Alex Palou, Kyle Kirkwood lock out front row for Honda in Washington DC

• Alex Palou scores seventh pole position of the 2026 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season
• Andretti Global's Kyle Kirkwood lines up P2 as he seeks to keep his championship hopes alive
• Honda is looking for a sweep of street circuit races in 2026

Alex Palou led a Honda front-row lockout on the streets of Washington DC in the one-of-a-kind race, the Freedom 250 Grand Prix of Washington DC, around the National Mall.

This is Alex Palou's seventh pole position of the 2026 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season as the Spaniard looks for his fifth IndyCar championship in the last six years-a chase in which he currently has a 133-point advantage over second place.

Palou holds that advantage over the driver that will start alongside him on the front row of the grid, Andretti Global's Kyle Kirkwood.

Kirkwood was a winner at the first inaugural street circuit event of the year, taking victory at the Java House Grand Prix of Arlington. Palou is looking for his seventh win of the year, following triumphs at St. Petersburg, Barber, the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, Detroit, Nashville and Portland.

Marcus Armstrong also made the Firestone Fast six for Meyer Shank Racing, qualifying fifth. While Dale Coyne Racing's Dennis Hauger will line up eighth.

Unfortunately, the winner last time out at the Ontario Honda Dealers Indy at Markham, Marus Ericsson's qualifying efforts came to an end early after brushing the wall in the first round. He would qualify 15th in his Acura-sponsored Andretti Global machine. This is Acura's fourth appearance on an NTT INDYCAR SERIES this season. The entry celebrates not only 250 years of America, but 40 years of Acura since the brand's inception in 1986.

Honda teams and drivers have found victory lane on all of the street circuits this year for so far as the manufacturer looks to complete a full-season sweep of the track type and continue their record of winning every inaugural street circuit event since the return of multi-manufacturer competition in 2012.

Freedom 250 Grand Prix of Washington DC Qualifying Results

R - Rookie

Quotes
Alex Palou (#10 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda) qualified first: "Wow, how awesome. That was incredible. We got a one, two for Honda. So, I mean, we obviously had all the power we needed. I had a lot of speed today in the #10 car. I was struggling a little bit in Q1 and Q2 with traffic and not getting my lap together, but once we got into the Fast Six, I was able to put it all together. To do a lap like that in single lap qualifying is something I'm really proud of and I'm excited for tomorrow's race!"

Kyle Kirkwood (#27 Andretti Global Honda) qualified second: "Happy days! I didn't hit the wall today. That's a good start, because I did that last weekend. And P1, P2 for Honda and it's the guys that are P1 and P2 in the championship too for the front row lockout. Everything's going really well around the streets of D.C. I'm enjoying the track. It's fun to drive. It's got a lot of 'character' we like to say. But, it's good fun, big brake zones, some high-speed stuff, some very low speed stuff. It's it got a bit of everything. From the outside, it might look like a boring layout, but I tell you what, it's not a boring layout at all. It's pretty fun. And racing around all these museums and monuments is just so awesome."

David Salters (President, HRC US): "We have the honor and the privilege of racing in the nation's capital this weekend. Today, we made some history for Honda and HRC by locking out the front row of this amazing event. Thank you so much to Alex and Kyle, to the marvelous men and women on their teams and to the absolutely brilliant men and women of HRC US. We added another story to our racing heritage today and everyone at HRC is proud to help write this history."

Where to Watch the Freedom 250 Grand Prix of Washington DC

• Television coverage of Sunday's Freedom 250 Grand Prix of Washington will air at 1 PM ET on Fox. Complete, flag-to-flag race coverage also will be available on the INDYCAR Radio Network, and SiriusXM INDYCAR Nation (Channel 160).
• There will be an additional pre-race show on Fox beginning at 11:30 AM ET.

HRC US social media content and video links can be found on:

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