The Spaniard was quiet for the majority of qualifying, but managed to deliver a late flyer of 1m09.0004s to claim the top spot on the 2.439-mile, 14-turn IMS circuit.
It was the fourth career pole for Palou, but his first on the IMS road course.
“Yeah, it’s a tricky place,” said Palou.
“Every time you can start up front in IndyCar it makes a difference. So yeah, looking forward to it. We only used one set of alternates here in qualifying. Looking forward to it tomorrow.
“It was my mom’s birthday today, so it’s probably a good birthday present.”
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Christian Lundgaard ended up second, just 0.0917s off of Palou’s time.
Team Penske’s Will Power made a dramatic late run but was left settling into third when the checkered flag wrapped up the session.
Fast Six qualifying
The push began with Power dropping a 1m09.1636s flyer, before Lundgaard went second with a 1m09.1679s effort.
Lundgaard was able to respond on his following lap and jumped to the top spot with a 1m09.0921s lap in the final two minutes.
Palou then vaulted both to go to the top of the leaderboard by hitting a 1m09.0004s lap, which he kept as neither Lundgaard nor Power were able to fire back a stronger run. Power’s last-gasp effort included a slide all the way to the timing line.
Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden quietly took fourth, with Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward grabbing fifth and Scott Dixon establishing the No. 9 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda in sixth.
Top 12 qualifying
During Lundgaard’s first lap out, he reported over a possible mis-shift over the radio, but it didn’t prevent him from hitting a lap of 1m09.0758s lap to temporarily take the top spot. It was short-lived, though, as Power dethroned him with 1m08.8194s.
The two tussled over first as Lundgaard responded with a 1m08.8388s lap, with Power then clawing back with 1m08.8194s to resecure his spot at the top by 0.0194s.
Palou stood third by 0.18s from the mark set by Power, with O’Ward fourth and Newgarden fifth.
Dixon secured the final transfer spot in sixth, hitting the margin by a narrow 0.1179s over Arrow McLaren’s Alexander Rossi.
Chip Ganassi Racing’s Marcus Armstrong’s promising early pace in qualifying ended in the top 12 by taking eighth. Graham Rahal (Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing) wrapped up on ninth. Both Armstrong and Rahal underwent engine changes after the first practice session.
Meyer Shank Racing’s Felix Rosenqvist finished 10th, ahead of Pietro Fittipaldi (Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing) in 11th and Rinus VeeKay (Ed Carpenter Racing) claiming 12th.
Group Stage qualifying
Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin, Power’s team-mate, catapulted to the top of the leaderboard with the softer tires by nailing a lap of 1m09.5018s. Power attempted to respond, but went 0.1824s slower and elected to stay out to make another run.
A few seconds later it was VeeKay that knocked McLaughlin off the perch with a 1m08.9462s before being knocked off by Power’s continued run that hit a lap of of 1m08.7890s.
Newgarden then went third, followed by the Arrow McLaren duo of O’Ward and Rossi in fourth and fifth, respectively.
McLaughlin’s freefall continued as Fittipaldi’s late surge pushed him into sixth – the final transfer spot. Despite his best efforts, McLaughlin could not climb higher than seventh and narrowly missed the cut by 0.0048s.
“Yeah, it is IndyCar and it’s frustrating,” McLaughlin said. “But yeah, I actually felt my laps were really good. Obviously not good enough. I just missed a couple… Turn 4 is probably my biggest loss. So frustrated.”
After impressing in the earlier sessions, Juncos Hollinger Racing’s Agustin Canapino also missed the cut, ending up eighth and 0.1248s behind the transfer spot.
Dale Coyne Racing’s Jack Harvey made a strong push, but settled in ninth, followed by Chip Ganassi Racing rookie Linus Lundqvist in 10th.
Andretti Global’s Marcus Ericsson endured a miserable outing in 11th, followed by the No. 77 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet of Romain Grosjean in 12th. Kyffin Simpson, another one of CGR’s rookie drivers, ended up 13th.
In Group 2, Rosenqvist went top with a 1m08.9912s lap, with Lundgaard finishing up in second at 0.0215s.
Armstrong wrapped up in third, just 0.0465s behind, with Rahal’s patience to build up his pace working to end up fourth.
Palou, the reigning and two-time IndyCar champion, managed to grab fifth, ahead of team-mate and six-time series champion Dixon in sixth.
Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood missed the transfer line by 0.0182s to take seventh, with AJ Foyt Racing’s Santino Ferrucci in eighth.
Theo Pourchaire, recently announced for Arrow McLaren’s No. 6 entry for the rest of the season minus the Indianapolis 500, was ninth.
Ed Carpenter Racing rookie Christian Rasmussen concluded 10th, ahead of Luca Ghiotto, making his second series start for Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware Racing.
Championship leader Colton Herta appeared to run out of fuel during his push for transfer into the Top 12, fading off course in Turn 7. He stormed off behind the wall before catching a ride on a golf cart courtesy of Conor Daly. He ended up 12th in the group, which means he will start 24th on Sunday.
A pair of rookies in Tom Blomqvist (Meyer Shank Racing) and Sting Ray Robb (AJ Foyt Racing) wrapped up the group in 13th an 14th, respectively.
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