Drivers are ready for the 2026 IndyCar Qualifying in Washington. Who will take the top spot for the first ever race around the streets of the Capital City? Andretti’s Kyle Kirkwood had topped Practice 1, whereas the second practice saw championship leader Alex Palou emerge as a strong contender.
The Ganassi driver could win his fifth IndyCar title tomorrow already, if he has a perfect race and several title rivals encounter issues. For sure, Malukas and Kirkwood will aim for a high starting spot to try and ruin his party.
AJ Foyt’s Santino Ferrucci has taken up an additional engine, and will serve a six-place grid penalty.
Group 1 is on track for IndyCar Washington Qualifying
Lundgaard, Ericsson, Veekay, Rossi, Rahal, Grosjean, Palou, Kirkwood, O’Ward, Rosenqvist and Power compose the first group of drivers. It’ll be incredibly tight as several key figures are involved.
After the first set of out laps, Veekay leads in 57.49 from Armstrong, Palou, Power and Rosenqvist. Several drivers returned in the pits to swap their hards for softs.
Championship contenders Palou and Kirkwood set fast laps consequently, in 57.23 and 57.8.
VeeKay hits the wall at Turn 1, severely damaging his Dale Coyne Racing car and ending prematurely his qualifying. Latest race winner in Markham Marcus Ericsson is on the bubble with three minutes left in the session, had a very fast lap in which he went at the very limit, in a 57.219.
Times begin to significantly decrease, as Rosenqvist goes fastest, replaced by Palou, O’Ward and Armstrong.
Ericsson’s steeling wheel is shown very bent, as he returns into the pits following a Turn 1 hit. Replays show his teammate Will Power too slamming into the wall, with consequences for his challenger too.
Rossi was the last man on a flying lap, but it results only in a P9 with a 57.49.
Kirkwood, Armstrong, Palou, Lundgaard, O’Ward and Rosenqvist all move forward to the Fast 12.
Group 2 is ready to rumble
Dixon set the first lap in the 58s of the session, whereas Schumacher, who had his hybrid system replaced ahead of the session, set a strong 58.117. Penske’s Malukas is the first man to dive into the 57s.
Ferrucci made slight contact with the wall at Turn 6, which is revealing as a very insidious spot for all drivers.
Collet, Simpson, McLaughlin, Dixon, Malukas and Schumacher composed the top 6 with 5 minutes to go.
The second group is much slower compared to the previous one, with not a single lap in the 56s thus far. Malukas lowers the benchmark with 30 seconds on the clock to 57.229.
Siegel had a great save in the final corners while on final flaying lap, with him and Dixon competing to improve their lap time. However, their effort are nullified by Ganassi’s Simpson causing a red flag and strongly hitting the wall at Turn 6.
This is even more painful for Ganassi as not only Dixon will not advance in spite of the very fast lap he was on, but Simpson, provisionally in P6, will be demoted, losing his two fastest laps.
Malukas, Collet, Rasmussen, McLaughlin, Siegel and Hauger consequently will continue to fight for a chance at securing IndyCar pole position at Qualifying in Washington.
Round 2 is underway
All drivers picked up new tyres for the segment, with Lundgaard setting the earliest benchmark in 59.326. Rasmussen was the first man to dive into the 58s, and O’Ward into the 57s, bracing for what will probably be the fastest laps seen in Washington.
With five minutes on the clock, Palou, McLaughlin, Kirkwood, Collet, O’Ward and Hauger compose the provisional top 6, as the championship leader puts for fresh softs. The Ganassi anticipates even higher temperatures and looks forward to an additional performance boost, in spite of his 57.423 currently good enough for P1.
The drivers waited for later in the session to uncover their true speed, as Hauger sets a 57.420 and Kirkwood a 56.959. Armstrong makes contact with the wall in the final corners but goes fastest in 56.948, diving immediately into the pits to assess the damage. Rasmussen slots in provisional P3.
O’Ward moves only up to P6, but is knocked out by McLaughlin’s 56.87. With his final flying lap, Kirkwood snatches the top spot in 56.829.
He will rival with McLaughlin, Palou, Armstrong, Malukas and Rasmussen for pole position, with the entire top four setting lap times in the 56s. Ultimately neither a rookie, nor an Arrow McLaren driver will take part in the final segment of the day.
Fast six is decisive for the outcome of IndyCar Qualifying in Washington
As we are on a street course, the drivers will take the track one by one for a single lap to decide the top six for the race, with the teams able to choose their starting slot based on the result of Round 2. Penske opted for some very last minute tweaks on Malukas’s car no.12.
Kirkwood is first to go. The Andretti man suffered from strong lockup right at the beginning of his lap, but was able to recover, keep his car on track and set a 57.466.
Palou is right after, and he immediately appeared a man on a mission, aiming to extract the most from his car no.10. He is probably going to be successful, as he sets an impressive 56.899.
McLaughlin takes the track next. It was a good lap, but not as great as the four times IndyCar champion’s previous outing, as he struggles with lack of grip. The Penske man slots into P3, behind Kirkwood too, in 57.620.
Will someone stop Palou?
Armstrong too, just like Kirkwood, suffered from string lockup right at the beginning of his attempt. While it’s definitely the slowest lap of the group in 58.814, it’ll still be a rather positive day for Armstrong. In fact, the Meyer Shank Racing driver has ended the past three races in a row below the 20th position, and he will be glad for the chance.
Malukas as well experienced locking up at the exact same spot, making slight contact with the wall too. Unlike his previous competitors, the Penske man opted for complete oh backing out of the lap, crossing the line at over 1:10s.
Rasmussen closes the day with his last lap. He too had some lock-ups, but significantly less than the others. He signed a very strong lap time, consistently on the limit, securing his career best IndyCar start in P4.
Once again, and for the seventh time in 2026, Alex Palou takes IndyCar Pole Position following Qualifying in Washington, with a dominant gap of almost 0.600s on his front row mate. He will lead championship rival Kyle Kirkwood and Penske’s McLaughlin.
