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Chip Ganassi Racing’s Palou beat the McLaren IndyCar Team’s Pato O’Ward to top spot by 0.0024s in the Fast Six, with David Malukas qualifying third in his second event for Meyer Shank Racing.
Scott McLaughlin ended up seventh but will start sixth due to a grid penalty for compatriot Marcus Armstrong, while Dixon qualified 14th, Power 16th, and Newgarden 18th.
Palou wheeled the #10 Honda to a 1:05.3511s when pole went on the line, with O’Ward falling just short on a subsequent 1:05.3535s in the #5 Chevrolet.
Malukas set a 1:05.6509s in the #66 Honda, with Colton Herta (#26 Andretti Global w/ Curb-Agajanian Honda) fourth on a 1:05.7653s, from Armstrong (#11 CGR Honda) on a 1:05.9402s and Marcus Ericsson (#28 Andretti Global Honda) on a 1:05.9592s.
Armstrong will start 11th, however, after picking up a penalty for an unapproved engine change after last month’s test at Iowa Speedway.
Back in Round 2, Palou set the pace on a 1:05.2848s while McLaughlin missed out on advancing by 0.0234s when he set a 1:05.6178s in the #3 Team Penske Chevrolet.
Alexander Rossi (#7 McLaren Chevrolet) qualified eighth, from Christian Rasmussen (#20 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet), Christian Lundgaard (#45 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda), Linus Lundqvist (#8 CGR Honda), and Romain Grosjean (#77 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet).
Palou had also topped Group 1 of Round 1 of qualifying but the big names fell in Group 2.
Dixon (#9 CGR Honda) missed the transfer by 0.0449s, with Power (#12 Chevrolet) just over a tenth slower again and his time essentially matched by Penske team-mate Josef Newgarden (#2 Chevrolet).
The next session is the Sunday morning Warm Up, followed by the Race itself at 13:45 ET/03:45 AEST.
Results: Qualifying
| Pos | Num | Driver | C/E/T | Qual time | Session |
| 1 | 10 | Alex Palou | D/H/F | 1:05.3511 | Round 3 / Fast Six |
| 2 | 5 | Pato O’Ward | D/C/F | 1:05.3535 | Round 3 / Fast Six |
| 3 | 66 | David Malukas | D/H/F | 1:05.6509 | Round 3 / Fast Six |
| 4 | 26 | Colton Herta | D/H/F | 1:05.7653 | Round 3 / Fast Six |
| 5 | 11 | Marcus Armstrong | D/H/F | 1:05.9402 | Round 3 / Fast Six |
| 6 | 28 | Marcus Ericsson | D/H/F | 1:05.9592 | Round 3 / Fast Six |
| 7 | 3 | Scott McLaughlin | D/C/F | 1:05.6178 | Elimination Round 2 / Top 12 |
| 8 | 7 | Alexander Rossi | D/C/F | 1:05.6427 | Elimination Round 2 / Top 12 |
| 9 | 20 | Christian Rasmussen | D/C/F | 1:05.6911 | Elimination Round 2 / Top 12 |
| 10 | 45 | Christian Lundgaard | D/H/F | 1:05.7705 | Elimination Round 2 / Top 12 |
| 11 | 8 | Linus Lundqvist | D/H/F | 1:05.7805 | Elimination Round 2 / Top 12 |
| 12 | 77 | Romain Grosjean | D/C/F | 1:05.7822 | Elimination Round 2 / Top 12 |
| 13 | 60 | Felix Rosenqvist | D/H/F | 1:05.6921 | Elimination Round 1 / Group 1 |
| 14 | 9 | Scott Dixon | D/H/F | 1:05.8562 | Elimination Round 1 / Group 2 |
| 15 | 27 | Kyle Kirkwood | D/H/F | 1:05.7147 | Elimination Round 1 / Group 1 |
| 16 | 12 | Will Power | D/C/F | 1:05.9654 | Elimination Round 1 / Group 2 |
| 17 | 6 | Nolan Siegel | D/C/F | 1:05.7679 | Elimination Round 1 / Group 1 |
| 18 | 2 | Josef Newgarden | D/C/F | 1:05.9857 | Elimination Round 1 / Group 2 |
| 19 | 15 | Graham Rahal | D/H/F | 1:05.8508 | Elimination Round 1 / Group 1 |
| 20 | 21 | Rinus VeeKay | D/C/F | 1:06.0252 | Elimination Round 1 / Group 2 |
| 21 | 14 | Santino Ferrucci | D/C/F | 1:05.9414 | Elimination Round 1 / Group 1 |
| 22 | 78 | Agustin Canapino | D/C/F | 1:06.0550 | Elimination Round 1 / Group 2 |
| 23 | 30 | Pietro Fittipaldi | D/H/F | 1:06.0973 | Elimination Round 1 / Group 1 |
| 24 | 4 | Kyffin Simpson | D/H/F | 1:06.1034 | Elimination Round 1 / Group 2 |
| 25 | 51 | Toby Sowery | D/H/F | 1:08.2499 | Elimination Round 1 / Group 1 |
| 26 | 41 | Sting Ray Robb | D/C/F | 1:06.6894 | Elimination Round 1 / Group 2 |
| 27 | 18 | Jack Harvey | D/H/F | 1:06.9614 | Elimination Round 1 / Group 2 |
