Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Louis Foster Clinches Pole at Road America
In an impressive qualifying session on Saturday, Louis Foster from Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing secured his first career pole in the NTT IndyCar Series with a lap time of 1:44.5141 seconds for the XPEL Grand Prix at Road America. The rookie driver emerged as a dark horse, defying his initial doubts as he entered the Fast 6 qualifying.
“I said to the guys as we got into (the) Fast 12 to not put reds on, because I wasn’t confident that we would make it to the Fast 6,” Foster remarked. “Boy, was I wrong. Absolutely awesome. … Couldn’t ask for a better start to the weekend.”
Alex Palou, who had been the favorite, qualified second, falling just 0.1159 seconds short of Foster’s time. Kyle Kirkwood rounded out the top three after his team resolved an MGU issue that limited his time on track.
The top five was completed by Scott McLaughlin and Christian Lundgaard. Graham Rahal secured sixth, making RLLR the only team with two drivers in the final qualifying round.
Palou’s strong performance continued throughout the sessions, leading the Fast 12 before advancing to the final round. Lundgaard was right behind him, showcasing impressive pace. The session marked a standout qualifying effort for Callum Ilott, yielding his best result of the season and Prema Racing’s top qualifying on a road course.
Marcus Ericsson and Colton Herta, both from Andretti Global, faced disappointment, failing to advance past the first group and qualifying 14th and 16th respectively. This marked the first time Herta did not make it to round two at Road America in seven attempts.
Scott Dixon was also affected by a qualifying penalty for impeding Devlin DeFrancesco, forcing him to start at the back of the grid in 25th. Dixon expressed regret over the incident, stating, “I didn’t want to ruin anybody’s day… unfortunately, I had a big overboost getting back up to speed.”
The XPEL Grand Prix is scheduled to start at 1:30 p.m. ET on Sunday and will be broadcast live on FOX, offering a pivotal opportunity for title contenders as the championship race intensifies.
