McLaughlin, the 32-year-old New Zealander, pulled off a clutch flying lap in the waning seconds of 1m00.5426s (107.032mph) around the 1.8-mile, 14-turn temporary street circuit. Pole means he\u2019ll lead the field to the first green flag of the 2026 IndyCar season.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Marcus Ericsson<\/a>\u2019s No. 28 Andretti Global Honda also delivered a stellar run, falling short of pole by a narrow 0.0195s.\u00a0<\/p>\n Rookie Dennis Hauger, last year\u2019s Indy NXT champion, led a surprise outing by Dale Coyne Racing and vaulted to third, just 0.0317s behind. Reigning and four-time IndyCar Series champion Alex Palou<\/a>, in the No. 10 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, was fourth.\u00a0<\/p>\n David Malukas<\/a>, in his first race with Team Penske, claimed fifth, ahead of another Dale Coyne Racing Honda of Romain Grosjean<\/a> in sixth.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Round of 12<\/p>\n While the likes of McLaughlin, Palau, Ericsson, Hauger and Malukas made it through comfortably, the drama was centered around Grosjean. Despite being sixth-fastest and in the last transfer spot, he was penalized by Race Control for an incident in Turn 10 for \u201ccausing a yellow that affects another competitor (Rule 8.3.7.3),\u201d which leads to a loss of his best lap to that moment. However, he still managed to deliver a lap of 1m00.7452s to advance.\u00a0<\/p>\n The first out was Meyer Shank Racing\u2019s Marcus Armstrong<\/a>, followed by Pato O\u2019Ward in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet. Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing\u2019s Louis Foster<\/a> was ninth, ahead of Chip Ganassi Racing\u2019s Kyffin Simpson<\/a>. Felix Rosenqvist<\/a>, driver of the No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing Honda, and the No. 7 of Christian Lundgaard<\/a>, ended up 11th and 12th, respectively.\u00a0<\/p>\n Groups<\/p>\n The opening round of running saw some surprises from the first group as the Andretti Global duo of Kyle Kirkwood<\/a> and\u00a0Will Power<\/a>, who crashed at the start of the second practice earlier, failed to advance, with Team Penske\u2019s Josef Newgarden<\/a> ending up last after a mistake in Turn 13 in the final seconds. Newgarden will roll off 23rd on Sunday.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n The second group of the initial round saw ECR\u2019s Christian Rasmussen<\/a>, who also crashed in second practice, the first out, with Chip Ganassi Racing\u2019s Scott Dixon<\/a> directly behind.<\/p>\n ECR\u2019s misery was layered after Alexander Rossi<\/a> ended up last in the group, and as a result will start in final spot (25th) for the race.<\/p>\n We want your opinion!<\/p>\n What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?<\/p>\n