Alex Palou will start the Freedom 250 Grand Prix of Washington from pole position. In a chaotic qualifying session, the championship leader kept his cool and posted the fastest time in the Firestone Fast 6. Kyle Kirkwood will start alongside Palou in second, with Scott McLaughlin and Christian Rasmussen making up the second row.

Big Differences Between the Qualifying Groups

It was already clear before qualifying began that several big names would miss the Fast 12, as the first group was much more heavily stacked than the second group. As a result, drivers in the first group quickly began taking more risks, with Rinus VeeKay, Marcus Ericsson and Will Power all hitting the wall and losing valuable qualifying time. Kyle Kirkwood posted the fastest time in the first group, ahead of Marcus Armstrong, Alex Palou, Christian Lundgaard, Pato O’Ward and Felix Rosenqvist. In addition to Power, Ericsson and VeeKay, Alexander Rossi, Romain Grosjean and Graham Rahal also failed to advance to the Fast 12.

The uneven groups opened the door for some surprising names to advance from the second group. David Malukas was fastest in the group, ahead of Caio Collet, Christian Rasmussen, Scott McLaughlin, Nolan Siegel and a surprising Dennis Hauger. However, the fact that several unexpected names advanced did not mean there were no surprising eliminations. Both Scott Dixon and Josef Newgarden failed to advance, although Dixon appeared to be on course for a spot in the Fast 12 until his teammate Kyffin Simpson suffered the biggest crash of qualifying, preventing Dixon from completing his fastest lap.

Kyle Kirkwood Fastest in the Fast 12

All drivers managed to keep their cars out of the wall during the Fast 12, with Kirkwood setting the fastest time. That gave him the best starting position for the single-car qualifying session in the Firestone Fast 6. McLaughlin finished second in the group, ahead of Palou, Armstrong, Malukas and a surprising Rasmussen.

For the Firestone Fast 6, Kirkwood chose to make his qualifying run first, allowing him to take advantage of the residual heat in his car from the Fast 12 session. Surprisingly, McLaughlin chose to qualify third, allowing Palou to go second. After Kirkwood's qualifying run, Palou went nearly six-tenths of a second faster, despite both drivers running used soft tires!

Was Kirkwood's time really that bad? No, because none of the drivers who followed could match his time. Malukas also lost valuable time after locking up in Turn 1 and lightly hitting the wall, leaving the Penske driver last in the session and set to start the race sixth. No one could respond to Palou's blistering lap, meaning he will start the Freedom 250 Grand Prix of Washington from pole position!

Full results of the qualifying session at Washington

PhotographyHonda Racing HPD

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