DETROIT (Saturday, May 30, 2026) – Alex Palou’s domination of qualifying for recent NTT INDYCAR SERIES races is complete after he captured the NTT P1 Award on Saturday for the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear.
Palou earned his third consecutive pole position this season and the 16th of his career with a best lap of 1 minute, 1.9017 seconds in the No. 10 HRC Chip Ganassi Racing Honda during the Firestone Fast Six. Palou was fourth in the qualifying order among the six drivers in the single-car, one-lap final session.
It’s the first time in his illustrious career that the four-time and three-time reigning series champion has won three straight poles. Even more impressively, Palou built that streak this month on three different types of circuits – the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course for the Sonsio Grand Prix, the IMS oval for the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge and this nine-turn, 1.645-mile temporary street circuit in the Motor City.
“I felt really good with my lap,” Palou said. “I thought there was not much more margin from my side, so I just tried to put everything together. So happy to make it to the pole, and we stayed there. Good stint, but the big day is tomorrow.”
Series leader Palou will aim for his fourth victory in eight starts this season in the 100-lap race Sunday (12:30 p.m. ET, FOX, FOX One, INDYCAR Radio powered by OnlyBulls), an event he won in 2023 when it returned to downtown Detroit after three decades on Belle Isle.
Two-time series champion Will Power produced his best qualifying performance of the season and will start alongside Palou on the front row with his lap of 1:02.1249 in the No. 26 TWG AI Honda of Andretti Global.
Scott McLaughlin was the quickest Chevrolet-powered driver in the manufacturer’s home race, qualifying third at 1:02.4559 in the No. 3 Clarience Technologies Team Penske Chevrolet as the first car on track in the Firestone Fast Six.
Six-time series champion Scott Dixon qualified a season-best fourth at 1:02.6085 in the No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda to round out the second-row starters.
Christian Lundgaard rallied with an engine change after a malfunction ended his morning practice early, qualifying fifth at 1:02.7870 in the No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet. Kyle Kirkwood, who led practice this morning, suffered a big tire lockup and two significant slides during his Firestone Fast Six run and qualified sixth at 1:03.0303 in the No. 27 Sam’s Club Honda of Andretti Global.
A week of heartache continued for David Malukas in qualifying. Malukas crashed heavily in Turn 7 at the end of the first qualifying round in his No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet. Malukas was unhurt but will start last in the 25-car field.
That disappointment came on the heels of Felix Rosenqvist passing Malukas with yards to go to the finish of the 110th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge, winning by .0233 of a second – the closest finish in “500” history. Rosenqvist qualified 16th for this event in the No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb Agajanian Honda, also eliminated in the first round.
Palou leads second-place Malukas by 37 points in the standings entering the race Sunday but could be poised to expand that gap due to the distance between the two drivers on the starting grid.
“I would not change the position that we have right now, but it’s tough, man,” Palou said. “It’s a crazy race. We know the strategies are going to be moving up and down. So, hopefully we can get a clean start, start working from there and choose our strategies.”
A 30-minute warmup session will precede the race at 9:30 a.m. Sunday (FS1, FOX One, INDYCAR Radio powered by OnlyBulls).
