Felix Rosenqvist will start the OnlyBulls Grand Prix of Portland from pole position. The Meyer Shank Racing driver beat Alex Palou by just 0.018 seconds in a thrilling Firestone Fast Six. Will Power was three hundredths of a second behind in third, followed by Marcus Ericsson in fourth. In a Honda-dominated qualifying session, Rinus VeeKay was the highest-placed Chevrolet driver in fifth.

Honda dominates opening segment

One of the key questions heading into qualifying for the Grand Prix of Portland was which tires the drivers would choose. In the opening practice session, in which both compounds were used, Palou had set the fastest time on the hard tires. Ultimately, however, everyone opted for the soft tires.

In the first group of the opening segment, it was Will Power who surprisingly set the fastest time, ahead of Alex Palou, David Malukas, Marcus Ericsson and the impressive Romain Grosjean and Kyffin Simpson. Among the drivers who surprisingly failed to advance were Louis Foster, Josef Newgarden, Pato O'Ward, Alexander Rossi and Marcus Armstrong.

The second group appeared to be slightly less competitive, but it also produced several surprises. Felix Rosenqvist set the fastest time, ahead of Scott Dixon, Kyle Kirkwood, Graham Rahal, Rinus VeeKay and Dennis Hauger, who helped put both Dale Coyne Racing cars into the Fast 12 for the first time since St. Petersburg. The surprise eliminations from the segment were Scott McLaughlin and Christian Lundgaard, with the latter finishing last due to a hybrid issue.

The opening segment of qualifying proved to be a bloodbath for Chevrolet. Of the 13 drivers eliminated in the segment, no fewer than 10 were Chevrolet-powered! VeeKay and Malukas were the only Chevrolet drivers to advance to the Fast 12.

Rosenqvist fastest in the Fast 12

The Firestone Fast 12 saw a rare mistake from Scott Dixon. Like Armstrong, O'Ward and VeeKay during practice, the six-time IndyCar champion hit the wall on the inside of Turn 1 and was unable to set a representative lap time.

Rosenqvist was also fastest in the Fast 12, with a strong VeeKay taking second. Kyffin Simpson impressed in third, ahead of Ericsson, Palou and Power. Palou's position was particularly noteworthy, as he only narrowly managed to advance to the Fast Six.

Palou's closest championship rivals, Malukas and Kirkwood, failed to make the Fast Six, with Kirkwood finishing seventh and Malukas ninth. The latter driver will also receive a six-place grid penalty following an unapproved engine change.

Thrilling battle for pole position

Of the drivers who qualified for the Firestone Fast Six, Simpson was the only one without a fresh set of soft tires remaining. The Ganassi Racing driver had used two sets in the opening segment.

Palou was the first to put in a very quick lap in the final segment, but Rosenqvist and Power were both still on faster laps at that point. Rosenqvist managed to go 0.018 seconds quicker, while Power suffered slightly too much wheelspin exiting Turn 7 and narrowly fell short of Palou's time. Ericsson completed the order in fourth, ahead of VeeKay and Simpson.

Full results of the qualifying session at Portland