By: Spencer Neff
May 30, 2026
NTT INDYCAR SERIES points leader Alex Palou earned his third consecutive pole on Saturday. The Chip Ganassi Racing driver will lead the 25-car field tog green in Sunday’s Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix.
He is the first driver since Josef Newgarden in 2021 to win three consecutive poles and now has four in the first eight races of 2026. Palou’s 16th career pole ties Colton Herta for 21st on the all-time list. It is his second on the 1.645-mile, nine turn Detroit street circuit. He also won pole in 2023, a race he went on to win.
Palou won the most recent street course race at Long Beach on April 19.
Andretti Global’s Will Power earned his best start of 2026 and lines up on the front row with Palou. Following the Honda duo was Scott McLaughlin’s Team Penske Chevrolet, fastest of that group. 2024 race winner Scott Dixon lines up fourth behind CGR teammate Palou.
On Row 3 is the most recent road course winner Christian Lundgaard of Arrow McLaren (Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course) and 2025 Detroit winner Kyle Kirkwood of Andretti Global.
Round 3-Fast Six
Following the second round, the six teams running for the pole would go out in order of their best laps from that previous rounds. Each strategist would also elect to keep their cars on the used alternate Firestone tires.
McLaughlin set the early pace with a 1m02.4559 lap (94.819 mph) but was swiftly overtaken by Power’s lap, which clocked in .331 of a second quicker (95.324 mph). Power’s teammate Kirkwood overcame multiple slides on his lap with a 1m03.0303 (93.955 mph).
Palou would then blister the field and post a 1m01.9017 (95.668 mph) lap. Lundgaard (1m02.787-94.319 mph) and Dixon (1m02.6085-94.588 mph) would each have a turn at fourth as Palou will start on the pole for Sunday’s race.
Round 2-Fast 12
McLaughlin (1m01.3334-96.554 mph) would post the best lap of the session, leading the way into the run for the pole with Power, Kirkwood, Palou, Lundgaard and Dixon joining.
Seventh through 12th on the grid will line up as follows: Patricio O’Ward, Marcus Armstrong, Christian Rasmussen, Marcus Ericsson, Louis Foster and Graham Rahal.
Round 1
As the first group reached the final three minutes of run time, rookie Mick Schumacher slid into the outside retaining wall entering Turn 7. The Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing driver made contact with the right-front wing of his car and stopped on the exit of the corner. Schumacher was docked his two fastest lapped, dropped to 12th in the session and would not advance.
Once the 10-minute session resumed, Meyer Shank Racing’s Marcus Armstrong was able to improve his time (1m02.2309-95.162 mph) and was fastest in the group. Along with him, O’Ward, Dixon, Lundgaard, Foster and Ericsson advanced.
Missing the cut would be Nolan Siegel, Dennis Hauger, Kyffin Simpson, Caio Collet, Josef Newgarden and the aforementioned Schumacher. Hauger was best among all three rookies who qualified in Group 1 together. These drivers will start on the inside of rows 7-12 in tomorrow’s race.
Six days after a heartbreaking second-place finish at the Indianapolis 500, Team Penske’s David Malukas crashed in Turn 7 as the second group’s first round of qualifying drew to a close. Last year’s outside pole sitter had suffered a similar fate to Schumacher and was dropped to 13th in the session after losing his best two laps.
Leading the way into the Fast 12 was Kirkwood (1m01.4887-96.31 mph), Palou, McLaughlin, Power, Rahal and Rasmussen.
Missing out on advancing were Alexander Rossi, Indianapolis 500 winner Felix Rosenqvist, Rinus VeeKay, Romain Grosjean, Santino Ferrucci, Sting Ray Robb and Malukas. The latter starts alone on the 13th row in 25th while the other half-dozen will start on the outside of rows 7-12.
Malukas will also start tomorrow’s race in a backup car.
Up Next
Here is the on-track schedule for tomorrow in Detroit. Stay with IndyCar1909.com and our social media for the latest on the NTT INDYCAR SERIES and the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix.
At-track schedule (all times local):
SUNDAY, MAY 31
9:35-10:05 a.m. NTT INDYCAR SERIES warmup, FS1
12:30 p.m. FOX on air
12:45 p.m. Command to start engines
12:52 p.m. Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear (100 laps/164.5 miles), FOX (live)
Header Image By Joe Skibinski/INDYCAR
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