Alex Palou adds a Mid Ohio pole position to his dominant IndyCar season

The Alex Palou show has rolled right on to Mid Ohio Sports Car Course.

Palou laid down a top time of 1:05.0215s to claim the pole for Sunday’s Honda Indy 200. It was the Spaniard’s third pole of the year, setting him up to continue his dominant campaign and chase a seventh win in 10 races with Chip Ganassi Racing.

The strong qualifying results have been a key differentiator for Palou’s 2025 campaign.

“Ever since I started with CGR, we’ve (had) great cars,” Palou said. “But I would say we’ve always struggled qualifying up front, so this year has been phenomenal. The speed we have in the cars in every single race track (where) we show up, it’s been amazing.”

Christian Lundgaard was Palou’s rival through the session, leading his group and slotting ahead of the three-time champion in the Fast 12. But the Arrow McLaren star fell .1911s short of Palou in the final round and had to settle for second.

Kyffin Simpson, Chip Ganassi Racing

Photo by: Gavin Baker / Lumen via Getty Images

The pair were in a league of their own when it counted. Series sophomore Kyffin Simpson was the unexpected star of the session, making the Fast Six for the first time in his young IndyCar career. But he fell .734s shy of his teammate Palou despite taking third in the final round.

CGR wasn’t the only team with a pleasant surprise in row two. Nolan Siegel wrapped up a career-best qualifying effort in fourth for Arrow McLaren. Colton Herta followed in fifth, with Road America polesitter Louis Foster capping off the Fast 6 after another impressive performance.

While Palou led for much of the Fast 12, it was Foster that that rocketed to the top in the closing seconds. Lundgaard, Palou, Herta and Siegel followed, with Simpson narrowly pushing himself into the final transfer spot on his final lap.

Simpson’s strength aided Palou, knocking championship rival Kyle Kirkwood out of the Fast Six in seventh. Kyle Kirkwood slotted in eighth, with Scott Dixon and Christian Rasmussen completing the top 10.

Scott McLaughlin, Team Penske

Photo by: Michael L. Levitt / Lumen via Getty Images

Marcus Ericsson and Alexander Rossi wrapped up the Fast 12. It was a good recovery for Ericsson, who suffered a sizable shunt at the exit of Mid-Ohio’s final corner in the morning’s practice session.

Lundgaard was quickest in the opening group, comfortably slotting .2923s clear of second-place Ericsson despite running two fewer laps and pulling off early. Herta followed in third, with Siegel sneaking through in fourth after a strong last-ditch effort. Rasmussen and Simpson capped off the advancing six.

Siegel’s late heroics eliminated a potential upset advancement for Conor Daly and Juncos Hollinger Racing. It also added to the woes of de-facto Arrow McLaren leader Pato O’Ward, who was the only team driver that failed to advance after slotting behind Daly. He’ll roll off 15th in the race.

Palou topped the charts in a stacked group two, leading Foster, Dixon, Kirkwood, Armstrong and Rossi. David Malukas fell .0117s shy of advancing, with Felix Rosenqvist, Josef Newgarden and Graham Rahal behind him.

It was another disastrous qualifying session for Team Penske. All three of the organization’s drivers failed to advance, slotting well outside of the quickest six qualifiers in their respective sessions. Newgarden led the group with an 18th-place effort in group two. Scott McLaughlin and Will Power were even worse off, setting themselves up to share row 11 in 21st and 22nd, respectively.

“I was just getting held up,” McLaughlin said of his run. ‘You get into a bad spot, you have to back off. You can’t use the tire at the right spot. I’m really bummed for the Odyssey Battery team. I genuinely feel like it should’ve been easy to transfer there.”

The Honda Indy 200 will go live Sunday at 1:00 p.m. ET on FOX.