IndyCar: Foster Wins his First Pole for Xpel Grand Prix

Fighting the wind and the heat of the day, Rahal Letterman Lanigan’s rookie Louis Foster managed to remain cool and drive his No. 45 Droplight/Desnuda Honda to win his first career pole for tomorrow’s Xpel Grand Prix at Road America.  His time was 1m44.5141s.

“If I’m honest, we kind of struggled a little bit throughout the three practices. When we got through to the Fast 12, I was surprised because I messed up my lap. We were sitting there before the group stage, the Fast 12 stage. I said to the guys, I don’t think I have the car to make it through the Fast Six. Do you want to throw on some used tires and maybe get a sport or two and see how it goes?”

“They were confident in the ability of the car and me to be able to push into the Fast Six,  which obviously was the right call in the end.”

On Thursday evening at a local bar called Siebkins, Will Buxton shaved off Foster’s mustache to raise $1,000 for charity.

“Yes, I guess it’s the moustache. I don’t know, man,” Foster commented after winning his first career pole today.

Ganassi ace Alex Palou came up just short of Foster’s time and will start second after posting a time of 1m44.6300s in his Solo Cup Honda, 0.1159s behind Foster.

Palou will be looking to give Foster a run for his money on Sunday.

” It was very warm for everybody. It was interesting. We had a really fast car. Then I thought qualifying was going to be only against people on new tires. I think Louis did it on used tires, right? Yeah, I wasn’t counting on that. He did an amazing job.”

“I’m really happy with the qualifying we did. I think we matched our best lap time of the weekend in Fast Six. We didn’t have more speed, just a little extra there on Fast Six. Happy to start on front row. It’s big here to start up front, so happy.

“We will see tomorrow. With the heat tomorrow, tire deg, and other issues, we’ll see. I think it’s going to be tough for everybody.”

Alex Palou – XPEL Grand Prix     Photo courtesy of Penske Entertainment – By_ James Black

Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood, the winner of the last two races, will start third after setting a fast time of 1m44.8523s, 0.3382s behind Foster.

Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin will start fourth after setting a fast lap of 1m45.0137s. He was the only Penske driver fast enough to make it into the Fast Six round.

Arrow McLaren’s Christian Lundgaard will start fifth after posting a time of 1m45,4877s.

Foster’s teammate, Graham Rahal, will start sixth after his fastest time of 1m45.0828s, 0.97s behind Foster.

 

Scott Dixon – XPEL Grand Prix    – Photo courtesy of Penske Entertainment By_ Chris Owens

Two-time winner Scott Dixon thought he had made the fast six for Group 1, only to be disqualified due to a penalty for Qualifying Interference with Devlin DeFrancesco.  Dixon will start a disappointing 25th now.

 

Dennis Hauger Wins Pole Number Five

Hauger WIns Pole              Photo courtesy of Penske Entertainment: Joe Skibinski

Dennis Hauger, the Norwegian driving for Andretti Global has won another career pole for tomorrow’s race at Road America in his rookie debut on the 4-mile long Wisconsin road course.

His teammate Lochie Hughes will start fourth tomorrow.

 

2025 XPEL GP At Road America Qualifying Results

Rank

Car

Driver Name

Engine

Time

Speed

Session

1

45

Foster, Louis (R)

Honda

1m44.5141s

138.263

Round 3 / Firestone Fast Six

2

10

Palou, Alex

Honda

1m44.6300s

138.110

Round 3 / Firestone Fast Six

3

27

Kirkwood, Kyle

Honda

1m44.8523s

137.817

Round 3 / Firestone Fast Six

4

3

McLaughlin, Scott

Chevy

1m45.0137s

137.605

Round 3 / Firestone Fast Six

5

7

Lundgaard, Christian

Chevy

1m45.0828s

137.514

Round 3 / Firestone Fast Six

6

15

Rahal, Graham

Honda

1m45.4877s

136.987

Round 3 / Firestone Fast Six

7

4

Malukas, David

Chevy

1m45.0906s

137.504

Elimination Round 2 / Top 12

8

12

Power, Will

Chevy

1m45.1220s

137.463

Elimination Round 2 / Top 12

9

90

Ilott, Callum

Chevy

1m45.2532s

137.292

Elimination Round 2 / Top 12

10

2

Newgarden, Josef

Chevy

1m45.2834s

137.252

Elimination Round 2 / Top 12

11

5

O’Ward, Pato

Chevy

1m45.3704s

137.139

Elimination Round 2 / Top 12

12

60

Rosenqvist, Felix

Honda

1m45.4532s

137.031

Elimination Round 2 / Top 12

13

6

Siegel, Nolan

Chevy

1m45.0722s

137.528

Elimination Round 1 / Group 1

14

28

Ericsson, Marcus

Honda

1m45.1984s

137.363

Elimination Round 1 / Group 2

15

66

Armstrong, Marcus

Honda

1m45.2288s

137.324

Elimination Round 1 / Group 1

16

26

Herta, Colton

Honda

1m45.2235s

137.331

Elimination Round 1 / Group 2

17

83

Shwartzman, Robert (R)

Chevy

1m45.3051s

137.224

Elimination Round 1 / Group 1

18

14

Ferrucci, Santino

Chevy

1m45.2816s

137.255

Elimination Round 1 / Group 2

19

30

DeFrancesco, Devlin

Honda

1m45.3317s

137.189

Elimination Round 1 / Group 1

20

21

Rasmussen, Christian

Chevy

1m45.4283s

137.064

Elimination Round 1 / Group 2

21

76

Daly, Conor

Chevy

1m45.3526s

137.162

Elimination Round 1 / Group 1

22

18

Veekay, Rinus

Honda

1m45.5780s

136.869

Elimination Round 1 / Group 2

23

8

Simpson, Kyffin

Honda

1m45.3673s

137.143

Elimination Round 1 / Group 1

24

20

Rossi, Alexander

Chevy

1m45.6771s

136.741

Elimination Round 1 / Group 2

25

9

Dixon, Scott

Honda

1m46.6468s

135.498

Elimination Round 1 / Group 1

26

77

Robb, Sting Ray

Chevy

1m46.0251s

136.292

Elimination Round 1 / Group 2

27

51

Abel, Jacob (R)

Honda

1m46.3837s

135.833

Elimination Round 1 / Group 2

(R) Rookie

Lucille Dust reporting  live from Road America