Summary Alex Palou takes pole for Sunday’s Freedom 250 in Washington with a 56.899-second lap, earning his seventh IndyCar pole of the season and extending his championship lead.
(Reuters) - Alex Palou took pole position for Sunday's Freedom 250 in Washington after posting a 56.899-second lap in Saturday's Fast Six qualifying session, his seventh pole of the IndyCar season.
The Chip Ganassi Racing driver was 0.567 seconds faster than Andretti Global's Kyle Kirkwood on the 1.7-mile, seven-turn street circuit, which runs along Pennsylvania Avenue and passes landmarks including the White House and Capitol Hill.
The Fast Six format, introduced this season for IndyCar's street-circuit events, is decided by single-lap runs in the order drivers classified in the second qualifying round.
Kirkwood set the early benchmark at 57.466 seconds despite a heavy lock-up at Turn One, before Palou went faster on the next run.
"It was tough during qualifying," Palou told FOX. "There was a lot of traffic, and it was difficult to nail the lap. But I was happy there was no traffic in the Fast Six, obviously, and my car was on rails, so it was super fun."
Palou's pole earned him an additional championship point, extending his lead over Kirkwood ahead of Sunday's 250-mile race.
"It's such a privilege to be racing here," Palou said. "It's a spectacular place, with spectacular fans as well. It's been packed all day.
"I'm looking forward to tomorrow. It's going to be a long day — 250 miles here — and it's going to be rough."
Team Penske's Scott McLaughlin qualified third. Ed Carpenter Racing's Christian Rasmussen took a career-best fourth on the grid with a 57.889-second lap, followed by Meyer Shank Racing's Marcus Armstrong and Team Penske's David Malukas.
