Louis Foster takes inaugural NTT INDYCAR Series pole at Markham

MARKHAM, On. — Louis Foster laid down an immense lap to take the inaugural NTT INDYCAR Series pole on the Streets of Markham for the Ontario Honda Dealers INDY at Markham.

This is the first pole of the season and his second career series pole.

Foster entered the Firestone Fast Six already locking in his best career start on a street course but the Englishman had more to prove than that.

His 1:13.238 demolished any hope from the other five drivers to take the pole from him.

Six different teams were represented in the Firestone Fast Six and featured only one winner from 2026 in Christian Lundgaard. Lundgaard will join Foster on the front row after his time came in nearly four tenths down on the polesitter.

Scott McLaughlin will start third as he looks to end his dry spell for his first victory of 2026. Marcus Ericsson joins McLaughlin on the second row from fourth as he dawns new paint for the weekend.

Finally, rookie Dennis Hauger delivered another Firestone Fast Six from a street course. He will start fifth and starts alongside Rinus VeeKay in sixth. VeeKay has now made the final round of qualifying in the previous three events.

Top 12

The sheer challenge of the Streets of Markham even captured to the championship leader. It was a rare mistake from Alex Palou while leading the session that headlined the Top 12.

Palou’s crash meant the loss of his best lap time which added insult to injury. He and strategist Barry Wanser will have to work their magic in order to podium from 11th as this is the first time he has failed to qualify inside the top ten since 2024.

David Malukas will start seventh. Then, Scott Dixon leads the Chip Ganassi Racing camp from eighth with his teammate Kyffin Simpson in 12th.

Two of the three RLL Racing drivers were knocked out of the round after the whole team advanced the prior groups. Graham Rahal will start ninth and shares the fifth row with Mick Schumacher, who narrowly missed out of his first career Firestone Fast Six appearance from tenth.

Notable Starters

Kyle Kirkwood will start 14th after he and teammate Will Power failed to figure the Streets of Markham out throughout the day. Now, the top two in the championship will start outside the top ten.

Meyer Shank Racing completely missed with their qualifying program at Markham. The 2026 Indianapolis 500 winner Felix Roseqvist will start 17th with teammate Marcus Armstrong down in 25th and last.

Josef Newgarden concluded the second group with a meeting with the pit entry wall. The team will have to repair the front-end damage prior to tomorrow’s inaugural Ontario Honda Dealers INDY at Markham from 24th.

Simultaneously, Pato O’Ward spun and caused a local yellow. The Arrow McLaren driver did not follow the race directors rules and even impeded a driver which disallowed his time. The defending Canadian winner will start mired in traffic from 19th.

Below is the full starting lineup for the Ontario Honda Dealers INDY at Markham.

Starting Lineup