INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Alex Palou surprised himself Sunday.

The Spanish driver who has dominated race after race over the past two IndyCar seasons, arrived at the Brickyard for Indianapolis 500 qualifying expecting to be out of the pole-winning mix. He hadn't seen enough out of his No. 10 car since series officials cranked up the power for practice Friday, and he had a late spot in the qualifying line when track temperatures would be soaring.

The four-time series champ figured it out. Again. He had his best qualifying attempt on his final four-lap run with an average speed of 232.248 mph. That bumped Alexander Rossi to second with a 231.990 and gave Palou his second 500 pole.

“We did not have speed like that even on Fast Friday,” said Palou, who celebrated by jumping up and down with team members in his pit stall. “We did tires and tried and tried to get more speed. It was OK, I think we were top five, top six but then there were cars that just had a huge advantage on everyone and then, this morning, we barely made it into the top 12.”

Turns out, that only made his crew with Chip Ganassi Racing work even harder to find more speed and when Palou returned for the late afternoon semifinals, he was faster than everyone else — except Felix Rosenqvist.

But all those championships, the Indy win and a 27-point lead in the standings gave Palou the confidence to make multiple changes on third and final run of the day, and he made it pay off. First, he surpassed Rossi's average then watched Rosenqvist fail to top the 232 mark on each of his final four laps, unlike his first two attempts.

Palou became the first defending champion to claim the No. 1 starting spot since 2010 while Rosenqvist's attempt to become the first Swedish driver to take the Indy pole again came up short. Rossi will start a career-best second, between Palou and Team Penske driver David Malukas, on the front row of next Sunday's sold-out race.

“It's not often that you're happy with second place, but with some of the challenges everyone faced,” Rossi said, not needing to finish the sentence.

Malukas went 231.877 and Rosenqvist slid to fourth, the inside of Row 2, with a 231.375, after posting the fastest averages in the first two qualifying rounds. He wasn't complaining, though.

“Very happy, that was the goal — we wanted to be on the front row,” Malukas said. “It feels good. Just took a fantastic job getting the car where we needed it to be, and making me feel comfortable in it. So, yeah, it feels good.”

Palou knows his work isn't finished yet.

There's a short practice Monday, another short practice and the pit competition on Friday and then there's next Sunday when he hopes to overcome another grueling workday to return to victory lane in Indy. Again.

“There's always more in racing,” Palou said. “But I think we put in everything we thought we had. Once you prove it, you can try and go for more.”

Race favorites

Palou looks like the favorite to win next week. He's already won three of the first six IndyCar races this year and 11 of the last 23 overall as he seeks a fourth straight series crown. First, though, he'll attempt to become the seventh driver in race history to win back-to-back 500s.

But there's plenty of competition.

Rossi also wants to add a second Indy title to the one he got in 2016, the centennial race. It's the second time Rossi has earned a front row start, the first since 2017 when he was in the No. 3 spot.

Malukas was the top qualifier — and the only to make the Fast Six — from the powerful Penske team that has won a record 20 Indy wins. He's in his first season with Penske after missing last year's race with a wrist injury.

Rosenqvist ran 232.599 in the first round and 232.065 in the second. The Meyer Shank Racing driver also had the fastest overall lap and fastest four-lap average Friday.

The race is on

Katherine Legge cleared the initial step in trying to complete racing's “double” by qualifying 27th. She's also hoping to qualify for next weekend's Coca-Cola 600. She's trying to become the first female to attempt the one-day, 1,100-mile marathon in Indianapolis and Charlotte.

Helio Castroneves, the Brazilian driver with Meyer Shank Racing, will start his quest for a record-breaking fifth Indy win from the No. 15 starting spot, the outside of Row 5. Indy rookie Mick Schumacher, the son of seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher, will make his first start from No. 28.

Tough starts

Two-time Indy winner Josef Newgarden and Kyle Kirkwood, who trails only Palou in this season's points chase, had much tougher days.

Newgarden was the only Team Penske driver to miss the shootout and wound up qualifying 24th. Kirkwood and each of his Andretti Global teammates were shut out of the shootout. Marcus Ericsson, the 2022 Indy champ, will start 18th, while 2018 race winner Will Power earned the No. 20 starting spot. Kirkwood is starting 26th.

And in a week when there were no crashes, two-time race winner Takuma Sato brushed the wall in Sunday's rescheduled pre-qualifying practice. The Japanese driver with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing qualified 13th, just missing the shootout.

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