It looked like David Malukas had finally nailed the perfect qualifying run at the Milwaukee Mile. With 25 of his 26 rivals finished, the AJ Foyt Racing driver was sitting on provisional pole, thanks to a blistering two-lap average of 162.256 mph. The team had a buzz that comes with feeling “it’s really happening”—Malukas was smiling, the crew was pumped, and after the rollercoaster they’d ridden all season, this felt earned.
But in classic Milwaukee chaos, the moment was snatched away right at the death. Alex Palou, reigning and four-time IndyCar champion, was the last to run. With ice-cold composure and a perfectly timed attack, he launched a stunning flyer—163.297 mph on his first lap, and then kept the pace up to seal the Snap-on 250 pole with a two-lap average of 162.971 mph. For Malukas, it was a case of being first among mortals and only narrowly beaten by the best in the business.
Reflecting after, Malukas didn’t sugarcoat the disappointment but admitted those were “two beautiful laps”—the sort you don’t even need to check the times for. He credited his turnaround in qualifying this season to ace race engineer James Schnabel, with Foyt’s No. 4 crew now routinely fighting at the sharp end instead of scrambling for the top ten. If anything, it’s proof that smart team chemistry and hard work pay off, even when pole position slips away in the final minute.
Elsewhere, the qualifying session served up drama—a crash for Felix Rosenqvist, a wild save from Colton Herta, and strategic curveballs from veterans like Scott Dixon and Will Power. McLaren’s Pato O’Ward landed third, and last year’s Milwaukee winner Scott McLaughlin slotted fourth with Penske.
The stage is now set for a Monday showdown: Palou leads the field, Malukas lines up right beside him, hungry to turn front-row speed into his first win. And at the Milwaukee Mile, you never know—anything can happen in the “beautiful chaos” that makes this historic oval one of IndyCar’s most unpredictable battlegrounds.
Malukas lost out to Palou’s late heroics, but AJ Foyt Racing’s qualifying performance is proof they’re in the fight—one step from becoming the story at Milwaukee.
