Felix Rosenqvist will start the 110th running of the Indianapolis 500 from pole position after the Meyer Shank Racing-Chevrolet driver topped a Fast 12 shootout compressed into a single afternoon by Saturday's washout.
The Swede's four-lap average of 232.065 mph through Turn 1's swirling wind set him 0.4 mph clear of defending Indy 500 winner Alex Palou, with Rosenqvist the only driver to bank three of his four laps above the 232 mph barrier in the cool late-afternoon conditions.
David Malukas made it a strong day for the Meyer Shank-Honda alliance from second-row territory, with Santino Ferrucci and Pato O'Ward locking out the rest of the top five. Alexander Rossi rounded out the front two rows, capping a quietly impressive Indy month from Ed Carpenter Racing's veteran.
Palou had been on the back foot all weekend, scraping into the Fast 12 in 11th from the opening qualifying round before the Chip Ganassi Racing driver clicked back into his familiar rhythm on the second run to secure the front row.
The headline shock, however, was Josef Newgarden's failure to advance to the Fast 12 at all. The two-time Indianapolis 500 winner — denied his bid for an unprecedented Brickyard three-peat by Penske penalties last May — was eliminated in the opening round and will start outside the top dozen, a serious dent to Team Penske's recovery narrative at the Brickyard.
Chevrolet's bowtie quietly remains the story of Indy month. With Rosenqvist on pole and seven other Chevy-powered cars feeding into the Fast 12, Team Chevy has done the harder of two halves of its weekend, ensuring its engine programme heads into race day with the speed advantage the manufacturer has been chasing through testing and Fast Friday.
Strong winds gusting to Force 4 in Turn 4 added an extra layer of jeopardy, with several drivers losing tenths in the back half of their runs as the IMS grandstand wind shadow shifted late in the afternoon. Rosenqvist's ability to hold his line through that turbulence proved decisive.
Track temperatures dropped through the session, theoretically rewarding the later runners, but no one bettered Rosenqvist's opening salvo. Palou, on his second attempt, came within an eyelash of dislodging the Swede before fading on his fourth lap.
For Rosenqvist personally, the pole completes a remarkable Indy redemption arc. The 34-year-old has flirted with the Brickyard's biggest moment more than once across his McLaren and Meyer Shank tenures, and Sunday's pole confirms that Meyer Shank Racing's 2026 step has been every bit as real as their fast Fridays suggested.
The 110th Indianapolis 500 runs on Sunday May 24, and after a qualifying weekend bookended by rain and chaos, the build-up has rarely been more open. Rosenqvist will lead a field that includes a returning Mick Schumacher, an Indy 500 debut for Bathurst refueller Riley Beggs in time with Juncos Hollinger, and the unresolved Acura/IndyCar realignment hanging in the background of the entire month.
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*Originally published on [Motorsports Global](https://motorsports.global/article/rosenqvist-indy-500-pole-2026-newgarden-bumped). Visit for full coverage.*