Alex Palou strategically saved his tires for the final qualifying showdown and bumped David Malukas from the top spot to claim IndyCar Milwaukee Mile pole position.
The session took place at the iconic Milwaukee Mile, a historic one-mile oval track known for its wide layout and relatively low banking, which often makes overtaking possible but demands exceptional driver skill and car setup.
The qualifying order was determined by reversing the entrants’ points order for the session, with Jacob Abel kicking off the qualifying runs. He posted a modest two-lap average speed of 156.599 mph, setting the early benchmark.
As the session progressed, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Devlin DeFrancesco improved on this markedly, recording a two-lap average speed of 159.047 mph.
Meanwhile, PREMA Racing’s rookies, Robert Shwartzman and Callum Ilott, struggled to find top speed on the oval, with Shwartzman slipping to an average of around 158.010 mph, and Ilott posting the slowest time at 156.460 mph after unsuccessfully trying an alternative strategy.
Other notable drivers gradually rose through the ranks, including Arrow McLaren’s Nolan Siegel and Andretti Global’s Marcus Ericsson whose tactic of conserving tires for his final laps proved effective as he surged to the top of the timing sheets with an impressive 159.087 mph reading.
Short oval specialist Conor Daly further raised the bar by breaking into the 160 mph range, momentarily seizing the lead.
However, David Malukas took over as the provisional pole sitter with a stunning two-lap average speed of 162.256 mph, which lit up the timing sheets and had many believing that the young Chicago native might capture his first career pole position at Milwaukee.
Driving the No. 4 Clarience Technologies Chevrolet for A.J. Foyt Enterprises, Malukas demonstrated exceptional pace and control, backing up his talent and steady ascent in the IndyCar Series.
However, newly crowned 2025 IndyCar champion Alex Palou was strategically saving his best for last after a relatively conservative warmup at 151.187 mph to conserve tire life.
On his last and decisive attempt, Palou unleashed everything in his arsenal and ultimately bumped Malukas from the top spot with a two-lap average speed of 162.971 mph over 44.8422s, claiming the IndyCar Milwaukee Mile pole position.
This marked his sixth pole position of the 2025 season and the 12th of his career overall, extending his season-long dominance.
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“I guess I didn’t expect it,” Palou said. “I wanted it, and I felt really good after practice, but there’s been so many times that after practice I feel like we found something that I have confidence in.
“Knew my lap this morning (in practice) wasn’t a completely clear lap, so I was like, ‘I don’t know if I have much more speed than that.’ We made a couple of small changes to try and get a little bit faster, and yeah, worked out.”
Meanwhile, McLaren’s Pato O’Ward rounded out the top three with an average speed marginally behind Malukas at 162.078 mph.
Notably, Scott McLaughlin of Team Penske delivered a strong qualifying run, positioning himself in fourth ahead of Palou’s Chip Ganassi teammate Scott Dixon who rounded out the top five.
However, Dixon suffered a nine-place grid penalty for an unapproved engine change, relegating him to start 14th on race day.
This penalty moved Team Penske’s Will Power up into the top five starters, followed by Kyle Kirkwood, Josef Newgarden, Conor Daly, Christian Rasmussen and Graham Rahal completing the top 10.
The session was punctuated by two significant incidents that temporarily halted progress. Felix Rosenqvist backed his No.60 Meyer Shank Racing Honda into the wall at Turn 4, requiring attention to the damaged vehicle.
Additionally, Colton Herta experienced a frightening moment after losing control of his No.26 Andretti Global Honda in turn 2 and went for a soft spin at corner exit, narrowly avoiding impact with the wall.
The setbacks saw Herta and Rosenqvist qualify in the last two spots (26th and 27th).
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