By: Spencer Neff

August 22, 2026

Practice 2 Results Combined Practice Results Qualifying Groups

Swapping their positions from this morning’s opening practice, it was Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou on top of the leaderboard in second practice for Sunday’s Freedom 250 Grand Prix of Washington, D.C. The current NTT INDYCAR SERIES points leader notched a best lap of 56.6145 seconds (108.100 mph) on the 1.7-mile, seven-turn street circuit.

Palou can wrap up his fourth consecutive and fifth championship in six years if he finishes the race with a lead of 162 points or more. Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood, who trails Palou in the standings, was .0766 of a second back of Palou after leading this morning’s practice. Palou’s teammate Scott Dixon was third with the Arrow McLaren 4-5 of Nolan Siegel and Pato O’Ward were fastest among the Chevrolets behind the Honda trio.

Caio Collet of A.J. Foyt Racing was best among the rookies in 14th of 25 drivers.

Early in the session, Graham Rahal tagged the outside wall in Turn 6 before stopping in the runoff area. The Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing driver’s No. 15 was towed back to the garage area with driveshaft damage and practice resumed following the red flag. He was the only driver unable to finish this afternoon’s practice. All others posted their best lap of the day within the 40-minute “all-skate” practice or the 12-minute group sessions.

Shortly after, Rahal’s teammate Louis Foster made front-end contact with the same walls and prompted another red flag. Foster was able to drive back to pit lane despite the damage. The sophomore driver is also dealing with a sprained right thumb and injured left foot after crashing in Sunday’s Ontario Honda Dealers Indy at Markham.

Up Next

Here is the remaining on-track schedule for the weekend. Stay with IndyCar1909.com for the latest on the Freedom 250 Grand Prix of Washington, D.C. and the NTT INDYCAR SERIES.

At-track schedule (All Times Local/Eastern Time):
Saturday, Aug. 22
5-6:30 p.m. – NTT P1 Award qualifying (two rounds of knockout qualifying followed by Firestone Fast Six single-car pole showdown), FS2
Sunday, Aug. 23
9:15-9:45 a.m. – NTT INDYCAR SERIES Warmup, FS1
11:30 a.m. – FOX Pre-Race Show on air
1:06 p.m. – “Drivers, start your engines”
1:13 p.m. – Freedom 250 Grand Prix of Washington, D.C. (147 laps/250 miles), FOX (Live)

Header Image By Joe Skibinski/INDYCAR