The IndyCar field headed into qualifying at Portland International Raceway after two practice sessions left the fight at the front finely balanced.
Alex Palou set the pace in Friday’s opening practice, as the championship leader quickly found rhythm around the 12-turn road course. Marcus Armstrong then moved to the top in Practice 2, beating Palou as teams completed their final preparations before qualifying.
Grid penalties had already complicated the session before the first flying lap. INDYCAR Officiating announced six-position starting grid penalties for the No. 4 A.J. Foyt Enterprises entry and the No. 12 Team Penske entry after unapproved engine changes. The No. 12 penalty followed two unapproved changes during the Nashville Superspeedway weekend, while the No. 4 entry received its penalty for an unapproved change made after the previous race.
With Palou and Armstrong setting the practice benchmarks, and penalties set to reshape the starting order, qualifying at the OnlyBulls Grand Prix of Portland carried extra weight before the field even left pit lane.
Round 1, Group 1
The IndyCar Qualifying session got underway at Portland International Raceway with Group 1 heading out first.
Josef Newgarden was among the drivers in the opening group, two months on from the injury he sustained during the 2026 Indy 500. The Team Penske driver had only recently started braking with his left foot again, making his position of sixth in the championship even more impressive.
After a couple of warm-up laps, the first representative times began to appear. The order changed quickly as the drivers traded improvements, before Alexander Rossi moved to the top with a 59.011s.
Six drivers initially ran on the harder tyres: Alex Palou, Will Power, Pato O’Ward, Marcus Ericsson and David Malukas. Rossi led from Palou and Romain Grosjean in the early order, before Mick Schumacher showed a flash of pace to climb to third with a 58.859s.
With four minutes left in the session, Newgarden received a drive-through penalty for speeding in the pit lane. At the front, Kyffin Simpson stayed on the softer tyre and moved into first place with three minutes remaining, while Grosjean also found time and slotted into second with a 58.800s.
The final minutes brought another shuffle. Palou, who had been sitting seventh, improved to take the top spot ahead of Ericsson and Rossi. However, Power and Malukas refused to be left behind. Power jumped to first late on, while Malukas climbed to third as Group 1 reached its conclusion.
Round 1, Group 2
Group 2 then headed out, with Kyle Kirkwood the first driver to set a lap time. The Andretti driver opened with a 1:00.794, ahead of Scott McLaughlin and Scott Dixon.
With seven minutes remaining, the order continued to change as drivers built confidence around Portland International Raceway. Felix Rosenqvist, the 2026 Indy 500 winner, sat seventh at that stage, just behind Sting Ray Robb.
As the session moved towards its final minutes, Dixon became the driver to beat with a 58.629s. Nolan Siegel briefly slotted into second, but his lap was far from tidy. He slid through Turns 11 and 12 after working his tyres hard, which hurt his exit onto the main straight.
While Siegel struggled to complete a clean lap, his teammate Christian Lundgaard also found trouble. He slowed at the exit of Turn 2 and moved out of the way to let traffic through. The team told him to power cycle the car, hinting at a possible electrical issue, before clearing him to push again.
The final runs brought another reshuffle. Kirkwood took the top spot back, while Graham Rahal continued his consistent form to move into third. Dennis Hauger also impressed as he climbed to fifth.
Dixon then displaced Kirkwood at the top, but Rosenqvist delivered the decisive lap at the end of the group. The Swede posted a 58.424s to move into first place, knocking McLaughlin out of contention for the Fast 12 just as the Team Penske driver looked safe.
Top 12
The Fast 12 began with Rosenqvist setting the first benchmark, a 58.896s of the IndyCar Qualifying session in Portland. Palou soon bettered that effort, while Kirkwood continued to show strong pace in third.
Simpson, who had been impressive throughout the weekend, then moved ahead of Kirkwood to take third. Malukas also improved to sixth, while Grosjean remained inside the top six after another strong run.
Further down the order, Rahal sat seventh, while Ericsson, who will remain with Andretti for the 2027 IndyCar season, found himself only 12th. Grosjean also faced a disadvantage as the session approached its conclusion, with the Frenchman left without another set of red tyres despite his consistent pace.
Kirkwood then moved to the top with just over a minute remaining, but the session took another twist when Dixon hit the wall at Turn 1. The corner had already caught out several drivers across the weekend, and the impact tore a large chunk from the No. 9 car.
VeeKay then went quickest, before Ericsson finally found the pace he needed and climbed to second. That pushed Grosjean down to seventh and out of the provisional Fast 6 places.
All eyes then turned to Power. He caught a moment through Turn 5, snapped again at Turn 6, but still managed to improve to fifth.
At the chequered flag, Rosenqvist ended the Fast 12 fastest, ahead of VeeKay and Simpson. In a major surprise, Kirkwood failed to make the Fast 6 despite looking strong throughout qualifying.
Fast 6
The final segment of IndyCar qualifying in Portland began with all six drivers on red tyres, although Simpson was the only one running a used set.
Palou set the early benchmark with a 59.365s, moving ahead of the impressive VeeKay and Power. Ericsson and Simpson had yet to post representative times, leaving the order incomplete in the opening minutes.
With under three minutes remaining, all six drivers began to push. The top three initially stayed the same, but the lap times quickly came down. Palou lowered the benchmark to a 58.5s, while Ericsson improved to second. VeeKay then moved up to third and continued to find time as the session built towards its final laps.
Rosenqvist, however, delivered when it mattered. As the clock hit zero, the 2026 Indy 500 winner found the time he needed and jumped to the top with a 58.482s.
It gave Rosenqvist his second pole position of the season after Long Beach, while Palou missed out on what would have been his seventh pole of 2026. VeeKay completed the top three after another impressive qualifying performance.
2026 IndyCar Portland Qualifying results
