Alex Palou continued his dominant run in the 2025 NTT INDYCAR SERIES on Friday, claiming pole position for the Sonsio Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course with a combination of smart tire strategy and blistering speed.
The current championship leader, who has already won three of the season’s first four races, secured his second consecutive pole position of the year—and his second straight for this event—in the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. By saving a fresh set of Firestone Firehawk alternate tires for the final round of qualifying, Palou laid down a flying lap of 1 minute, 9.3417 seconds in the Firestone Fast Six to earn the NTT P1 Award.
“We had a bit of an edge with the new soft tires,” Palou said. “Some teams used theirs in Q1, but we held on to ours. That probably made the difference. The No. 10 DHL car has just been incredible—fast all season, and especially fast today.”
Palou’s lap gave him the eighth pole of his career, outpacing Graham Rahal by 0.4099 seconds. Rahal clocked in at 1:09.7516 in the No. 15 Fifth Third Bank Honda for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing (RLL).
It was a banner day for RLL, as all three of its drivers made the Firestone Fast Six for the first time. Rookie Louis Foster impressed with a career-best third-place qualifying effort, posting a 1:09.8801 in the No. 45 Mi-Jack Honda. His previous best start was 10th at The Thermal Club. Devlin DeFrancesco matched his career-high qualifying position by taking fifth with a 1:09.9432 in the No. 30 EVTEC Honda—replicating his result from this track in August 2023 with Andretti Global.
“What a lap,” Rahal said. “The car felt great and balanced throughout the day. This is a big moment for our team. We’ve been strong here in the past, but having three cars in the top five is huge.”
Scott McLaughlin will start fourth in Saturday’s 85-lap race (4:30 p.m. ET, FOX, FOX Sports app, INDYCAR Radio Network) after a solid lap of 1:09.8910 in the No. 3 Sonsio Vehicle Protection Chevrolet for Team Penske.
Teammate Josef Newgarden, the two-time series champion and reigning Indianapolis 500 winner, completed the Firestone Fast Six with a lap of 1:09.9829 in the No. 2 Astemo Chevrolet.
Will Power narrowly missed joining his Penske teammates in the top six, finishing seventh with a lap of 1:09.9973 in the No. 12 Verizon Chevrolet.
Meanwhile, Kyffin Simpson continued to show promise in his sophomore season, qualifying 10th in the No. 8 Journie Rewards Honda for Chip Ganassi Racing—matching his career-best from last weekend at Barber Motorsports Park.
On the other end of the spectrum, Kyle Kirkwood—winner of the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach and the only other driver besides Palou to claim a victory this season—struggled in qualifying, settling for 21st on the grid in the No. 27 PreFab Honda for Andretti Global.
Teams will have a final 25-minute warmup session at 11:30 a.m. ET Saturday (FS1, FOX Sports app, INDYCAR Radio Network) before the green flag drops later that afternoon.
Sonsio Grand Prix Starting Grid
Qualifying: May 9, 2025; Race to be held: May 10, 2025
