Alex Palou put himself in prime position to defend his Indianapolis 500 title by winning the pole in qualifying Sunday for the May 24 race.
The Spaniard earned his second career pole with a four-lap average speed of 232.248 mph at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
The four-time and reigning IndyCar Series champion, Palou also won the pole for the race in 2023 and finished fourth. Helio Castroneves, a four-time Indy 500 winner, was the last defending champion to be on the pole for the following year's race in 2010.
"I have no words," said Palou, 29, of being on the pole for the 110th running of the Indianapolis 500. "That was incredible. It just feels incredible. Great start to the month of May.
"Did not expect it. You could see the celebration was really high (after winning the pole) because this morning when we woke up, we did not expect this speed."
Palou's No. 10 Honda for Chip Ganassi Racing is on the front row with Chevrolets driven by Alexander Rossi of Ed Carpenter Racing and David Malukas of Team Penske. Rossi, the 2016 champion, averaged a career-best 231.990 mph, while Malukas was third in 231.877.
Palou's wife, Esther, drew the 31st of 33 driver positions for him in the qualifying order in a blind draw on Friday night. Then qualifying was washed out by rain on Saturday, making Sunday the entire process for one round of qualifying runs and knockout rounds from 33 to 12 to six to determine the starting grid.
Palou was 11th in the first round with a four-lap average of 231.155, then was second-fastest in the next round (231.665) behind Felix Rosenqvist of Meyer Shank Racing. Palou's crew was able to make adjustments for warmer temperatures on a sunny Sunday at the hottest time of the day.
"I have to say being on the 31st -- thanks to my wife, by the way, for drawing that number -- I think being there allowed us to work on those conditions," Palou said. "It's not easy to do everything the way this team is executing."
Rosenqvist's Honda was fourth-fastest (231.375) to make Row 2 with the Chevrolets of Santino Ferrucci (230.846) of A.J. Foyt Racing and Pato O'Ward (230.442) of Arrow McLaren.
Katherine Legge qualified 27th in the No. 11 Chevrolet to start on Row 9. Legge plans to race in the Indianapolis 500 and Coca-Cola 600, which would make her the first female driver to complete the "Double" if successful on May 24.
The Double calls for a driver to compete in two premiere races, covering 1,100 miles with barely a moment to spare between the Indy and NASCAR Cup Series races. Five drivers previously have attempted the double since John Andretti hatched the idea and completed it in 1994 for A.J. Foyt Racing.
Legge, 45, is competing in the Indy 500 for A.J. Foyt Racing and plans to fly directly to the No. 78 car for Live Fast Motorsports in the Coca-Cola 600 in Charlotte, N.C., which starts a few hours later. She has entered and qualified for four previous Indy 500 starts and is the only woman in the field in 2026.
2026 Indianapolis 500 starting lineup
With starting position, car number, engine, team and qualifying speed (4-lap average) on Sunday:
Row 1
1. (10) Alex Palou, Honda, Chip Ganassi Racing, 232.248
2. (20) Alexander Rossi, Chevrolet, Ed Carpenter Racing, 231.990
3. (12) David Malukas, Chevrolet, Team Penske, 231.877
Row 2
4. (60), Felix Rosenqvist, Honda, Meyer Shank Racing, 231.375
5. (14) Santino Ferrucci, Chevrolet, A.J. Foyt Racing, 230.846
6. (5) Pato O'Ward, Chevrolet, Arrow McLaren, 230.442
Row 3
7. (8) Kyffin Simpson, Honda, Chip Ganassi Racing, 230.883
8. (23) Conor Daly, Chevrolet, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing, 230.712
9. (3) Scott McLaughlin, Chevrolet, Team Penske, 230.577
Row 4
10. (4) Caio Collet, Chevrolet, A.J. Foyt Racing, 230.539
11. (9) Scott Dixon, Honda, Chip Ganassi Racing, 230.347
12. (76) Rinus VeeKay, Chevrolet, Juncos Hollinger, 229.585
Row 5
13. (75) Takuma Sato, Honda, Rahal Letterman Lanigan, 230.995
14. (33) Ed Carpenter, Chevrolet, Ed Carpenter Racing, 230.829
15. (06) Helio Castroneves, Honda, Meyer Shank Racing, 230.811
Row 6
16. (21) Christian Rasmussen, Chevrolet, Ed Carpenter Racing, 230.705
17. (66) Marcus Armstrong, Honda, Meyer Shank Racing, 230.701
18. (28) Marcus Ericsson, Honda, Andretti Global, 230.667
Row 7
19. (7) Christian Lundgaard, Chevrolet, Arrow McLaren, 230.661
20. (26) Will Power, Honda, Andretti Global, 230.279
21. (6) Nolan Siegel, Chevrolet, Arrow McLaren, 230.213
Row 8
22. (45) Louis Foster, Honda, Rahal Letterman Lanigan, 230.212
23. (31) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Chevrolet, Arrow McLaren, 230.202
24. (2) Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet, Team Penske, 230.165
Row 9
25. (18) Romain Grosjean, Honda, Dale Coyne Racing, 229.791
26. (27) Kyle Kirkwood, Honda, Andretti Global, 229.067
27. (11) Katherine Legge, Chevrolet, A.J. Foyt Racing, 229.456
Row 10
28. (47) Mick Schumacher, Honda, Rahal Letterman Lanigan, 229.450
29. (24) Jack Harvey, Chevrolet, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing, 229.207
30. (15) Graham Rahal, Honda, Rahal Letterman Lanigan, 229.017
Row 11
31. (19) Dennis Hauger, Honda, Dale Coyne Racing, 228.982
32. (51) Jacob Abel, Chevrolet, Abel Motorsports, 226.169
33. (77) Sting Ray Robb, Chevrolet, Juncos Hollinger, 226.572
--Field Level Media
