LEEDS, Ala. — The battle cry in the NTT IndyCar Series is rapidly becoming, “Look out, Palou.”
Three-time series and back-to-back series champion Alex Palou of Chip Ganassi Racing continued his domination of the series on Saturday, winning the pole for Sunday’s Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix.
The driver of the No. 10 HRC Honda whipped around the 17-turn, 2.3-mile Barber Motorsports Park in 1:07.2918 for his first NTT P1 Award, the seventh pole of his IndyCar career.
“We don’t get many poles, so it certainly feels good to get one,” Palou said. “What an amazing day for the 10 car. This is a special place for us here with our first IndyCar win in 2021.
“It was super close. I got a perfect lap on the second run with the red tires.
“Can’t wait until Sunday, now.”
Palou’s lap speed was 123.046 mph. He knocked off Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin, who was second in the No. 3 Good Ranchers Chevrolet for Team Penske at 1:07.4387 (122.778 mph).
“I just had my eye on the on the timing pylon, and then I saw the No. 10 (Alex Palou) come and I was like, ‘Oh, it’s that guy again,’” McLaughlin said. “But congrats to him. Great run and, I’m just really proud of my Good Ranchers Chevy team.
“We managed to bring a car that was OK, but we weren’t great and, now this is back to sort of where I like it, and, just excited for tomorrow’s race.
“Nice and sunny with a great starting spot and see where we end up.”
Colton Herta of Andretti Global was third in the No. 26 Gainbridge Honda at 1:07.4576 (122.744 mph).
“I’m very happy,” Herta said. “This is a place where I’ve struggled in the past. We had some ideas in the offseason that we wanted to try here. It seemed that everything was working. Super excited and hope we can make something happen tomorrow.”
Team Penske’s Will Power, IndyCar’s all-time pole leader, was fourth, the first time he has made the Fast Six all season.
“Definitely excited to have my first appearance in the top 12, let alone the Fast Six,” Power said. “We’ve had very good race days, but that Palou guy makes it hard. Happy to start fourth. I think we can make something there. It might be a hectic race tomorrow.
“I’ve changed my philosophy and migrated to a certain way. The car doesn’t feel that different. You still have to get the most out of it. If you told me there wasn’t a hybrid in it, I would never know.”
Rinus VeeKay of Dale Coyne Racing was fifth at 1:07.9103 (121.926 mph) in the No. 18 Honda with young Nolan Siegel of Arrow McLaren sixth at 1:08.0470 (121.681 mph) in the No. 6 Chevrolet.
“It was execution to be honest,” Siegel said. “Going into this, we didn’t expect to be in the Fast Six. We thought we would be top 10, but we made the right changes and executed very well. We executed everything very well from all angles and it paid off.”
Palou, McLaughlin, Marcus Armstrong, Pato O’Ward, Siegel and Power advanced out of the first group in the first segment. Herta was the fastest in his group followed by Josef Newgarden, Christian Lundgaard, Kyffin Simpson, VeeKay and Louie Foster.
Power was the fastest in the Round of 12 followed by Palou, Herta, McLaughlin, VeeKay and Siegel.
Six-time NTT IndyCar Series Champion Scott Dixon of Chip Ganassi Racing drove off course on his qualification effort in the first segment and did not advance. He will start 26th in the 27-car field.
Palou won the first two races of the 2025 season and his worst finish so far this year is second in the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.
He intends to continue his domination Sunday at Barber Motorsports Park after grabbing the pole at the very last moment of the “Fast Six.”
“It was really close,” Palou said. “We didn’t know if it was going to be wet or dry, so we were all I think panicking a little bit. You didn’t want to get caught at the worst moment.
“The car has been really good all weekend honestly, especially at the Fast Six, I got the balance I wanted, the balance we’re looking for.
“I’m really happy with the lap, as well. Got a pole that we don’t really get many, many poles. Feels good to start up front.”
