INDIANAPOLIS -- For the third consecutive year, a Chip Ganassi Racing driver will lead the Indy 500 starting lineup to the green flag at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Alex Palou set an Indianapolis 500 qualifying record by taking the pole position for the 107th edition of the Greatest Spectacle in Racing with a four-lap average at 234.217 mph in his No. 10 Dallara-Honda.
The 2021 NTT IndyCar Series champion broke the previous qualifying record of 234.046 mph set last year by teammate Scott Dixon, who had won the past two Indy 500 poles for Ganassi.
INDY 500 PRIMER: Important details and facts for watching on NBC Sports
STARTING LINEUP: Click here for the 11 rows of three cars in the 107th Indy 500
Palou’s four-lap average was the second fastest in Indy 500 history behind Arie Luyendyk’s 236.896 mph in 1996.
Palou will lead the fastest front row in Indy 500 history alongside the No. 21 Dallara-Chevrolet of Rinus VeeKay (234.211) and the No. 5 Dallara-Chevy of Arrow McLaren’s Felix Rosenqvist (234.114 mph). With an average speed at 234.181 mph, the trio shattered the previous mark of 233.643 that was set last year.
Santino Ferrucci (233.661), Pato O’Ward (233.158) and Scott Dixon (233.151) rounded out the second row as the top nine drivers averaged at least 233 mph.
With an average qualifying speed of 232.184 mph, the 2023 Indy 500 will mark the fastest field in history (topping the mark of 231.023 that was set last year).
Other notables:
--Katherine Legge qualified 30th for her first Indy 500 since 2013, and she will become the first woman in the race since Simona de Silvestro in 2021.
--Helio Castroneves, who will attempt to win a record fifth Indy 500, will start 20th.
--Takuma Sato, who is trying to become the first driver to win three Indy 500s with three teams, qualified eighth for his IMS debut for Chip Ganassi Racing.
UPDATE: IndyCar and Indianapolis Motor Speedway released a new starting lineup Thursday to reflect Graham Rahal replacing the injured Stefan Wilson, who qualified 25th.
Rahal will start 33rd in the No. 24 Dallara-Chevy, and every driver who qualified behind Wilson has moved up a spot in the order.
Here is the Indy 500 starting lineup by row for the May 28 race (11 a.m. ET NBC and Peacock) with rank, car number in parentheses, driver, chassis-engine, speed and time in parentheses:
ROW 1
1. (10) Alex Palou, Dallara-Honda, 234.217 (2 minutes, 33.7037 seconds)
2. (21) Rinus VeeKay, Dallara-Chevrolet, 234.211 (2:33.7077)
3. (6) Felix Rosenqvist, Dallara-Chevy, 234.114 (2:33.7713)
ROW 2
4. (14) Santino Ferrucci, Dallara-Chevy, 233.798 (2:34.0695)
5. (5) Pato O’Ward, Dallara-Chevy, 233.158 (2:34.4015)
6. (9) Scott Dixon, Dallara-Honda, 233.151 (2:34.4066)
ROW 3
7. (7) Alexander Rossi, Dallara-Chevy, 233.110 (2:34.4332)
8. (11) Takuma Sato, Dallara-Honda, 233.098 (2:34.4416)
9. (66) Tony Kanaan, Dallara-Chevy, 233.076 (2:34.4558)
ROW 4
10. (8) Marcus Ericsson , Dallara-Honda, 232.889 (2:34.5801)
11. (55) Benjamin Pedersen, Dallara-Chevy, 232.671 (2:34.7246)
12. (12) Will Power, Dallara-Chevy, 232.635 (2:34.7488)
ROW 5
13. (33) Ed Carpenter, Dallara-Chevy 232.689 (2:34.7128)
14. (3) Scott McLaughlin, Dallara-Chevy, 232.677 (2:34.7206)
15. (27) Kyle Kirkwood, Dallara-Honda, 232.662 (2:34.7311)
ROW 6
16. (20) Conor Daly, Dallara-Chevy, 232.433 (2:34.8833)
17. (2) Josef Newgarden, Dallara-Chevy, 232.402 (2:34.9039)
18. (23) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Dallara-Chevy, 232.133 (2:35.0837)
ROW 7
19. (28) Romain Grosjean, Dallara-Honda, 231.997 (2:35.1744)
20. (06) Helio Castroneves, Dallara-Honda, 231.954 (2:35.2032)
21. (26) Colton Herta, Dallara-Honda, 231.951 (2:35.2055)
ROW 8
22. (60) Simon Pagenaud, Dallara-Honda, 231.878 (2:35.2539)
23. (18) David Malukas, Dallara-Honda, 231.769 (2:35.3270)
24. (98) Marco Andretti, Dallara-Honda, 231.682 (2:35.3857)
ROW 9
25. (29) Devlin DeFrancesco, Dallara-Honda, 231.353 (2:35.6061)
26. (78) Agustin Canapino, Dallara-Chevy, 231.320 (2:35.6287)
27. (77) Callum Ilott, Dallara-Chevy, 231.182 (2:35.7212)
ROW 10
28. (50) RC Enerson, Dallara-Chevy, 231.129 (2:35.7574)
29. (44) Katherine Legge, Dallara-Honda, 231.070 (2:35.7971)
30. (45) Christian Lundgaard, Dallara-Honda, 229.649 (2:36.7607)
ROW 11
31. (51) Sting Ray Robb, Dallara-Honda, 231.129 (2:36.8293)
32. (30) Jack Harvey, Dallara-Honda, 229.166 (2:37.0916)
33. (24) Graham Rahal, Dallara-Chevy, 231.648 (2:35.4083)*
*--Stefan Wilson qualified 25th; per IndyCar Rule 8.1.8.6, Rahal will start at the rear of the field as a replacement driver