2026 Pole Streak Reaches Five for Alex Palou at Road America

The pole streak lives for Alex Palou.

Series chief and four-time NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion Palou earned his fifth consecutive NTT P1 Award this season, grabbing the highest beginning spot Saturday for the XPEL Grand Prix at Road America Presented by AMR with a greatest lap of 1 minute, 43.6615 seconds within the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. The pole was Palou’s sixth in 10 races this season and the 18th of his illustrious profession.

SEE: Qualifying Results

Fellow Chip Ganassi Racing legend Alex Zanardi, a two-time INDYCAR SERIES champion, was the final driver to win 5 straight poles. He captured the final 4 poles of the 1996 season and opened the 1997 season with two extra consecutive poles.

“It’s incredible, five in a row this year,” Palou mentioned. “This team, man. This team and everyone on it is giving me the best car, all the power we needed. We suffered quite a lot there in Q2. Couldn’t really get the lap we wanted, but the car was super fast.”

David Malukas continued his robust first season at Team Penske by qualifying second at 1:43.9542 within the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet.

Marcus Armstrong will begin third – tying a profession greatest – regardless of combating the flu all weekend after his greatest lap of 1:44.0225 within the No. 66 Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb Agajanian Honda. His teammate, Felix Rosenqvist, will be a part of him on the second row within the fourth place after his lap of 1:44.0502 within the crew’s No. 60 Honda.

Marcus Ericsson continued his stable rebound season after his first two subpar years with Andretti Global, qualifying fifth at 1:44.1737 within the No. 28 Delaware Life Honda. Scott McLaughlin rounded out the third row at 1:44.8242 within the No. 3 XPEL Team Penske Chevrolet, as MSR and Penske every put two automobiles within the Firestone Fast Six.

Palou entered this occasion with 4 victories in 9 begins this season and a 49-point lead over second-place Kyle Kirkwood of Andretti Global within the standings. Kirkwood certified 18th within the No. 27 Sam’s Club Honda in a weekend stuffed with struggles, as fifteenth is the most effective place he has managed at the top of any of the three classes on the 14-turn, 4,014-mile highway course.

Spanish driver Palou led his qualifying group within the first spherical however slipped to fourth, .3901 of a second behind chief Malukas, within the Fast 12 spherical. But Palou and CGR regrouped for the Firestone Fast Six and laid down their quickest time on their penultimate lap, additionally producing a time fast sufficient for pole on their closing circuit for good measure.

If the pole streak would not ship sufficient shivers up the spines of his rivals, Palou is ranging from the entrance Sunday at one in all his greatest tracks. He is aiming for a series-record fourth profession win at the longest circuit on the INDYCAR SERIES schedule and is the reigning winner of this occasion.

Live protection of the 55-lap race begins at 2 pm ET (FOX, FOX Deportes), with a 30-minute warmup session previous at 11 am (FS1). FOX One and INDYCAR Radio powered by OnlyBulls may also cowl each dwell classes.

The warmup session could also be essential because of a scarcity of day-to-day consensus on whether or not the Firestone Firehawk main or alternate tire is most well-liked.

“Tomorrow is going to be tough,” Palou mentioned. “It’s going to be a protracted, lengthy race for everybody. I do not actually know what tire is greatest. It looks as if everybody was sad with the alternates yesterday, after which all of a sudden at the moment, they’re a lot sooner. I feel it will be very attention-grabbing by way of technique and stuff.

“Obviously, we’re starting from the best spot and hope we can keep it there.”