Alex Palou keeps finding new ways to tighten his grip on the IndyCar season — and the latest arrived in qualifying for the Bommarito Automotive Group 500. The championship leader put his car on pole at World Wide Technology Raceway with a two-lap average of 174.353 mph, his fourth consecutive pole. He is the first driver since Will Power in 2011 to string four in a row.
Palou did not see it coming. Asked if he had expected pole, he said, "Not this morning when I was here at the press conference earlier, no." His own targets had been more modest: "We were shooting for always pole, but I think in my head was more like if it's great, we can be like top five, P1 or 5." The result, he said, carried real weight. "I think this pole, it actually means a lot more than what people might think. I've been preparing a lot for this race and for this qualifying. I'm very, very happy that it worked out."
There is a catch, and Palou knows it better than anyone. The short oval has a long habit of punishing front-row starters. "This track in particular, I think it's been the last 23 years or something I heard that nobody has won from pole," he said. Short ovals are his weakest discipline, too: his average finish in seven WWTR starts is 10.7, with a best of fourth in 2024.
David Malukas, who qualified second by just over a tenth at 173.944 mph, sensed the pole was gone the moment Palou went out last. "I had a strong feeling we weren't going to get it there because Palou was going last," Malukas said. "I think for the situation to get P2 that was really good for us." Kyle Kirkwood, last year's WWTR winner and Palou's nearest rival in the standings, lined up third.
The driver with the strongest Gateway record starts deep in the field. Josef Newgarden has won here five times — 2017, 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2024 — yet sits 11th in the championship, 185 points adrift. He remains defiant. "We can win any weekend. I always believe that," Newgarden said, crediting Team Penske's oval package: "We've had incredible oval cars consistently over the last five, six years."
For Palou, a 62-point cushion over Kirkwood means pole is a bonus rather than a necessity, though he would happily take the mental edge. "Hopefully — I would love to," he said when asked about a psychological advantage. But if Gateway's history holds on Sunday night, the most important name may not be the one starting first.
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*Originally published on [Motorsports Global](https://motorsports.global/article/palou-takes-fourth-straight-pole-but-gateway-history-looms). Visit for full coverage.*
