Alex Palou Back on Peak Form, Dominates Barber Qualifying

• Alex Palou earned his first NTT P1 Award of the 2026 season and the 13th of his career at Barber Motorsports Park, posting a lap of 1 minute, 6.2341 seconds in the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda.
• David Malukas qualified second in his No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet at 1:06.3478, with Graham Rahal third and Marcus Armstrong fourth in a Firestone Fast Six that featured seven different organizations among the top seven qualifiers.
• Series leader Kyle Kirkwood ran the entire Fast Six on used tires to hold back a fresh set for Sunday’s 90-lap race, while Will Power suffered brake failure during qualifying and will start 23rd.

Palou Leads Practice and Qualifying at Barber

Defending Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix winner Alex Palou has the rest of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES field on alert. The four-time series champion clocked a lap of 1 minute, 6.2341 seconds in the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda to top the Firestone Fast Six and claim his first NTT P1 Award of the 2026 season, the 13th pole of his career.

The Spaniard led Saturday morning practice before converting that form into pole position. He won this race last season by 16.0035 seconds, the largest margin of victory in the series in 2025, starting from the pole.

“Honestly, one of the best cars I’ve driven,” Palou said. “This morning (in practice) I already felt the car was really, really good, really well balanced. We just wanted to start up front, capitalize on a really good car we had today and see for tomorrow. Really happy to get our first pole this year.”

David Malukas continued an impressive start to his Team Penske tenure by qualifying second at 1:06.3478 in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet. Graham Rahal will start third, tying his season best from Phoenix, after clocking 1:06.5181 in the No. 15 Fifth Third Bank Honda of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. Marcus Armstrong qualified fourth at 1:06.5312 in the No. 66 SiriusXM Honda of Meyer Shank Racing.

Power Crashes Out, Kirkwood Eyes Sunday Advantage

Series leader Kyle Kirkwood qualified fifth at 1:06.8326 in the No. 27 JM Bullion/Gold.com Honda of Andretti Global, running the entire Firestone Fast Six on used tires to preserve a fresh set of Firestone Firehawk alternates for the race. Romain Grosjean rounded out the top six at 1:06.8363 in the No. 18 Bmax Honda of Dale Coyne Racing, tying his season best from St. Petersburg.

Seven different organizations placed drivers in the top seven. Santino Ferrucci will start seventh for AJ Foyt Racing, with Marcus Ericsson eighth for Andretti Global.

The opening qualifying session was halted after Will Power suffered rear brake failure entering the downhill approach to the Turn 5 hairpin and speared into the energy-absorbing foam barrier behind the gravel trap. Power was unhurt and will start 23rd in the No. 26 TWG AI Honda.

Two-time Barber winner Scott McLaughlin recovered from a heavy Turn 1 crash in practice to qualify a backup No. 3 Odyssey Batteries Team Penske Chevrolet 14th. Rookie Mick Schumacher, son of Formula One legend Michael Schumacher, was the fastest of the three rookies in the 25-driver field, qualifying 20th at 1:06.8140 in the No. 45 ENVE Honda of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing.

Live coverage of Sunday’s 90-lap race begins at 1 p.m. ET on FOX, FOX One, the FOX Sports app and INDYCAR Radio powered by OnlyBulls. A 30-minute warmup runs at 10 a.m. ET on FS2, FOX One, the FOX Sports app and INDYCAR Radio powered by OnlyBulls.