Alex Palou grabbed pole for the Freedom 250 Grand Prix of Washington, D.C. on Saturday, putting the NTT P1 Award in his hands with a lap of 56.8993 seconds. The result sends the series leader to the front for Sunday’s first-ever race on the streets of the District of Columbia.
The pole matters because this is not just another street event. The race is 250 miles, 147 laps and 1.7 miles a lap on a seven-turn temporary circuit that runs around the National Mall and past historic buildings and monuments, making it the second-longest street race in INDYCAR SERIES history. Live coverage is set for Sunday at 11:30 a.m. ET on FOX and FOX One, and Palou will begin with an advantage after leading Kyle Kirkwood by 133 points with four races left in the season.
Palou’s lap came in the Firestone Fast Six in the No. 10 OpenAI Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. It was his seventh pole of 2026 and the 19th of his career. He called the effort incredible, said it was a privilege to race there and added that his car was on rails. He also said the lap was super-fun and that he could not be happier heading into Sunday’s long run.
That does not erase what Kirkwood did earlier in the day. The Andretti Global driver set the circuit’s qualifying record in round one with a lap of 56.7729, then still finished second after Palou went quicker when it counted. Kirkwood said he thought he had put in a stellar lap, only to see Palou go six-tenths clear in the final shootout, a swing that left him praising the effort even as he admitted, “He made us look silly out there.”
Scott McLaughlin qualified third, Christian Rasmussen fourth, Marcus Armstrong fifth and David Malukas sixth, though Malukas also brushed the wall after locking his front tires under braking in Turn 1. The order sets the front end of a race that is being watched as much for its symbolism as for its competition, with the first Washington, D.C. street race now fixed in place and the first question answered: Palou starts first, and everyone else has 147 laps to try to catch him.
Marcus Ericsson was the winner last weekend in Markham, Ontario, but the momentum on this Saturday belonged to Palou. If the gap on the timing sheet is any guide, Sunday’s race will turn less on qualifying speed than on who can keep control over a full 250 miles on a course built to reward patience as much as pace.
