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.”

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.

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

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