Friday’s qualifying results created four storylines for today’s Sonsio Grand Prix, which starts at 4:30 pm Eastern on FOX.

Another Palou Beatdown?

Alex palou starts from the pole, and if he gets the jump on the field going into turn1, the rest of the field will be fighting for second place.

Palou is turning IndyCar into F1 light, which means fans have to adjust the way they view the races. I appreciate FOX showing the mid pack battles at Barber last week, and that is where viewers need to focus their attention. It would be nice to get a glimpse of the leader now and then.

Tire Twists

The new tire regulation for this race- each team must use two sets of primaries and two sets of alternates- was implemented in hopes of improving the racing. The rule rakes away gambling on a two stop race and should eliminate the chance of a fuel saving race.

But if there is an early caution (remember cautions?), I could see a dash to the pits for a tires only stop, followed by business as usual.

IndyCar will evaluate the rule after the race to see if tehy want to use it again.

How strong is RLL?

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing has three cars in the top five starting spots. Can their race pace match their qualifying speed? Graham Rahal is known for his ability to move forward during a race. Will the team split strategies to get at least one lace on the podium?

Louis Foster starts a career best third, and Devlin DeFrancesco starts fifth. In 2023 DeFrancesco charged from fifth to the lead on the first laps of the road course race on Brickyard weekend. I don’t think we will see that again.

Movers

Five drivers who should be moving forward today- Pato O’Ward, Will Power, Colton Herta, Christian Lundgaard, and Scott Dixon.

Lundgaard starts 14th, and Dixon rolls off 16th. I expect both to end up in the top 10.

Herta is a wild card who should move if there are no issues in the pits which have hampered him this season.

Power and O’Ward start in row four these two could put on quite a battle this afternoon.

Barring a mechanical breakdown or something weird happening on a pit stop, I don’t see anyone beating Palou today, but it still should be a good race behind him.