Alex Palou Scores 3rd IndyCar Pole of 2025 at Mid-Ohio

Right where he left off from Road America, Alex Palou continued to dominate the 2025 NTT IndyCar Season.

PALOU ON THE POLE! pic.twitter.com/CEEWzJA4dj

— INDYCAR on FOX (@IndyCarOnFOX) July 5, 2025

In Saturday’s (July 5) qualifying session at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, the Chip Ganassi Racing driver won his third pole of the season and ninth of his career in his No. 10 Honda with a speed of 125.017 mph. It’s his second consecutive pole at Mid-Ohio.

“Ever since I started with CGR, we’ve got great cars, but I would say we’ve always struggled qualifying up front,” Palou told FOX Sports 1. “This year, it’s been phenomenal. The speed we have in the cars in every single track we show up [to], it’s been amazing. Super happy. Tomorrow’s [Sunday, July 6] going to be a great day for sure.”

Firestone Fast Six

Christian Lundgaard was one of two Arrow McLaren’s to reach the Firestone Fast Six, slotting in second, far behind the flying Spaniard of Palou. Nolan Siegel posted a career-best start in his second ever Fast 6 session and will line up behind his Danish teammate in fourth.

“I feel great about tomorrow,” Siegel said. “I feel like our race pace this year has been solid, and it makes it a lot easier starting up front. Compared to Road America where we felt like we were fast and we’re starting at the back and have to go be aggressive and pass people, now I think it makes our day a lot more simple, and I’m really excited to get going.”

In his first ever Firestone Fast Six appearance, Kyffin Simpson was the biggest shock of the session. He finished third for his best ever start in IndyCar, blowing away his previous best starts of 10th at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course and Barber Motorsports Park earlier this season.

Colton Herta and last week’s polesitter Louis Foster will line up on row 3.

Position	Driver	Number	Team	Time from Pole
1	Alex Palou	10	Chip Ganassi Racing	1:05.0215
2	Christian Lundgaard	7	Arrow McLaren	+0.1911
3	Kyffin Simpson	8	Chip Ganassi Racing	+0.734
4	Nolan Siegel	6	Arrow McLaren	+0.9047
5	Colton Herta	26	Andretti Global	+1.1003
6	Louis Foster	45	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	+1.2183

Round 2

Kyle Kirkwood was surprisingly knocked out by Simpson as the session ended. Kirkwood topped first practice yesterday, but the Jupiter, Fla., native will have to catch Palou on Sunday, July 6, from seventh to keep the championship fight closer.

Kirkwood blamed being held up by an Ed Carpenter Racing car for his slower pace in the Fast 12 session.

“We got to close too them,” Kirkwood said. “They were just backing up. I don’t know what lap they were on or what they were doing, but we were probably outside of a second away, which I don’t think is technically impeding. That’s enough in a high-speed corner to cost you a handful of hundredths. Really upset about that, not going to lie.”

Marcus Armstrong represented home team Meyer Shank Racing in eighth, and Scott Dixon was the lowest qualifying CGR car in ninth.

Christian Rasmussen was about to bump into the Firestone Fast Six until he accidentally downshifted to the line. Instead, he finished the session 10th, but he will have to take on a six-place penalty and move back to 16th on Sunday.

Marcus Ericsson recovered from his crash in Saturday’s practice session for 11th, and Alexander Rossi rounded out the Fast 12.

Ericsson couldn't hold on 😳

The No. 28 bounces off the tire barrier in Turn 13. pic.twitter.com/8nIQF6uE7S

— NTT INDYCAR SERIES (@IndyCar) July 5, 2025

Position	Driver	Number	Team	Time from Advancing
7	Kyle Kirkwood	27	Andretti Global	+0.0361
8	Marcus Armstrong	66	Meyer Shank Racing	+0.1387
9	Scott Dixon	9	Chip Ganassi Racing	+0.1488
10	Christian Rasmussen	21	Ed Carpenter Racing	+0.1779
11	Marcus Ericsson	28	Andretti Global	+0.187
12	Alexander Rossi	20	Ed Carpenter Racing	+0.5193

Round 1 Group 1

Last year’s winner Pato O’Ward was the lone Arrow McLaren Chevrolet out of the three in this session to be eliminated. O’Ward is the defending winner at Mid-Ohio and will have to start in the middle of the field in 15th.

O’Ward was second fastest in first practice and fourth in Saturday’s second practice before qualifying.

Scott McLaughlin joined O’Ward as a surprise exit in group one, as he complained about being held up by traffic during his session.

“I genuinely felt like it should be easy to transfer there,” McLaughlin said. “It’s pretty bad.”

Siegel advanced at the last moment to narrowly knock out Juncos Hollinger Racing’s Conor Daly.

Position	Driver	Number	Team	Time from Advancing
13	Conor Daly	76	Juncos Hollinger Racing	+0.0388
15	Pato O’Ward	5	Arrow McLaren	+0.0541
17	Santino Ferrucci	14	AJ Foyt Enterprises	+0.0953
19	Sting Ray Robb	77	Juncos Hollinger Racing	+0.1118
21	Scott McLaughlin	3	Team Penske	+0.1345
23	Devlin DeFrancesco	30	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	+0.3408
25	Jacob Abel	51	Dale Coyne Racing	+0.9275

Round 1 Group 2

Team Penske’s nightmare season continues to get worse, as Josef Newgarden and Will Power both failed to advance to the next round of qualifying. Newgarden tied his worst start at Mid-Ohio in 18th, while Power set a new low, starting 22nd Sunday.

Dixon was last to advance, through, knocking David Malukas out as time expired.

Position	Driver	Number	Team	Time From Advancing
14	David Malukas	4	AJ Foyt Enterprises	+0.0117
16	Felix Rosenqvist	60	Meyer Shank Racing	+0.0125
18	Josef Newgarden	2	Team Penske	+0.0222
20	Graham Rahal	15	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	+0.0461
22	Will Power	12	Team Penske	+0.0478
24	Callum Ilott	90	PREMA Racing	+0.049
26	Rinus VeeKay	18	Dale Coyne Racing	+0.2249
27	Robert Shwartzman	83	PREMA Racing	+0.756

Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Qualifying Results

The 27-car field will take the green flag from Mid-Ohio on Sunday, July 6, at 1 p.m. ET. The broadcast will be provided by FOX.