After a dramatic Sunday, the 33-car field is set for the 110th Indianapolis 500. The climax was the Firestone Fast Six final round of late afternoon 4-lap runs to decide the winner of the coveted pole position for the 2026 Greatest Spectacle in Racing.
Six drivers from six different NTT IndyCar teams were poised on pit road of the World’s Most Famous Speedway to take their best shots at winning the coveted pole position for the 2026 Indianapolis 500. In what many call the most intense period in all of motor sports competition, defending Indy 500 winner Alex Palou proved under the extreme pressure to once again be the best.
The incredible 29-year-old Spaniard delivered a 4-lap average of 232.248 mph to out-duel his five remaining competitors to earn his second Indy 500 pole position as late day shadows cooled the world famous 2.5-miles speedway.
An elated and grateful Palou emerged from his No. 10 Chip Ganassi Racing machine and quickly gave his team credit for winning his second Indianapolis 500 pole, “These (No. 10 team) guys, just look at these guys! Incredible work they did today. I have no words. Today, honestly, we didn’t expect to have that much speed. We started struggling. Everybody saw we were 11th (after the first qualifying round). We were not holding anything back. I have to say, probably bring 31st (to qualify)…but I think being back there allowed us to work on those conditions. That was incredible. I cannot thank everybody at CGR enough.”
Palou will share the front row with Alexander Rossi (231.990) and David Malukas (231.877).
Felix Rosenqvist (231.375), Santino Ferrucci (230.846) and Pato O’Ward (230.443) fill out the second row with their times in Sunday’s Firestone Fast Six final round of pole qualifying.
With Alex Palou leading the field for next Sunday’s 110th Greatest Spectacle in Racing, one can imagine that anyone of the 33 drivers is capable of winning the 110th addition of the Indianapolis 500. Palou, last year’s winner and IndyCar champion four out of the last five seasons, will certainly be the one to watch when the green flag drops.
