Alex Palou already has the 2026 NTT INDYCAR SERIES title locked away. He is going to Laguna Seca anyway, and going fast.
The Chip Ganassi Racing driver, freshly crowned as a five-time IndyCar champion after wrapping up the title at the Milwaukee Mile, qualified second Saturday for the Mission Grand Prix of Monterey at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. Scott McLaughlin took pole with a 1:09.1363. Palou posted a 1:09.154, missing pole by 0.0177 seconds after his team gambled on an aggressive tire strategy in the Fast Six. Rosenqvist slotted third at 1:09.193 in the No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing Honda.
Palou has three prior wins at Laguna Seca and an average finishing position of 1.6 at the circuit. Sunday gives him a shot at win number four there and his seventh of the season. The championship is already settled, but the driver himself does not sound like someone running out the clock. “I think we have the car and the speed,” Palou said. “I’m looking forward to tomorrow to see if we can get another win for Honda.”
Rosenqvist’s day was tidy. The 2026 Indianapolis 500 winner ran top three in every session before landing P3 in the final order. He identified the Corkscrew as the gap between himself and a pole run. “P3 is a good starting point for our Honda,” he said. It will be his last start for Meyer Shank Racing, making the result a fitting send-off for a pairing that included an Indy 500 victory this year.
The most consequential subplot on the grid Sunday sits further back. Kyle Kirkwood qualified seventh but will start sixth after Christian Lundgaard received an engine penalty. Kirkwood, currently third in the championship, trails the second-place position by two points. Lundgaard is the driver he is fighting for that spot. If Kirkwood climbs to second in the final standings, Honda would have delivered a 1-2 in the drivers’ championship for the third time in four years.
Honda also closed out the 2026 manufacturers’ championship before the season finale, their 12th such title. The rookie-of-the-year race is still alive. Dennis Hauger leads fellow Honda-powered rookie Mick Schumacher in that battle heading into Sunday. Hauger qualified 24th; Schumacher qualified 15th, so the points gap could tighten. Honda has won 12 rookie-of-the-year titles in 14 seasons, and they are positioned to add another.
The full Honda grid at Laguna Seca runs deep, with Marcus Ericsson ninth, Kyffin Simpson ninth, Marcus Armstrong 10th, Louis Foster 11th, and Scott Dixon 17th. Graham Rahal, Romain Grosjean, and veterans from Dale Coyne Racing fill out the lower half of the Honda order.
Coverage of Sunday’s race begins at 11:30 a.m. PT on Fox. Palou has made a habit of turning Laguna Seca into a closing argument. With a 1.6 average finishing position at this circuit, the argument tends to be short.
Source: Honda. Images courtesy of Honda.
