MONTEREY, Calif. — Two-time IndyCar champion Álex Palou continued his mastery of Laguna Seca Raceway by winning the pole Saturday in a qualifying session dominated by Honda drivers.
It was the second pole of the season for the Chip Ganassi Racing driver who has finished on the podium in all three of his previous starts on the permanent road course here. He won the race in the 2022 season finale in what many believe was a catalyst in his decision not to leave Ganassi to join Arrow McLaren Racing.
“It was really tight all of qualifying. I am really happy, the car was on rails,” Palou said. “I think always starting up front is the best spot. Hopefully we can have a clean start, clean first couple of laps and hopefully there is not a lot of cautions that can screw our strategy.”
Kyle Kirkwood of Andretti Global qualified second in his best qualifying effort of the season. Five of the top six drivers in qualifying were powered by Honda.
Felix Rosenqvist of Meyer Shank Racing qualified third and was followed by Colton Herta of Andretti.
Alexander Rossi of Arrow McLaren was the highest qualifying Chevrolet driver in fifth. Christian Lundgaard of Rahal Letterman Lanigan rounded out the top six in another Honda.
IndyCar points leader Will Power, who holds the series record with 70 top starting spots, did not advance out of first qualifying group. Power earned his first win in over two years when he won two weeks ago at Road America in Wisconsin.
“I probably waited in the pit too long,” he said of his qualifying strategy. “You can’t screw around. Had the pace, just didn’t put it together.”
It was a trend for Team Penske, which had won two of the past three IndyCar races, as Scott McLaughlin was the only driver to advance into the second qualifying round. Two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Josef Newgarden was also eliminated in the first round.
“I think it’s just me today, I think our car was really good. I was just really struggling to put it together,” Newgarden said. “Our car was really good. I don’t think that’s the issue.”
McLaughlin was then eliminated in the second round — meaning a Team Penske driver failed to advance to the Fast Six pole shootout.
“I had a little slide through one of the corners and when you lose that momentum going up the hill, it really hurts you,” McLaughlin said. “You just can’t make a mistake.”
David Malukas, in his season debut, advanced out of the first qualifying group with new team Meyer Shank Racing. Malukas was…
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