That education in practice paid off Saturday, as 2021 NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion Alex Palou will start the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear on Sunday from the best position – pole.
2021 series champion Palou earned his third career pole and second in a row – he also won the NTT P1 Award for the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge last month – in the No. 10 Ridgeline Lubricants Honda fielded by Chip Ganassi Racing. His best lap of 1 minute, 1.8592 seconds with 70 seconds left in the Firestone Fast Six withstood a handful of attempts to topple it.
Scott McLaughlin will join championship leader Palou on the front row after his best lap of 1:02.1592 in the No. 3 Gallagher Insurance Team Penske Chevrolet.
Romain Grosjean qualified third at 1:02.2896 in the No. 28 DHL Honda. Six-time series champion Scott Dixon, who led practice Saturday morning, will join Grosjean in Row 2 after qualifying fourth at 1:02.4272 in the No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda.
Newly crowned Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge winner Josef Newgarden overcame the fatigue of a hectic week of celebration and media and sponsor activities after his dramatic Indy victory to qualify fifth at 1:02.5223 in the No. 2 Hitachi Team Penske Chevrolet. Marcus Ericsson rounded out the Firestone Fast Six at 1:02.6184 in the No. 8 Huski Ice Spritz Honda.
McLaughlin was one of the last drivers on a flying lap during the Firestone Fast Six but couldn’t eclipse Palou’s best lap.
“Credit to him – great lap,” McLaughlin said. “Man, this is a tough old joint here. You’re wheeling it pretty hard. We just didn’t quite have it, but this is a great result for us in the Gallagher Chevy. This is a real tough challenge.”
Marcus Armstrong was the top qualifier among the four rookies in the field, 11th in the No. 11 The American Legion Honda at 1:02.2958.
Qualifying Results (qualifying position, car number in parentheses, driver, chassis-engine, time and speed in parentheses)
1/ (10) Alex Palou, Honda, 01:01.8592 (95.734)
2/ (3) Scott McLaughlin, Chevrolet, 01:02.1592 (95.271)
3/ (28) Romain Grosjean, Honda, 01:02.2896 (95.072)
4/ (9) Scott Dixon, Honda, 01:02.4272 (94.862)
5/ (2) Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet, 01:02.5223 (94.718)
6/ (8) Marcus Ericsson, Honda, 01:02.6184 (94.573)
7/ (12) Will Power, Chevrolet, 01:02.1817 (95.237)
8/ (60) Simon Pagenaud, Honda, 01:02.1860 (95.230)
9/ (6) Felix Rosenqvist, Chevrolet, 01:02.1937 (95.219)
10/ (5) Pato O’Ward, Chevrolet, 01:02.2564 (95.123)
11/ (11) Marcus Armstrong, Honda, 01:02.2958 (95.063)
12/ (27) Kyle Kirkwood, Honda, 01:04.6075 (91.661)
13/ (7) Alexander Rossi, Chevrolet, 01:02.5714 (94.644)
14/ (21) Rinus VeeKay, Chevrolet, 01:02.1911 (95.223)
15/ (20) Conor Daly, Chevrolet, 01:02.9522 (94.071)
16/ (77) Callum Ilott, Chevrolet, 01:02.2644 (95.111)
17/ (29) Devlin DeFrancesco, Honda, 01:03.0017 (93.997)
18/ (45) Christian Lundgaard, Honda, 01:02.6495 (94.526)
19/ (55) Benjamin Pedersen, Chevrolet, 01:03.1599 (93.762)
20/ (78) Agustin Canapino, Chevrolet, 01:02.9071 (94.139)
21/ (18) David Malukas, Honda, 01:03.2126 (93.684)
22/ (14) Santino Ferrucci, Chevrolet, 01:02.9589 (94.061)
23/ (06) Helio Castroneves, Honda, 01:03.3879 (93.425)
24/ (26) Colton Herta, Honda, 01:03.4165 (93.383)
25/ (30) Jack Harvey, Honda, 01:03.7728 (92.861)
26/ (51) Sting Ray Robb, Honda, 01:03.7496 (92.895)
27/ (15) Graham Rahal, Honda, 01:03.8663 (92.725)
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