

Alex Palou wins Detroit IndyCar Pole; Scott Dixon earns 4th starting spot; Honda sweeps front row

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Photo: Honda Racing

DETROIT, MI (May 30, 2026) – Alex Palou is starting on the pole position for the third consecutive NTT IndyCar Series Race, winning the number 1 starting spot for Sunday’s Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear.

Palou’s fast lap of 1-minute, 1.9017-seconds (95.668 mph) in the No. 10 Honda Racing Corporation Chip Ganassi Racing Honda was 0.005542-seconds ahead Will Power, who will start second in the No. 26 TWG AI Honda of Andretti Global. This is Power’s best starting position since switching to Andretti in the offseason.

“I’m super happy that we got the pole position,” said Palou. “The Fast Six was very exciting, especially with only getting one lap. The tires were not up to temperature, but this #10 Honda Honda car was on rails.”

“It was really nice to get into the Fast Six,” said Power, IndyCar’s all-time pole winner. “It’s my second time in the one lap shootout this year. It’s very difficult to beat Alex, so heading into the race I think we just have to put our heads down and see what we can do. The Honda is very good and I’ve been really enjoying running with Honda power all year.”

The front row Honda sweep on Chevrolet’s doorstep may bode well for the manufacturer as Honda has won every race at Detroit since the series switched to the downtown street circuit beginning in 2023.

Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin spoiled the Honda party, locking down the third starting spot with a lap of 1:02.4559 in the No. 3 Clarience Technologies Chevrolet.

Six-time series Champion Scott Dixon qualified a season-best fourth at 1:02.6085 in the No. 9 PNC Bank Honda to give Chip Ganassi Racing two of the top 4 starting spots.

“I was just a little too aggressive going for it,” said Dixon. “The No. 9 PNC Bank Honda has speed and it’s good to be starting up front.”

Arrow McLaren’s Christian Lundgaard will line up fifth after a fast lap of 1:02.7870 in the No. 7 Chevrolet, despite losing an engine in the morning practice.

Kyle Kirkwood continued the Firestone Fast Six Honda party qualifying sixth in the No. 27 Sam’s Club Honda despite locking his tires up at one point and two power slides during his quick lap.

David Malukas will start last in the field after bringing out a red flag during his qualifying run.  Malukas smacked the wall in turn 7 causing heavy damage to the No. 12 Verizon Chevrolet.

Sunday starts with a 30-minute morning warmup at 9:30 a.m. followed by the 100-lap race at 12:30 p.m. on Fox and the IndyCar Radio Network.

Detroit IndyCar Qualifying

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