Louis Foster knocked out seasoned regulars in Qualifying to claim his first career IndyCar pole position at the 2025 XPEL Grand Prix at Road America.
The Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing (RLLR) rookie demonstrated composure and speed beyond his years after delivering a pole-winning lap of 1:44.5141 in the closing minutes of the Firestone Fast Six.
The qualifying format at Road America followed the standard knockout structure, beginning with all 27 drivers split into two groups for the first round. The fastest six from each group advanced to the Fast 12, from which the top six then progressed to the Firestone Fast Six shootout for pole.
Louis Foster’s journey to the remarkable IndyCar pole position was far from straightforward. After a cautious start in the opening round, he admitted to his crew that he was unsure if he would even make it to the Fast Six, suggesting they not use their best tires too early.
However, the 21-year old’s confidence grew as the session progressed to the Fast 12 where he narrowly secured a spot in the final round, setting up a dramatic showdown against some of the series’ biggest names.
When it mattered most, Foster delivered a flawless lap on used soft tires to ultimately claim IndyCar pole position for 2025 XPEL Grand Prix at Road America, defying the challenging conditions and outperforming more experienced rivals.
IndyCar Road America Qualifying Results and starting grid
Meanwhile, reigning series champion and current points leader Alex Palou entered the Fast Six as the favorite after topping both his group in the opening round and the Fast 12.
Piloting the No. 10 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, Palou appeared poised to add another pole to his resume. However, his final effort fell just short, clocking a lap of 1:44.6300—just 0.1159 seconds slower than Foster.
Andretti’s Kyle Kirkwood secured third on the grid after overcoming technical issues with his car’s MGU that limited him to a single flying lap in the Fast Six.
Scott McLaughlin was the highest-placed Team Penske driver in fourth, marking the only Chevrolet-powered entry in the Fast Six as Honda dominated the session.
Arrow McLaren’s Christian Lundgaard who had been quickest in the cooler morning practice found the afternoon heat more challenging and settled for fifth while RLLR’s Graham Rahal rounded out the Fast Six, giving his team two cars in the pole shootout.
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Will Power, David Malukas, Callum Ilott, Josef Newgarden, Pato O’Ward, and Felix Rosenqvist all advanced to the Fast 12 but narrowly missed out on the Fast Six. Notably, Ilott’s ninth-place qualifying result marked Prema Racing’s best effort of the season on a road course.
Power and Malukas both pushed hard in the closing moments but were unable to dislodge Rahal from the final transfer spot while O’Ward and Rosenqvist completed the Fast 12.
Colton Herta struggled with car balance and failed to advance past the first round for the first time in his seven IndyCar starts at the circuit, qualifying 16th. Marcus Ericsson and Marcus Armstrong also failed to progress, starting 14th and 15th respectively.
Robert Shwartzman, Santino Ferrucci, Devlin DeFrancesco, Christian Rasmussen, Conor Daly, Rinus VeeKay, Kyffin Simpson, Alexander Rossi, Sting Ray Robb, and Jacob Abel all found themselves outside the top twelve, with varying degrees of misfortune and missed opportunities.
Scott Dixon’s qualifying session was particularly eventful. The two-time Road America winner initially set a time good enough for the Fast 12 but was penalized for impeding DeFrancesco during the opening group session.
Race control determined that Dixon, on a warm-up lap, had inadvertently held up DeFrancesco who was on a push lap. The penalty relegated Dixon to 25th on the grid—his worst starting position ever at Road America.
