Detroit — Will Power, who has more poles than any IndyCar series driver, thought maybe he had broken through this season and finally earned a pole. But then, there was Alex Palou, the current series points leader.
Palou won his third straight pole and 16th of his career on Saturday at the 1.7-mile, nine-turn Detroit Grand Prix circuit ahead of Sunday’s race. Power set the pace among the six fastest IndyCar qualifiers with a lap of 1:02.1249 in the Andretti Global No. 26 TWG AI Honda, but Palou came through with the fastest lap of 01:01.9017 in the No. 10 HRC Chip Ganassi Racing Honda during the Firestone Fast Six. He was the fourth of six qualifiers in the one-lap final session.
“I was close to pole, man,” said Power, who has 71 career poles. “Damn. Just that one guy all the time.”
Palou, who has won four IndyCar championships, including the last three, has won the three straight poles in May on three types of circuits — the road course at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, then the Indianapolis 500 speedway oval and now the street course in Detroit.
“I knew I left a little on the table, and you definitely scooped that up,” Power said to Palou after he joined him for the post-qualifying news conference.
“I tried,” Palou responded, smiling. “When I saw your lap time, I’m like, man, that’s fast.”
Palou, who won the 2023 Detroit Grand Prix when it returned to the downtown streets after moving from Belle Isle after three decades, is looking for his fourth victory in eight starts this season.
“It’s super satisfying. It’s incredible,” Palou said of winning the pole. “Poles are cool, (but) it doesn’t pay as much as tomorrow. Sadly, we haven’t won any of the last two races that we started on pole. It’s just super satisfying for today, but at the same time, as we’ve seen the past two races, it doesn’t really mean we’re going to have more chances to win.”
It will be Palou and Power starting from the front row with Scott McLaughlin, in the No. 3 Clarience Technologies Team Penske Chevrolet, and six-times series champion Scott Dixon in the No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda starting in the second row.
Defending race champion Kyle Kirkwood led the Saturday morning practice, but he had a tire lockup and two slides during his Fast Six run and qualified sixth. David Malukas, driving the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet, crashed hard in Turn 7 at the end of the first qualifying round. He was not injured but will start last in the 25-car field, a week after being passed by Felix Rosenqvist at the end of the Indianapolis 500 in the closest finish in race history. Rosenqvist will start 16th.
Palou leads Malukas by 37 points in the series standings and could build a bigger cushion with Sunday’s Detroit Grand Prix.
This track is known for being tight and its bumpy surface. Power said he anticipates “mayhem” in the Detroit Grand Prix.
“Because it’s such an epic track to drive,” Power said. “You’re just threading the needle. I love it for that. I think it’s a really cool track. It’s one of my favorites. There’s just no room for error.”
angelique.chengelis@detroitnews.com
@chengelis
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Alex Palou wins 3rd straight pole, will lead Detroit Grand Prix field
Reporting by Angelique S. Chengelis, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
