Alex Palou will start from the pole position at the Indianapolis 500, his second career pole after 2023, and becomes the first defending race winner to start from the front since Helio Castroneves in 2010. The average of 232.248 mph in the Firestone Fast Six in the No. 10 Honda of Chip Ganassi Racing earned him the NTT P1 Award and the associated $100,000. Saturday's rain canceled all activity and forced all three qualifying rounds into a single day, with only one attempt per driver in each phase, which eliminated the Final 15 that the series had introduced for this season and turned every track outing into a definitive, no-margin-for-error session.

Photo By Penske Entertainment

The 2026 qualifying system introduced the Final 15 so that drivers positioned 10th through 15th would fight for the three remaining berths to the Top 12, a round designed to compensate for the lack of Bump Day with extra elimination pressure. Saturday was supposed to determine the first nine qualifiers directly advancing to the Top 12, but rain wiped out the day, and the series rescheduled everything for Sunday. All 33 cars went out in the first round, the top 12 advanced to the Top 12, and the six fastest from that session contested the Fast Six. Each driver had only one attempt per round, with no opportunity to correct setup errors or wait for better track conditions.

Palou made his first attempt from the 31st position in the qualifying order, nearly two and a half hours later than the first car to run, with higher air and track temperatures than those faced by the early runners. His average of 231.155 mph left him only 11th in the Top 12. The Chip Ganassi Racing team adjusted the setup using data collected in those conditions, and in the second round Palou was already second with 231.665 mph, just behind Felix Rosenqvist. In the Fast Six he reached 232.248 mph, and no one could get close.

Alexander Rossi qualified second with 231.990 mph in the Ed Carpenter Racing car, his best result in eleven participations in the race. David Malukas, in his debut with Team Penske, took third with 231.877 mph. Rosenqvist had led the first round with 232.599 mph and the Top 12 with 232.065 mph, but in the Fast Six he dropped to 231.375 mph and finished fourth. Santino Ferrucci was fifth with 230.846 mph, and Pato O'Ward closed out the Fast Six with 230.442 mph.

Photo By Penske Entertainment

Post-qualifying inspection found that the cars of Caio Collet and Jack Harvey had modifications to the energy management system covers and the mounting points of those parts, with unapproved components. The regulations state that those covers must be used as delivered by Dallara and fastened only with original parts and helicopter tape. INDYCAR nullified their times, moved them to the back of the grid according to each team's points, and Collet lost the three championship points he had earned for qualifying in the Top 12. Scott Dixon and Rinus VeeKay moved up to tenth and eleventh place.

Practice on Monday runs from 1 to 3 p.m. Eastern Time. The race on Sunday, May 24, starts at 10 a.m. ET, which is 8 a.m. in Mexico City, 9 a.m. in Bogotá, 11 a.m. in Buenos Aires, and 4 p.m. in Spain.

110th Running of the Indianapolis 500 - Clasification

Pos	Nº	driver	team	l1	l2	l3	l4	Gap
1	#10	Alex Palou	Chip Ganassi Racing	38.6518	38.7351	38.8190	38.8007	--.---
2	#20	Alexander Rossi	ECR	38.6984	38.7867	38.8416	38.8525	0.173
3	#12	David Malukas	Team Penske	38.8387	38.8036	38.8317	38.7809	0.076
4	#60	Felix Rosenqvist	Meyer Shank w/ Curb-Agajanian	38.8324	38.8981	38.9242	38.9367	0.337
5	#14	Santino Ferrucci	A.J. Foyt Enterprises	38.9326	39.0114	39.0319	38.9723	0.357
6	#5	Pato O'Ward	Arrow McLaren	39.1120	39.0353	39.0304	39.0441	0.274
7	#8	Kyffin Simpson	Chip Ganassi Racing	38.9509	38.9524	39.0335	38.9861	—.---
8	#23	Conor Daly	Dreyer & Reinbold Racing	38.9505	38.9202	39.0477	39.1206	0.116
9	#3	Scott McLaughlin	Team Penske	38.8132	38.9094	39.1338	39.2736	0.091
10	#9	Scott Dixon	Chip Ganassi Racing	38.9861	39.0478	39.1189	39.1334	0.156
11	#76	Rinus VeeKay	Juncos Hollinger Racing	38.7701	39.0720	39.3672	39.5955	0.519
12	#75	Takuma Sato	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	38.8096	39.0164	38.9970	39.0247	—.---
13	#33	Ed Carpenter	ECR	38.8228	38.8999	38.9634	39.2732	0.112
14	#06	Helio Castroneves	Meyer Shank w/ Curb-Agajanian	38.9344	38.9609	39.0517	39.0247	0.012
15	#21	Christian Rasmussen	ECR	38.9150	39.0450	39.0507	39.0327	0.072
16	#66	Marcus Armstrong	Meyer Shank w/ Curb-Agajanian	38.9577	39.0729	39.0640	38.9518	0.003
17	#28	Marcus Ericsson	Andretti Global	38.8881	39.1244	38.9797	39.0768	0.023
18	#7	Christian Lundgaard	Arrow McLaren	38.9735	39.0041	39.1059	38.9894	0.004
19	#26	Will Power	Andretti Global	39.0566	39.1165	39.1005	39.0587	0.259
20	#6	Nolan Siegel	Arrow McLaren	39.1381	39.0565	39.0580	39.1243	0.045
21	#45	Louis Foster	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	38.9572	39.1501	39.1178	39.1522	0.000
22	#31	Ryan Hunter-Reay	Arrow McLaren	39.0840	39.0919	39.1161	39.0923	0.007
23	#2	Josef Newgarden	Team Penske	39.0500	39.1264	39.1343	39.0991	0.025
24	#18	Romain Grosjean	Dale Coyne Racing	39.0827	39.2411	39.1688	39.1717	0.255
25	#27	Kyle Kirkwood	Andretti Global w/ Curb-Agajanian	39.1156	39.2012	39.2521	39.2207	0.125
26	#11	Katherine Legge	HMD Motorsports w/ AJ Foyt Racing	39.0628	39.1641	39.2822	39.3837	0.103
27	#47	Mick Schumacher	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	39.1352	39.1969	39.2847	39.2801	0.004
28	#15	Graham Rahal	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	39.1781	39.2461	39.3143	39.4551	0.297
29	#19	Dennis Hauger	Dale Coyne Racing	39.2606	39.2198	39.3836	39.3536	0.024
30	#51	Jacob Abel	Abel Motorsports	39.2897	39.3580	39.4642	39.6659	0.560
31	#77	Sting Ray Robb	Juncos Hollinger Racing	39.1902	39.5668	39.9292	40.2039	1.112
32	#4	Caio Collet	A.J. Foyt Enterprises	—	—	—	—	—.---
33	#24	Jack Harvey	Dreyer & Reinbold Racing	—	—	—	—	—.---