WEST ALLIS, Wis. (Saturday, Aug. 23, 2025) – It’s about time to shed the notion Alex Palou isn’t an oval ace, isn’t it?
Palou won the NTT P1 Award on Saturday for the Snap-on Milwaukee Mile 250 on the final attempt of the qualifying session, turning a two-lap average speed of 162.971 in the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. Palou, who clinched his fourth NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship on Aug. 10 at Portland, earned his sixth pole this season.
“I knew I had a good car,” Palou said. “I just wanted to get everything out of it, so I just fired as much speed as I think it could handle and a little bit more, and it sticks. It feels amazing to get a pole here.”
Palou has produced a magical season so far that resulted in his third consecutive championship. He has won eight races, tied for the third-most in one season in INDYCAR SERIES history, including his first oval victory in the 109th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge in May.
This is Palou’s second oval NTT P1 Award this season, as he won from the pole in July in the second race of the Iowa Speedway doubleheader. This was his 12th career pole overall and third on an oval, as he captured the top spot for the 2023 Indianapolis 500.
Palou dramatically seized the pole from David Malukas, who was on the verge of winning his first career NTT P1 Award after turning an average of 162.256 in the No. 4 Clarience Technologies Chevrolet of A.J. Foyt Enterprises as the 18th car on the 1.015-mile oval in the 27-car field.
Still, Malukas will start on the front row for the race Sunday (2 p.m. ET, FOX, FOX One, FOX Sports app, INDYCAR Radio Network) after tying his career-best qualifying performance.
“Before he went out, I told the guys, ‘He looked fast in practice one; he’s going to be the one to beat,’” Malukas said. “As soon as I saw that first lap, saw him come out of (Turn) 4, I was like, ‘All right, that one looked pretty good.’
“We’re going to be starting on that front row here in Milwaukee. We can still do a lot from up there.”
The contrast in strategy between Palou and Malukas on their respective warmup laps was interesting and reflected the different choices made by the field as they prepared to take the green. Malukas warmed up at 159.264 mph, while Palou cruised past the flag stand at 151.187 on his warmup, saving wear on his Firestone Firehawk tires before stepping hard on the gas for his two-lap run.
Pato O’Ward qualified third at 162.078 in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet. He will be joined in the second row of the starting grid by 2024 Milwaukee race winner Scott McLaughlin, who qualified fourth at 161.758 mph in the No. 3 Sonsio Vehicle Protection Chevrolet of Team Penske.
Six-time series champion Scott Dixon qualified fifth at 160.951 in the No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, but he will move back nine spots on the starting grid as a penalty for an unscheduled engine change beyond the season’s allotment.
Will Power qualified sixth at 160.819 in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet. That run capped a strong day for Team Penske, for which Power earned the team’s first victory of the season Aug. 10 at Portland. Josef Newgarden qualified eighth at 160.330 in the No. 2 Snap-on Team Penske Chevrolet as the legendary team will try to earn its first oval victory of the season Sunday.
There was one incident involving contact and another near-miss during qualifying.
Felix Rosenqvist did a quarter-spin in the No. 60 SiriusXM Honda of Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb-Agajanian on his first qualifying lap, backing into the SAFER Barrier in Turn 4. The rear of the car suffered moderate damage. Rosenqvist was unhurt.
That incident occurred just minutes after Colton Herta slid his No. 26 Gainbridge Honda through Turn 2 and then did a half-spin to the left exiting that corner. But Herta showed incredible car control to walk the tightrope between throttle and wheel input to keep the car off the walls.
