For the fourth consecutive race, Álex Palou starts on pole position. With a two-lap average at 174.353 mph (51.6195 seconds) around Gateway Motorsports Park during Saturday qualifying, Palou became the first driver to win four consecutive pole position since Will Power did it over the first four races of the 2011 season. Palou has won five pole positions this season, and with 17 career pole positions he is now tied with Emerson Fittipaldi for 20th all-time. At Detroit, Palou's victory was his tenth victory from pole position in his IndyCar career, and he became the 12th driver to reach that milestone. The only time Palou has won from pole position on an oval was the second race of last year's Iowa doubleheader. The Catalan driver has four consecutive top ten finishes at Gateway after finishing no better than 12th in his first three Gateway starts. His best finish at the circuit is fourth.
David Malukas was 0.3305 seconds slower than Palou over a two-lap qualifying run, but that is still good enough for a front row start, Malukas' fourth front row start of the season. Gateway is one of two tracks where Malukas has multiple top five finishes in his career. The other is Indianapolis Motor Speedway where he has been runner-up in the Indianapolis 500 the last two years. Last year, Malukas led a race-high 67 laps from fourth starting position. Three times has the Gateway race been won from second. Paul Tracy did it in 1997, and Josef Newgarden did it in 2017 and 2020. Both Tracy and Newgarden won those races driving for Team Penske.
Kyle Kirkwood has his best starting position of the season as his two lap run at 173.206 mph (51.9612 seconds) puts Kirkwood into the third grid position. In each of his two prior top five starts this season, Kirkwood has finished where he started He started and finished fifth at Barber Motorsports Park, and he started and finished fourth at Long Beach. Prior to his Gateway victory last season, Kirkwood’s average finish at the 1.25-mile circuit was 18th.
Indianapolis 500 winner Felix Rosenqvist will be thrilled to be starting fourth. Two weeks ago, Rosenqvist started fourth in the Indianapolis 500 and he went on to win that race. The Swede was 0.4178 seconds off Palou's qualifying time at Gateway. Coming off finishes of first and sixth, a third consecutive top ten finish would be a first for Rosenqvist since the first three races of last season. His best Gateway finish was sixth in 2024. He has finished 16th at this track in three of the last five years.
Scott McLaughlin starts in the top five for the second consecutive race. McLaughlin was 0.443 seconds slower than Palou in qualifying. This is the fourth time in six Gateway starts McLaughlin is starting in the top five. Prior to last year's retirement, McLaughlin had never finished outside the top five at Gateway. He has never won from worse than fourth starting position in his career. His best finish from fifth grid position was third in the second Iowa race in 2022.
Marcus Armstrong makes it an all-New Zealander row three. This is the second consecutive race McLaughlin is sharing a row with a fellow New Zealander. This is the second consecutive year Armstrong is starting sixth at Gateway. In his two visits to the track, he has finished eighth and ninth. Armstrong is one of three drivers to finish in the top five of both oval races this season. David Malukas and Patricio O’Ward are the other two drivers.
Tic-tac-toe, three Kiwis in a row, with Scott Dixon taking the seventh spot on the grid, behind his two fellow countrymen. This is the fifth consecutive race Dixon is starting in the top ten after opening the season with four consecutive races starting no better than 13th. With finishes of 15th and 24th in the last two races, Dixon is looking to avoid three consecutive results outside the top ten for the first time since 2014 when he did not have a top ten finish in the Grand Prix of Indianapolis (15th), the Indianapolis 500 (29th) and Texas (11th).
Josef Newgarden will start to Dixon's outside on row four. This is Newgarden's worst starting position for a Gateway race. His previous worst starting spot here was sixth in the first race of the 2020 doubleheader. The only time Newgarden has won from eighth starting position was the 2020 season finale from St. Petersburg. The only oval race he has won from eighth or worse was the 2023 Indianapolis 500, where he started 17th. A victory would put Newgarden level with Al Unser, Jr. for ninth all-time with 34 career victories.
Like Newgarden, Patricio O’Ward has his worst Gateway starting position. O'Ward will start ninth. His previous worst was eighth two years ago. In the last 17 races, O'Ward has 12 top five finishes, but all of those results have been finishes of either first, fourth or fifth. The last time he finished second or third was second in last year's Gateway race. He has six top five finishes in seven Gateway starts. The only time he has finished in the top five when starting ninth was the second Iowa race last year, where he was fifth.
Alexander Rossi rounds out the top ten on the grid. Rossi has qualified in the top ten for all three oval races this season. With a finish of 17th at Detroit, this is the second time in as many seasons Rossi has had a three-race streak without a top fifteen finish, something that had not occurred in Rossi’s first nine seasons in IndyCar. He has finished outside the top fifteen in four of ten Gateway starts. He has finished level or worse than his starting position in five of eight races this season.
Graham Rahal has his best Gateway starting position since 2021 as Rahal will roll off from 11th position. This is the sixth time Rahal has started in the top 12 this season. In three of those previous five races, he has finished third, including last week at Detroit, driving from 12th to the final podium spot. Rahal has finished outside the top fifteen in seven of ten Gateway starts with his best finish being tenth. This will be Rahal's 318th start and he will surpass Michael Andretti for ninth all-time.
Marcus Ericsson is 12th in the championship, and Ericsson has 12th on the grid occupied, the third time in the last four Gateway visits Ericsson is starting outside the top ten. Ericsson has not had a top ten finish in nine consecutive oval races. His average finish over that span is 18.888. His most recent top ten finish on an oval was fifth in the second Milwaukee race in 2024. He has finished outside the top ten in four of eight Gateway starts, including the last two years. He has only led five laps all-time at this circuit.
Rinus VeeKay is 13th in the championship, and VeeKay has 13th on the grid occupied. This is the seventh consecutive race the Dutchman is starting outside the top ten. VeeKay was sixth in the Indianaplis 500 two weeks ago. He has not had top ten finishes in consecutive oval races since 2024 when he had top ten finishes in four consecutive oval races between the Indianapolis 500, the Iowa doubleheader and Gateway. Last year, VeeKay went from 18th to seventh in this race.
Kyffin Simpson was 0.9506 seconds slower than his Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Álex Palou, and this is the difference between pole position and starting 14th for the Bommarito Automotive Group 500. This is Simpson's best Gateway starting position. He had started 22nd and 26th in his first two visits. After finishing ninth at Detroit, Simpson has yet to go more than two consecutive races without a top ten finish this season.
Santino Ferrucci will start 15th. In four of the last five races, Ferrucci has started either 15th or 22nd. Ferrucci was fifth in last year's Gateway race from 19th grid position. He has had at least one top five finish in each of the last three seasons, and he has had a top five finish in each of his five full seasons in IndyCar. Ferrucci suffered a mechanical issue during the final practice session last night, ending his session early.
Among the championship top ten, the worst starter will be Christian Lundgaard from 16th starting position. It is Lundgaard's best starting position on an oval this season. He started 17th in Phoenix and 18th in the Indianapolis 500. Since joining Arrow McLaren, Lundgaard has three top ten eight oval starts. Last year, he did drive from 22nd to sixth in the second Iowa race, and he went from 17th to sixth at Milwaukee.
Louis Foster takes 17th on the grid, the seventh time his season Foster is starting outside the top ten. He has finished in the top ten in two of the last three races, both of those results being seventh place finishes. In the two oval races this season, Foster has finished 23rd at Phoenix and 21st in the Indianapolis 500. He has finished outside the top fifteen in four consecutive oval races.
Mick Schumacher qualified 18th. This is now the eighth time this season Schumacher is starting 17th or worse. Prior to his contact with David Malukas at Detroit, Schumacher had completed every lap in the previous three races including all 200 laps in the Indianapolis 500. He has seen the checkered flag in both oval races this season. St. Petersburg remains his only retirement.
Christian Rasmussen matches his worst starting position of the season in 19th. Last year, Rasmussen went from 25th to third at Gateway, the most improved driver. Five of his six top ten finishes last season came from starting positions outside the top ten, four or which were from 17th or worse. Despite not having a top ten finish over the last nine races, Ed Carpenter Racing signed Rasmussen to a contract extension through the 2027 season on Thursday.
Caio Collet will start 20th in his first IndyCar race at Gateway. This is Collet's best starting position on an oval. He started 23rd at Phoenix and a disallowed qualifying time for failing post-qualifying inspection dropped him to 32nd on the grid for the Indianapolis 500. After being the best A.J. Foyt Racing finisher in the first three races, Detroit was the first time Collet was the best Foyt finisher since Arlington. All three times he has led the team were at street course races.
Will Power has a historically poor starting position for Gateway in 21st. Prior to this weekend, Power had never started worse than eighth in ten Gateway starts. He had started on one of the first two rows in nine Gateway races. Power is hoping to avoid his second streak of three consecutive results outside the top twenty in an 11-race span. He ended last season with two consecutive finishes outside the top twenty and then he opened this season with a 22nd in St. Petersburg. Power has finished 29th and 22nd in the last two races. In his last two Gateway starts, Power has finished 18th and 27th.
Nolan Siegel drops to 22nd grid position, his worst starting position since starting 25th at Long Beach. Siegel has four consecutive top fifteen finishes. His best career finish in IndyCar came at Gateway, finishing seventh in 2024. Last year, Siegel started 20th and finished 19th, one laps down. He does have five consecutive lead lap finishes, his most consecutive lead lap finishes in his IndyCar career.
Romain Grosjean's Gateway return has him leading an all-Dale Coyne Racing row 12. In four Gateway races, Grosjean's best finish was 12th in 2023. He had started no worse than 18th in his first four visits to the 1.25-mile oval. Grosjean has been cleared to race after undergoing surgery during the week on his right hand. He was injured in Detroit after Alexander Rossi hit Grosjean under braking entering the hairpin, spinning Grosjean into the barrier.
Dennis Hauger starts next to his DCR teammate on the outside of row 12. Hauger has finished better than his starting position in seven consecutive races. Dale Coyne Racing has had a top ten finisher in three of the last four Gateway races. In 2022, DCR had its most recent double top five day as David Malukas was second and Takuma Sato was fifth.
Sting Ray Robb will start last in 25th position, 1.9319 seconds slower than Palou in qualifying. This is the sixth consecutive race Robb is starting outside the top twenty. Robb is coming off his best finish of the season as he was 14th in Detroit, a ten-position improvement from his grid position. His first career top ten finish came at Gateway two years ago when he was ninth.
Fox’s coverage of the Bommarito Automotive Group 500 begins at 9:00 p.m. ET with green flag scheduled for 9:25 p.m. ET. The race is scheduled for 260 laps.
