Alex Palou takes first pole of 2026 IndyCar season at Barber

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Four-time NTT IndyCar Series champion Alex Palou will start on pole for Sunday afternoon’s Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix at Barber Motorsports Park after setting a lap time of 1:06.2341 in the Firestone Fast Six.

The Spanish driver from Chip Ganassi Racing continued his show of force at a 2.3-mile, 17-turn track ahead of the 90-lap race in Alabama, besting Team Penske’s David Malukas (1:06.3478) and Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Graham Rahal (1:06.3478), who qualified second and third, respectively.

Marcus Armstrong (1:06.5312), Kyle Kirkwood (1:06.8326) and Romain Grosjean (1:06.8363) completed the top six in the Saturday qualifying session.

“Honestly, one of the best cars I’ve driven,” Palou said. “This morning I already felt the car was really, really good, really well balanced. I don’t know. I guess not everybody was on brand new alternates. But 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.”

Fast 12

After drivers set their first times, Christian Lundgaard was the fastest with a time of 1:09.3690 on primary tires. Soon, different drivers spent time at the top of the leaderboard.

With seven minutes left in the session, Josef Newgarden went to the top with a 1:06.4507 lap time on the softer red tires. Newgarden, Kyle Kirkwood, David Malukas, Lundgaard, Pato O’Ward and Alex Palou were in the top six as drivers pitted for red tires.

Palou and Kirkwood went quickest, with the points leader setting a lap time of 1:06.0389. Santino Ferrucci found himself briefly in the gravel but was able to move on and stay in the top six until he was later eliminated from the Fast 12.

Kirkwood, Palou, Malukas, Marcus Armstrong, Graham Rahal and Romain Grosjean advanced to the Firestone Fast Six.

Round 1 Group 2

Marcus Ericsson was fastest with a 1:10.6567 time as drivers entered their first lap on primary tires. David Malukas overtook Ericsson’s top time at 1:07.2386. Championship leader Kyle Kirkwood topped the charts with a 1:06.9067 lap time.

With six minutes left in the session, Kirkwood, Rinus VeeKay, Malukas, Ericsson, Louis Foster and Josef Newgarden were in the top six. Romain Grosjean tracked to improve into the top six; however, he hit traffic, impacting his push lap. However, on his next push lap, the Frenchman topped the charts with a 1:06.474.

Scott McLaughlin moved to second after his crash earlier in Practice 2. Kirkwood ended back on top as drivers improved seconds before the session ended.

Pato O’Ward moved up to fifth place as the checkered flag waved. Rookie Mick Schumacher tracked green on his final lap, but was not able to improve and advance to the Fast 12.

Kirkwood, Malukas, Grosjean, Newgarden, Ericsson and O’Ward advanced to the Fast 12.

Round 1 Group 1

As drivers set their opening laps, Will Power set the pace on primary tires with a lap of 1:08.0636. During a push lap, Power ran off into the dirt, costing him time.

Then, a red flag waved after Power hit the barrier in Turn 5 due to a brake failure. The Australian driver safely exited his No. 26 Andretti Global Honda.

Before the red flag, Caio Collet, Christian Rasmussen, Alex Palou, Alexander Rossi, Santino Ferrucci and Kyffin Simpson were in the top six.

With six minutes remaining, drivers had only a few laps to advance to the Fast 12. All opted to finish the session on red-walled tires to maximize track time. Palou climbed to the top of the chart with a lap of 1:06.1032. Christian Lundgaard moved into second, one-tenth off Palou.

At the checkered flag, Scott Dixon failed to break into the top six, while Nolan Siegel improved only to eighth. Palou, Lundgaard, Graham Rahal, Marcus Armstrong, Rossi and Ferrucci advanced to the Fast 12.

McLaughlin Walks Away

Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin started the weekend fastest in Practice 1 on Friday afternoon. However, things went south in Practice 2 on Saturday morning when he crashed through the tire barrier and fence after dropping the right rear off track in Turn 1.

McLaughlin was able to walk away from the incident unharmed.

“I just dropped the right rear, unfortunately,” McLaughlin said. “It’s a testament to the safety of the Indy car and what Barber’s has done here. Honestly, I think the crash looked a lot worse than it felt. I hope we can get this thing fixed and go out and ship it again in qualifying. I knew the impact was coming, so I tried to brace myself, and then I ended up halfway through the fence, so it was pretty exciting. I’m sad for my guys. I’ve got the best crew on pit land, and they’ll fix it as fast as they can. It’s a shame.”

The No. 3 team was able to prepare McLaughlin’s backup car for qualifying and will roll off the grid in 14th for the race.

Palou was the fastest in Practice 2 after McLaughlin’s crash, and the reigning champion will lead the field to the green flag in the Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix, which will air on FOX at 1 p.m. ET on Sunday.