IndyCar
Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou Wins The Pole Position for The 107th Indianapolis 500
INDIANAPOLIS, IN (Pittsburgh Racing Now) – Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou will lead the 33-car field to green for next Sunday’s 107th running of the Indianapolis 500 mile race.
Palou’s 4-lap average of 234.217 MPH in the No. 10 American Legion Honda was the fastest qualifying run in the history of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
“We went aggressive,” explained Palou. “The way to go faster here, apart from having a fast car that I knew I had, a fast engine, which I knew I had, it’s to try to start trimming the car out, taking downforce out, sliding into corners a bit more but going faster on the straights. We were the car that was more trimmed yesterday I would say and also today. It’s what we had to do. It was the way that we could fight for pole, and I’m glad that it worked.”
The pole position was the third straight in ‘The Greatest Spectacle In Racing’ for CGR. Team Ganassi is the first to win three consecutive poles at the historic race since 1991. This is the eighth all-time pole position won by the team (2022; 2021; 2017; 2015; 2008; 2002; 1993). All four CGR cars will start in the Top 10!
“This is for every Veteran who has ever served, who protect our freedoms,” said team owner Chip Ganassi. “We worked hard and never gave up. We had plenty of opportunities to quit but that’s not what we do here. That is exactly what this team is all about.”
Team Owner Chip Ganassi congratulates driver Alex Palou on winning the pole position for the 107th running of the Indianapolis 500. Photo: Penske Entertainment Chris Jones
Ed Carpenter Racing’s Rinus VeeKay will start in the middle of the front row after coming up 6-thousandths of a mile-an-hour slower than Palou.
“Yeah, it was very close,” said VeeKay. “Wow, very happy, but also a bit bummed. We had that shot, and I wish we could have done it. It would have been so great for the team. But also I’m bummed to be starting the Indy 500 second.”
Arrow McLaren’s Felix Rosenqvist will start on the outside of the front row with a 4-lap average of 234.114 mph.
“I could feel on the run pretty much on my warmup lap that it didn’t feel as sporty as it did earlier today, so kind of had to look what went wrong,” said Rosenqvist. “But man, it’s tight, and if you don’t get it 10 out of 10, there’s going to be two other boys sitting next to you with better lap times.”
Making up the second row will be A.J. Foyt Racing’s Santino Ferrucci, who turned a 4-lap average of 233.661 in the No. 14 Homes For Troops Chevrolet who qualified fourth for the 4-time winner turned owner.
“I think our Firestone Fast Six run was unfortunately our worst run today,” said Ferrucci. “”I just made a couple of mistakes and I don’t think we trimmed enough. We were on the conservative side of things.”
Rosenqvist’s teammate Pato O’Ward will start in the middle of the front row in the No. 5 Arrow Electronics Chevrolet.
Six-time NTT INDYCAR SERIES Champion Scott Dixon will start on the outside of Row 2 in the No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda.
“Huge day for the team,” said Dixon. “That was cool to keep the tradition alive. Three in a row for the team is fantastic and congrats to Alex and the No. 10 car group. Our last run was just so loose, just scrubbing a ton of speed. We’ll regroup and get ready for the race from here.”
Palou and Dixon’s CGR teammates Takuma Sato will start 8th in the No. 11 Deloitte Honda and defending 500 race winner Marcus Ericsson will start 10th in the No. 8 Huski Ice Spritz Honda.
“Fantastic qualifying for the team,” said Sato. “Congratulations to Alex. What an amazing speed and accomplishment for the team. I wish I would have been in the Fast 6 today, but it was a great team effort.”
“Another interesting day here at the Speedway,” said Ericsson. “The No. 8 crew did a good job all weekend. P10 and we would have hoped for a bit more than that. It’s still a really solid place to start the race from and we can definitely win from there. Looking forward to working on the car to go race on Sunday. Big congrats to the whole team and the organization for being on pole. That was an incredible pole run and I’m really happy for everyone. It shows the team effort from everyone and obviously very happy for Alex. It was well deserved.”
MARKHAM, ONTARIO (August 15, 2026) – The NTT IndyCar Series is making it’s first visit to a new street circuit in Markham, Ontario but a familiar face topped the speed charts after the first practice.
Four-time Series Champion Alex Palou turned the fastest lap around the 12-turn, 2.19-mile temporary street course, a 1-minute, 14.9915-seconds (100.811 mph) lap in the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda.
A.J. Foyt Racing rookie Caio Collett was second quick with a 1-minute, 15.0454-seconds (100.739) in the No. 4 Chevrolet.
Louis Foster was third quick in the No. 45 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda at 1:15.0278 (100.702) followed by Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin 1:15.2981 (100.401). Will Power rounded out the Top 5 at 1:15.3152 (100.378).
Palou’s Chip Ganassi Racing teammates were not as strong. Six-time Series Champion Scott Dixon was 20th at 1:16.4583 (98.877) in the No. 9 PNC Bank Honda. Kyffin Simpson was 24th at 1.17.3893 (97.688) in the No. 8 Sunoco Honda. Simpson made contact with the wall at Turn 6, causing damage to the rear suspension. Simpson limped to pits for repair and returned to action later in the session.
Practice 2 is set for 2:30 p.m. as delayed track construction forced officials to cancel Friday’s activities and condense Saturday’s schedule. NTT P1 Pole Qualifying is set for 6:30 p.m. ET
MARKHAM, ONTARIO (August 14, 2026) – Issues with the completion of the temporary street circuit in Markham Ontario has forced the NTT INDYCAR SERIES first practice to be moved to Saturday as all of Friday’s on-track activity had to be scrubbed from the schedule.
“INDYCAR is incredibly disappointed that our promoter was not able to complete the track build on time, despite significant support from our team on site,” INDYCAR President J. Douglas Boles said. “Ontario has always been a magnificent market for our sport and the number of spectators that attended today is a shining example of that. New events can always pose logistical challenges and we join in the frustration of our loyal fans and apologize.”
Green Savoree Promotions also issued a statement.
“Ensuring the safety of the drivers and the completion of the certification process of competing on a brand-new racetrack delayed all on-track activities today. Today’s sessions have been rescheduled to Saturday, August 15, to allow for further track preparations.”
“We greatly appreciate all the fans who made it out to the Ontario Honda Dealers Indy at Markham today and chose to spend the day with us. The attendance and support were overwhelming.”
The revamped schedule calls for the first practice to take place at 10:00 a.m. followed by a second practice at 2:30 p.m. and P1 Pole Qualifying at 6:30 p.m.
PORTLAND, OR (August 9, 2026) – Alex Palou and Chip Ganassi Racing are closing in on another NTT IndyCar Series Championship after winning Sunday’s Only Bulls Portland Grand Prix.
Palou started second and passed Felix Rosenqvist during the first round of pit stops by staying out an extra lap and using the ‘overcut’ to get the lead and then dominated, leading 60 of 110-laps to grab his sixth victory of 2026.
“Everybody at CGR and Honda did an incredible job,” said Palou, who started second. “I had an absolute rocket ship today. It was very, very nice to drive every single lap.”
“We had to do something different than Felix,” said Barry Wanser, team manager for the No. 10 Honda. “We had to go longer than him. It takes a lot of performance by Alex and certainly the Honda engine to give us the fuel mileage to jump in one more and do the overcut. That helped us. We had a pretty smooth pit stop and got the jump there.”
Rosenqvist, who started on the pole in the No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing Grateful Dead Honda, closed to within a second late but couldn’t get back to the front.
“He got us in a sequence,” said Rosenqvist, the 2026 Indianapolis 500 winner. “I got kind of twisted up leaving my box because I was so close to the Schumacher crew. I think between the overcut and that, we kind of lost the position. From there on we just sat in second.”
Andretti Global’s Will Power finished third in the No. 26 TWG Honda to lockout the podium for the manufacturer.
“Great day for us,” said Power. “Great day for Andretti. Didn’t quite have the pace I think the top two guys. Probably about a tenth off. Just seriously fast pace all day. Qualifying laps, really good quality. Such a quality field now.”
The victory for Palou increased his Championship lead to 110 points over Kyle Kirkwood of Andretti Global, a gap of more than two races with just five races remaining this season.
“Chip puts the best guys around me, but then also everybody is just executing,” said Palou. “That car is a rocket ship, and I’m just lucky enough to drive it.”
The next NTT IndyCar Series race is the inaugural Ontario Honda Dealers Indy at Markham on Sunday, Aug. 16 on the streets of Markham, Ontario.
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