Alex Palou extended his early momentum into the 2025 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season by capturing the NTT P1 Award for the Sonsio Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course on Friday, May 9.
Palou, the reigning three-time IndyCar Series champion from Barcelona, Spain, commenced Friday’s on-track activities by being the fastest during the first practice session. He was then one of six out of 27 competitors to transfer to the Firestone Fast Six session.
Palou steered his No. 10 DHL/Chip Ganassi Racing Dallara-Honda entry to a pole-winning lap in one minute, 9.3417 seconds during the Fast Six session, and at 126.625 mph. Palou’s lap was enough to snatch the top-starting spot from Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Graham Rahal.
With the pole, Palou notched his eighth career first-place starting spot in the IndyCar Series circuit, his second in a row at the Indianapolis Road Course venue and his second of the 2025 season.
Palou’s Indianapolis Road Course pole comes a week after he notched a dominant victory at Barber Motorsports Park from pole position. Having won three of the first four scheduled events, which includes winning the season-opening event at the Streets of St. Petersburg and The Thermal Club, the Spaniard is currently leading the championship standings by 60 points.
As Palou pursues his first Indianapolis 500 victory, he will also attempt to become the first competitor to win the Sonsio Grand Prix in back-to-back seasons since Team Penske’s Will Power made the last accomplishment from 2017 to 2018.
“I think we had a bit of an advantage there with a set of brand new soft tires,” Palou said on FS1. “I think some people used it in [the first qualifying session] and we didn’t. Maybe that’s where the time comes, but the No. 10 DHL car was amazing. It’s been super fast all season, honestly. Today, it’s been on fire. We know it’s pretty special.
“It’s super tough to be competitive in IndyCar, ” he continued, “to be running up front, race in, race out. We’re enjoying as long as this wave continues. Hopefully, it continues at least for two more weeks after this [for the Indianapolis 500]. It’s been amazing. Great job by everybody at Chip Ganassi Racing.”
Rahal, who nearly claimed his second INDYCAR pole at the Indianapolis Road Course circuit and his first in nearly two years, will start on the front row for his best starting spot of the 2025 season. Rahal, whose previous best starting spot was 16th at the Streets of Long Beach in April, posted his best qualifying lap at one minute, 9.7516 seconds, and a speed of 125.881 mph.
Rahal’s on-track qualifying performance was not the only thing that left him both satisfied and optimistic as he approaches Saturday’s main event. His Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing teammates, rookie Louis Foster and Devlin DeFrancesco, posted strong performances in the Fast 6 session that enabled them to start third and fifth, respectively.
“It’s great for Fifth Third Bank and for all of our partners and our whole team,” Rahal said. “What a lap in [the] Fast Six. It feels great for this entire No. 15 team, [Nos.] 30, 45. We needed this. We expect to be good at Indy Road Course. To see it come together and actually have three cars in the top five is amazing. It feels awesome for our team.”
Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin and Josef Newgarden, both of whom transferred to the Firestone Fast 6 session, will start fourth and sixth, respectively.
Will Power, Pato O’Ward, Alexander Rossi, Kyffin Simpson, Santino Ferrucci and Felix Rosenqvist, all of whom transferred as high as the top 12, will start seventh through 12th, respectively.
Colton Herta, Christian Lundgaard, Marcus Armstrong, Scott Dixon, Sting Ray Robb, Nolan Siegel, Christian Rasmussen and Marcus Ericsson will start in the top 20, respectively. Kyle Kirkwood, Conor Daly, Callum Ilott, Rinus VeeKay, rookie Jacob Abel, David Malukas and rookie Robert Shwartzman will round out the 27-car field for the main event.
Qualifying position, best time, best speed:
1. Alex Palou, 1:09.3417, 126.625 mph
2. Graham Rahal, 1:09.7516, 125.881 mph
3. Louis Foster, 1:09.8801, 125.650 mph
4. Scott McLaughlin, 1:09.8910, 125.630 mph
5. Devlin DeFrancesco, 1:09.9432, 125.536 mph
6. Josef Newgarden, 1:09.9829, 125.465 mph
7. Will Power, 1:09.9973, 125.439 mph
8. Pato O’Ward, 1:10.0083, 125.419 mph
9. Alexander Rossi, 1:10.0684, 125.312 mph
10. Kyffin Simpson, 1:10.1423, 125.180 mph
11. Santino Ferrucci, 1:10.1736, 125.124 mph
12. Felix Rosenqvist, 1:11.4104, 122.957 mph
13. Colton Herta, 1:10.2231, 125.036 mph
14. Christian Lundgaard, 1:10.0949, 125.264 mph
15. Marcus Armstrong, 1:10.2303, 125.023 mph
16. Scott Dixon, 1:10.1158, 125.227 mph
17. Sting Ray Robb, 1:10.2339, 125.017 mph
18. Nolan Siegel, 1:10.1178, 125.224 mph
19. Christian Rasmussen, 1:10.2543, 124.980 mph
20. Marcus Ericcson, 1:10.1307, 125.201 mph
21. Kyle Kirkwood, 1:10.2554, 124.978 mph
22. Conor Daly, 1:10.4295, 124.669 mph
23. Callum Ilott, 1:10.2784, 124.937 mph
24. Rinus VeeKay, 1:10.5208, 124.508 mph
25. Jacob Abel, 1:10.6609, 124.361 mph
26. David Malukas, 1:10.6039, 124.361 mph
27. Robert Shwartzman, 1:11.1172, 123.464 mph
The 2025 Sonsio Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course is set to occur on Saturday, May 10, and air at 4:30 p.m. ET on FOX. The event’s warmup session will occur earlier in the day at 11:30 a.m. ET on FS1.
