At a track where he has enjoyed some of his greatest IndyCar triumphs, defending series champion Alex Palou took pole position for the Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey.
The driver of the No. 10 Dallara-Honda turned in a lap of 1 minute, 7.1465 seconds at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, edging out the No. 27 Dallara-Honda of Kyle Kirkwood by 0.0739 seconds.
“It was really tough, really close throughout qualifying to get to the Fast Six,” Palou told NBC Sports’ Dillon Welch. “It was really complicated because of the track conditions. As soon as there was some wind, you couldn’t finish the lap because there was no grip.
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The historic Monterey, California speedway moves to a new spot on the calendar.
“But really happy. The car was on rails today, so we hope to have a clean start in the first few laps and not too many warnings to ruin our strategies. “I’m looking forward to it, the car has been incredible this weekend.”
Felix Rosenqvist qualified third and the Hondas swept the top four and five of the top six positions. Arrow McLaren’s Alexander Rossi was the only Chevrolet driver to make it to the final round of qualifying.
It’s the second pole position of the season for Palou, who is five points behind Will Power (who qualified 15th) in the championship standings heading into Sunday’s race (6 p.m. ET, USA and Peacock).
QUALIFICATION RESULTS: Click here for Laguna Seca qualifying speeds | Round 1, Group 1 | Round 1, Group 2 | Round 2 I Round 3
Last year, in the final race at Laguna Seca as the IndyCar season finale, Palou finished third while celebrating his second title. In 2022, the Spaniard dominated to win by almost a lap on the 11-turn, 2.238-mile circuit.
Kirkwood will start in second place, his best finish of the season, his best qualifying effort since winning from pole position at Long Beach last year.
In his Arrow McLaren debut, Nolan Siegel qualified 23rd for his third career IndyCar start.
Here’s IndyCar’s starting lineup for Sunday’s Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey on the 11-turn, 2.238-mile circuit in Monterey, California (qualifying position, driver, car number in parentheses, engine, time and speed):
ROW 1
1. (10) Alex Palou, Honda, 1 minute, 7.1465 seconds (119.988 mph)
2. (27) Kyle Kirkwood, Honda, 1:07.2204 (119.856)
ROW 2
3. (60) Félix Rosenqvist, Honda, 1:07.2917 (119.729)
4. (26) Colton Herta, Honda, 1:07.2972 (119.720)
ROW 3
5. (7) Alejandro Rossi, Chevrolet, 1:07.3594 (119.609)
6. (45) Christian Lundgaard, Honda, 1:07.5112 (119.340)
ROW 4
7. (3) Scott McLaughlin, Chevrolet, 1:07.3994 (119.538)
8. (77) Romain Grosjean, Chevrolet, 1:07.4286 (119.486)
ROW 5
9. (5) Duck O’Ward, Chevrolet, 1:07.4900 (119.378)
10. (9) Scott Dixon, Honda, 1:07.5874 (119.206)
ROW 6
11. (11) Marcus Armstrong, Honda, 1:07.6143 (119.158)
12. (66) David Malukas, Honda, 1:07.8422 (118.758)
ROW 7
13. (78) Agustín Canapino, Chevrolet, 1:07.8976 (118.661)
14. (2) Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet, 1:07.7246 (118.964)
ROW 8
15. (12) Willpower, Chevrolet, 1:08.0178 (118.451)
16. (8) Linus Lundqvist, Honda, 1:07.8056 (118.822)
ROW 9
17. (14) Santino Ferrucci, Chevrolet, 1:08.0344 (118.422)
18. (28) Marcus Ericsson, Honda, 1:07.9233 (118.616)
ROW 10
19. (15) Graham Rahal, Honda, 1:08.0922 (118.322)
20. (21) Rinus VeeKay, Chevrolet, 1:07.9897 (118,500)
ROW 11
21. (20) Christian Rasmussen, Chevrolet, 1:08.3711 (117.839)
22. (4) Kyffin Simpson, Honda, 1:08.1571 (118.209)
ROW 12
23. (6) Nolan Siegel, Chevrolet, 1:08.6785 (117.312)
24. (30) Pietro Fittipaldi, Honda, 1:08.1824 (118.165)
ROW 13
25. (41) Sting Ray Robb, Chevrolet, 1:09.1304 (116.545)
26. (18) Jack Harvey, Honda, 1:08.4730 (117.664)
ROW 14
27. (51) Luca Ghiotto, Honda, 1:08.5078 (117.604)