Alex Palou Takes Road America Pole for IndyCar Return

Alex Palou grabbed pole position for Sunday’s XPEL Grand Prix at Road America, giving the three-time winner a prime starting spot for IndyCar’s return to Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. Palou turned a lap of 1:43.661 and will start ahead of David Malukas, Marcus Armstrong, Felix Rosenqvist, Marcus Ericsson and Scott McLaughlin. Pato O’Ward was the fastest driver in final practice at 1:44.0029, but he qualified 10th. The result puts Palou in position to try to end a long Road America trend, since no driver has won there from pole since Josef Newgarden in 2018 and none of the last eight winners started from the front row.

The 55-lap race on the 4.048-mile road course comes with Palou entering as the defending winner and the 2026 points leader. He has already won at Road America from starting fifth, third and second, and the preview around the event points to Chip Ganassi Racing and Team Penske as the benchmark organizations at the track since IndyCar returned there in 2016. McLaughlin, Christian Lundgaard and Malukas were highlighted as strong contenders based on speed and recent form on permanent road courses, while Santino Ferrucci, Graham Rahal, Kyle Kirkwood, Marcus Ericsson and Marcus Armstrong were listed as sleeper picks.

IndyCar returned from a week off with practice Friday and qualifying Saturday setting the field for the race. Sunday’s warmup is scheduled for 11:00 a.m. ET, Fox begins race-day coverage at 2 p.m. ET, and the green flag is scheduled for 2:27 p.m. ET. The race will air on FOX and FOX One, with additional coverage on FOX Deportes and INDYCAR Radio powered by OnlyBulls. Fox’s broadcast team is Will Buxton, James Hinchcliffe and Townsend Bell.