Indy 500 Qualifying Results 2026, Sunday Times, Pole Position Winner and Reaction

After rain washed out Saturday's portion of the 2026 Indianapolis 500 qualifying, Álex Palou captured the Indy 500 pole at the legendary Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday.

Poor weather on Saturday made Sunday's qualifying a marathon event. However, Palou persevered by making it through the full-field qualifying and top-12 qualifying before beating out five other drivers in the Fast Six to earn a spot on the inside of Row 1 for the Indy 500 on May 24.

The full qualifying results and 2026 Indy 500 starting grid are as follows, courtesy of the official IMS website (average lap in parenthesis):

1. Álex Palou (232.248 mph)

2. Alexander Rossi (231.990 mph)

3. David Malukas (231.877 mph)

4. Felix Rosenqvist (231.375 mph)

5. Santino Ferrucci (230.846 mph)

6. Pato O'Ward (230.442 mph)

7. Kyffin Simpson (230.883 mph)

8. Conor Daly (230.712 mph)

9. Scott McLaughlin (230.577 mph)

10. Caio Collet (230.539 mph)

11. Scott Dixon (230.347 mph)

12. Rinus Veekay (229.585 mph)

13. Takuma Sato (230.995 mph)

14. Ed Carpenter (230.829 mph)

15. Hélio Castroneves (230.811 mph)

16. Christian Rasmussen (230.705 mph)

17. Marcus Armstrong (230.701 mph)

18. Marcus Ericsson (230.667 mph)

19. Christian Lundgaard (230.661 mph)

20. Will Power (230.279 mph)

21. Nolan Siegel (230.213 mph)

22. Louis Foster (230.212 mph)

23. Ryan Hunter-Reay (230.202 mph)

24. Josef Newgarden (230.165 mph)

25. Romain Grosjean (229.791 mph)

26. Kyle Kirkwood (229.607 mph)

27. Katherine Legge (229.456 mph)

28. Mick Schumacher (229.450 mph)

29. Jack Harvey (229.207 mph)

30. Graham Rahal (229.017 mph)

31. Dennis Hauger (228.982 mph)

32. Jacob Abel (228.169 mph)

33. Sting Ray Robb (226.572 mph)

In addition to being the reigning Indy 500 champion, Palou has won each of the past three IndyCar points titles, and four of the past five.

Palou is also the current points leader with three wins on the season, so it came as little surprise that he managed to earn his second career Indianapolis 500 pole.

While Palou clearly had a great car throughout the day, securing the pole was far from a certainty since Felix Rosenqvist was fastest in the first round and the top 12.

Rosenqvist faltered in the Fast Six, though, and Palou's average speed held up for the pole.

There was no shortage of support for Palou on social media following his impressive run, as fans marveled at his continued dominance of the IndyCar Series:

Earning the No. 2 spot in the field was another former Indy 500 winner in Alexander Rossi, who won the race back in 2016.

Rossi was in search of his first Indy 500 pole, and although he didn't get it, all signs point toward him being one of the drivers to beat next weekend.

Several past winners of the Indy 500 failed to make it to the Fast Six, but many of them could still potentially be contenders next weekend.

Scott Dixon, the 2008 Indianapolis 500 champion, advanced to the top 12, but didn't make it any further and had to settle for the No. 11 spot.

Many others didn't continue beyond the first round of qualifying, including four-time winner Hélio Castroneves (15th), two-time winners Takuma Sato (13th) and Josef Newgarden (24th), and 2014 winner Ryan Hunter-Reay (23rd) 2018 winner Will Power (20th), and 2022 winner Marcus Ericsson (18th).

Another notable result was Katherine Legge qualifying 27th and locking in her spot in the Indy 500 field as she looks to make history next weekend.

Legge announced this week that she intends to attempt the "double" next Sunday by running the Indianapolis 500 and the NASCAR Cup Series Coca-Cola 600 on the same day.

Only five different drivers have managed to run both races on the same day, and Legge will be the first woman to do so if she can pull it off.

The 110th running of the Indianapolis 500 is scheduled for May 24 with a start time of 12:45 p.m. ET, while the green flag will drop for the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway later that day at 6 p.m. ET.