Scott McLaughlin in the #3 Dex Imaging Team Penske Chevy at Gateway.
The Chip Ganassi Racing driver set a 174.353 mph two-lap average to beat Team Penske’s David Malukas to top spot by one mile per hour.
Malukas could only watch on in disbelief as his 173.244 mph two-lap average was blitzed.
Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood was third ahead of Indianapolis 500 winner Felix Rosenqvist of Meyer Shank Racing.
Scott McLaughlin was fifth for Team Penske ahead of Kiwi compatriots Marcus Armstrong (Meyer Shank Racing) and Scott Dixon (Chip Ganassi Racing).
Andretti Global driver Will Power had an early draw in qualifying and was 21st.
“The team I have around me, it’s incredible,” said Palou.
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“Honestly. My car was on rails today. It was incredible.
“It’s a place that I struggle the most so far. Hopefully we can change it tomorrow.
“I knew this morning that our car was super quick. The #10 Honda Honda had a lot of power, but I did not really expect to get the pole here today, honestly.
“It’s just incredible. Super proud. I cannot wait for tomorrow.”
In his four previous visits to Gateway, Palou has never finished higher than fourth but no lower than ninth.
Palou leads the series standings on 327 points ahead of Kirkwood on 265 points.
Monday’s IndyCar race at Gateway gets underway at 11:25am AEST.
Results: IndyCar Series Bommarito Automotive Group 500, Qualifying
Pos
Num
Driver
Team
Lap 1
Lap 2
Time
Speed (mph)
1
10
Alex Palou
Chip Ganassi Racing
25.7195
25.9000
51.6195
174.353
2
12
David Malukas
Team Penske
25.9024
26.0476
51.9500
173.244
3
27
Kyle Kirkwood
Andretti Global w/ Curb-Agajanian
25.9753
25.9859
51.9612
173.206
4
60
Felix Rosenqvist
Meyer Shank w/ Curb-Agajanian
25.9592
26.0781
52.0373
172.953
5
3
Scott McLaughlin
Team Penske
25.9450
26.1175
52.0625
172.869
6
66
Marcus Armstrong
Meyer Shank w/ Curb-Agajanian
26.0724
26.1068
52.1792
172.483
7
9
Scott Dixon
Chip Ganassi Racing
26.0340
26.1467
52.1807
172.478
8
2
Josef Newgarden
Team Penske
26.0260
26.1736
52.1996
172.415
9
5
Pato O’Ward
Arrow McLaren
26.2412
26.0868
52.3280
171.992
10
20
Alexander Rossi
ECR
26.1412
26.2078
52.3490
171.923
11
15
Graham Rahal
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
26.2634
26.2213
52.4847
171.479
12
28
Marcus Ericsson
Andretti Global
26.3296
26.1840
52.5136
171.384
13
76
Rinus VeeKay
Juncos Hollinger Racing
26.2721
26.2980
52.5701
171.200
14
8
Kyffin Simpson
Chip Ganassi Racing
26.3756
26.2103
52.5859
171.149
15
14
Santino Ferrucci
A.J. Foyt Enterprises
26.3731
26.2621
52.6352
170.988
16
7
Christian Lundgaard
Arrow McLaren
26.2778
26.3672
52.6450
170.956
17
45
Louis Foster
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
26.3437
26.4208
52.7645
170.569
18
47
Mick Schumacher
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
26.4258
26.4252
52.8510
170.290
19
21
Christian Rasmussen
ECR
26.4473
26.4610
52.9083
170.106
20
4
Caio Collet
A.J. Foyt Enterprises
26.4932
26.4157
52.9089
170.104
21
26
Will Power
Andretti Global
26.5640
26.4802
53.0442
169.670
22
6
Nolan Siegel
Arrow McLaren
26.6388
26.5946
53.2334
169.067
23
18
Romain Grosjean
Dale Coyne Racing
26.6362
26.6130
53.2492
169.017
24
19
Dennis Hauger
Dale Coyne Racing
26.6890
26.6504
53.3394
168.731
25
77
Sting Ray Robb
Juncos Hollinger Racing
26.8616
26.6898
53.5514
168.063