Felix Rosenqvist bests Palou for INDYCAR pole at Portland

PORTLAND, OR — Felix Rosenqvist bests Alex Palou for the NTT INDYCAR Series’ OnlyBulls Grand Prix of Portland pole at Portland International Raceway.

This is his second pole of the season and the eighth of his INDYCAR career.

Rosenqvist’s 58.483 narrowly eclipsed Palou’s 58.502 for the pole.

But the championship leading Spainard will settle for the front row from second with the most constantly quick car of the weekend.

The odds-on favorite to win the event started the weekend on the right foot as he won the opening practice session. Then, he claimed second place in the second session to cement is winning potential.

Andretti Global locked out the second row with Will Power in third and Marcus Ericcson in fourth.

Rinus VeeKay once again flexes his qualifying muscle with another top five start from fifth. VeeKay finished the session as the fastest Chevrolet and was joined by Kyffin Simpson in the third row from sixth after he made his way into the Firestone Fast Six for the first time in 2026.

Kyle Kirkwood failed to join his teammates in the final round of the session but still finds himself towards the front from seventh.

Graham Rahal will start inside the top ten from eighth as he looks for his first top ten since his podium finish in Detroit.

David Malukas was the only other Chevrolet driver to qualify inside the top 12. The Team Penske driver will start ninth for the 110-lap event. While he earned ninth in the session, he will start from 15th after incurring a six-place grid penalty for exceeding the season engine allotment.

Finally, rookie Dennis Hauger nabbed his third top ten start of the campaign from tenth.

Notable Storylines

Caio Collet earned the same penalty as David Maluks and will drop from 18th down to 24th.

Then, the most successful natural road course racer will start last. Christian Lundgaard will round out the 25-car field after he suffered a powertrain issue during the first round of qualifying.

Below is the full starting lineup for the OnlyBulls Grand Prix of Portland.

Starting Lineup