In 2016, Alexander Rossi stunned the IndyCar community when he stretched his fuel tank to the maximum distance and achieved his first career victory in the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Flash forward a decade and eight NTT INDYCAR SERIES victories later, Rossi nearly achieved another feat at Indianapoli. This time, it was on the qualifying aspect as he was within striking distance of notching his first pole position for the prestigious event until he settled in a runner-up starting spot for this year’s 110th running of the Indy 500.
The 2016 Indy 500 champion from Nevada City, California, entered Sunday’s PPG Armed Forces Qualifying session for this year’s Indy 500 with high momentum after steadily gaining fast pace through four practice sessions occurring this past week (May 12-15), before being the second-fastest competitor following the Fast Friday session (May 15) at 232.932 mph in 38.6379 seconds.
After having his name randomly drawn as the 20th competitor to qualify for Sunday’s session on Friday, Rossi posted a four-lap average-qualifying run at 231.58 mph in 2:35.4539. He was the sixth-fastest competitor following the first qualifying session. He then managed to secure the final transfer spot to the Firestone Fast 6 round by posting the sixth-best average-qualifying run at 231.005 mph in 2:35.8407 following the second round (Round of 12).
As the first competitor to qualify, Rossi capitalized on his final qualifying effort and set the early board while fighting through windy and warm conditions with a fast four-lap average-qualifying run at 231.99 mph in 2:35.1792. After the next trio of competitors that included Pato O’Ward, Santino Ferrucci and David Malukas were unable to leapfrog on the leaderboard, Rossi appeared to have his first career Indy 500 pole wrapped up. Ultimately, the reigning Indy 500 champion Alex Palou captured the final spotlight as he toppled Rossi’s run, which left the Californian and his No. 20 Java House/Ed Carpenter Racing (ECR) Dallara-Chevrolet team to settle in the second-place starting spot for Sunday’s Indy 500.
Prior to 2026, Rossi’s previous-best qualifying for the Indy 500 was third, which occurred in 2017 with Andretti Global. He had started in the top 10 for the event six times, with his latest occurrence being a fourth-place start in 2024 with Arrow McLaren. For this season, he will start in the middle lane alongside pole-sitter Alex Palou and third-place qualifier David Malukas at the start of the 110th running of the Indy 500.
Rossi’s second-place qualifying effort marks the first time that an Ed Carpenter Racing entry will start on the front row for the Indy 500 since Rinus VeeKay started in the runner-up spot in 2021. Though disappointed at missing the pole position for the 2026 Indy 500, Rossi was satisfied with the result. Particularly so, after enduring a week where his No. 20 ECR team had to change engines on the Californian’s Chevrolet entry during the second day of practice.
“It was a huge team effort,” Rossi said on FOX following his qualifying run. “These conditions were really hard today. It was moving for every run and we didn’t do anything the same for each of the three [qualifying] runs. Our last run was the best. That’s a huge win for the No. 20 Java House guys and a big win for Chevy to be on the front row. You hope for pole, but the front row here is so cool and something I haven’t accomplished in a really long time. [I’m] Thrilled with today and how it went and can’t wait to get on track tomorrow (Practice 7) and continue to make [the car] better.”
Rossi’s next task at hand is attempting to etch his name and face on the historic Borg-Warner Trophy for a second time for Sunday’s Indy 500 event. Should he achieve this feat, he would become the 22nd competitor to repeat as an Indy 500 champion and the first American competitor to achieve this feat since Josef Newgarden won in back-to-back seasons (2023-24).
It would also be the first Indy 500 triumph for Ed Carpenter Racing, a team in its 14th season of INDYCAR competition and second with Rossi.
The 2026 Indianapolis 500 is scheduled for Sunday, May 24. The event’s pre-race coverage will air at 10 a.m. ET on FOX before the drop of the green flag will occur at 12:30 p.m. ET on FOX.
