Palou takes first place for the Indy Grand Prix of Alabama

Alex Palou secured the pole position for the Children's of Alabama Indy Grand Prix to be held this Sunday at Barber Motorsports Park. The Spanish driver from Chip Ganassi Racing recorded a time of 1:07.2918 in his #10 Honda during the Firestone Fast Six session, securing his first pole position of the season and the seventh of his career.

What an incredible day for the #10 car. This is a very special place for us. We got our first INDYCAR win here in 2021. It was very close. I don't think my first lap was very good. I was just hoping to get a perfect lap on the second run with the alternate Firestone Firehawk tires.

The battle for the NTT P1 Award changed hands four times in the final 40 seconds of an intense qualifying session. Palou, currently the championship leader with a 34-point advantage over Kyle Kirkwood, has won two of the first three races of the season and finished second in the remaining one.

Scott McLaughlin qualified second with a time of 1:07.4387 in his #3 Chevrolet for Team Penske, while Colton Herta took third with 1:07.4576 in the #26 Honda for Andretti Global.

Will Power, a two-time winner at Barber, will start from fourth position after setting a time of 1:07.5616 in his #12 Chevrolet for Team Penske. This result represents his best qualifying performance of the season, improving on his previous 13th-place starts at both St. Petersburg and Long Beach.

The third row will be occupied by Rinus VeeKay (fifth with 1:07.9103) from Dale Coyne Racing and Nolan Siegel (sixth with 1:08.0470) from Arrow McLaren. For Siegel, this marks his best starting position in his young NTT INDYCAR SERIES career, being the first time he's advanced to the Firestone Fast Six.

Top Drivers Struggle

Two notable drivers failed to advance beyond the first round of the three-segment qualifying format. Kyle Kirkwood, who won pole and the race last month at Long Beach, will start from 18th position in his #27 Honda for Andretti Global.

Meanwhile, six-time champion Scott Dixon went off track into the gravel trap on his final fast lap and couldn't advance in his #9 Honda for Chip Ganassi Racing. Dixon will start from 26th position in the 27-car field, his worst starting position of the season and his lowest since also qualifying 26th for the Big Machine Spiked Coolers Grand Prix in August 2021 on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.

Race Information

The 90-lap race is scheduled for Sunday at 1:30 p.m. ET. Palou will be looking for his first win at this 17-turn, 2.3-mile natural terrain circuit since scoring his first series victory here in his debut with Chip Ganassi Racing in 2021.

Qualifying Results - Children's of Alabama Indy Grand Prix