Alex Palou wins Indy 500 pole; two cars penalized

Alex Palou secured the pole for the 110th Indianapolis 500 on Sunday after IndyCar published a revised starting lineup that also sent two cars to the rear of the field. The Chip Ganassi Racing driver earned his second career Indy 500 pole and became the first reigning race winner to take the top spot since Helio Castroneves in 2010, according to IndyCar. The revised grid listed Alexander Rossi second and David Malukas third on the front row. The same lineup showed cars No. 4 and No. 24 starting 32nd and 33rd after their qualifying results were disallowed. ### How did Palou end up on pole? Alex Palou posted a four-lap average of 232.098 mph in the Firestone Fast Six round Sunday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, IndyCar said. Rossi qualified second at 231.990 mph in the No. 20 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet, and Malukas qualified third at 231.877 mph in the No. 12 Team Penske Chevrolet. IndyCar said Palou also won the Indianapolis 500 pole in 2023, making Sunday his second NTT P1 Award in the race. (indycar.com) The official series report said the Spaniard is the first defending Indianapolis 500 winner to return the next year and win pole since Castroneves did it in 2010. ### Which cars were moved to the back? The official starting-grid document listed car No. 4 and car No. 24 in the final two positions, 32nd and 33rd. (indycar.com) The same document identified No. 4 as Caio Collet of Dale Coyne Racing and No. 24 as Jack Harvey of Dreyer & Reinbold Racing. IndyCar’s event page and starting-lineup PDF reflected the revised order rather than the original qualifying classification. (indycar.com) The published front row remained Palou, Rossi and Malukas after those changes were applied. ### What is known about the penalties? IndyCar’s publicly available lineup showed the effect of the penalties, but the official materials visible on the series site did not, at the time of review, include a detailed penalty bulletin naming the rule violation for the 2026 case. (indycar.com) The starting grid itself is the clearest official confirmation that the two entries lost their original qualifying positions and were reassigned to the rear. A previous IndyCar penalty notice from the 2025 Indianapolis 500 showed the series’ standard remedy in this situation: cars found in technical violation were moved to the last positions of the qualifying session for which they qualified and then ordered by their Saturday times. That 2025 notice concerned Team Penske entries and is separate from Sunday’s 2026 case, but it shows the rule framework IndyCar has used for Indy 500 qualifying infractions. (indycar.com) ### How did the revised front row change the story of qualifying? Alexander Rossi’s second-place spot marked his best qualifying performance in 11 Indianapolis 500 starts, according to IndyCar. David Malukas’ third-place result gave Team Penske a front-row starter even after the revised grid pushed another car to the back. The official event page described Sunday’s format as an expanded qualifying procedure for the 110th running, with additional rounds used to set positions from the Top 12 and the Firestone Fast Six. (indycar.com) Palou emerged from that format with the fastest run when pole was decided. ### What happens next at Indianapolis? IndyCar’s live event schedule showed Practice 7 set for Monday, May 18, at Indianapolis. (indycar.com) The series schedule lists the 110th Indianapolis 500 for Sunday, May 24, at 10 a.m. ET at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The official starting lineup now has Palou on the inside of Row 1, Rossi in the middle and Malukas on the outside. At the back, Collet in No. 4 and Harvey in No. 24 are listed on Row 11 for the start of the race. (indycar.com 1) (indycar.com 2) (indycar.com 3)