The reigning NTT IndyCar Series champion had a surprise for his mother, on the day of her birthday and just a couple of days before Mother’s Day.
Alex Palou scored the pole for the 2024 Sonsio Grand Prix, held on the road course of the famous Indianapolis Motor Speedway. He was able to overcome an extremely tight field of drivers, who were all extremely close around the infield road course.
“It’s a tricky place,” Palou told NBC after his pole run. “Any time you can start out in the front row it makes a difference in IndyCar. Looking forward to it, we only used one set of alternate [tires] in qualifying. It was my mom’s birthday today, so probably a good birthday present.”
Christian Lundgaard qualified second at the track he scored his lone IndyCar win at in 2021. Will Power locked up in one of the final turns but was still able to qualify third.
There were no wrecks or mechanical issues in any round of qualifying.
Firestone Fast Six
| Position | Driver | Number | Team | Time |
| 1. | Palou | 10 | Chip Ganassi Racing | 1:09.0004m |
| 2. | Lundgaard | 45 | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing | +0.0917s |
| 3. | Power | 12 | Team Penske | +0.1632s |
| 4. | Josef Newgarden | 2 | Team Penske | +0.2524s |
| 5. | Pato O’Ward | 5 | Arrow McLaren | +0.3316s |
| 6. | Scott Dixon | 9 | Chip Ganassi Racing | +0.5266s |
Round 2
| Position | Driver | Number | Team | Time from Advancing |
| 7. | Alexander Rossi | 7 | Arrow McLaren | +0.0185s |
| 8. | Marcus Armstrong | 11 | Chip Ganassi Racing | +0.0559s |
| 9. | Graham Rahal | 15 | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing | +0.0875s |
| 10. | Felix Rosenqvist | 60 | Meyer Shank Racing | +0.2307s |
| 11. | Pietro Fittipaldi | 30 | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing | +0.3082s |
| 12. | Rinus Veekay | 21 | Ed Carpenter Racing | +0.3299s |
Round 1 Group 1
| Position | Driver | Number | Team | Time from Advancing |
| 13. | Scott McLaughlin | 3 | Team Penske | +0.0048ss |
| 15. | Augustin Canapino | 78 | Juncos Hollinger Racing | +0.1248ss |
| 17. | Jack Harvey | 18 | Dale Coyne Racing | +0.1924s |
| 19. | Linus Lundqvist | 8 | Chip Ganassi Racing | +0.2055s |
| 21. | Marcus Ericsson | 28 | Andretti Global | +0.2606s |
| 23. | Romain Grosjean | 77 | Juncos Hollinger Racing | +0.2953s |
| 25. | Kyffin Simpson | 4 | Chip Ganassi Racing | +0.4283s |
Round 1 Group 2
Colton Herta ran out of fuel on his final push lap. He was able to get one hot lap in and was able to steer his car to a run-off area, but the points leader will start the race in 24th.
| Position | Driver | Number | Team | Time from Advancing |
| 14. | Kyle Kirkwood | 27 | Andretti Global | +0.0182s |
| 16. | Santino Ferrucci | 14 | A.J. Foyt Enterprises | +0.1107s |
| 18. | Theo Pourchaire | 6 | Arrow McLaren | +0.2286s |
| 20. | Christian Rasmussen | 20 | Ed Carpenter Racing | +0.2660s |
| 22. | Luca Ghiotto | 51 | Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware Racing | +0.2989s |
| 24. | Herta | 26 | Andretti Global | +0.3861s |
| 26. | Tom Blomqvist | 66 | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing | +0.4734s |
| 27. | Sting Ray Robb | 41 | A.J. Foyt Enterprises | +0.8869s |
Indianapolis Road Course Qualifying Results
Fast weekend to start off May; the Sonsio Grand Prix will get underway on Saturday, May 11, at 3:30 p.m. ET, with coverage on NBC.
Michael has watched NASCAR for 20 years and regularly covered the sport from 2013-2021, and also formerly covered the SRX series from 2021-2023. He now covers the FIA Formula 1 World Championship, the NASCAR Xfinity Series, and road course events in the NASCAR Cup Series.