Palou secures Barber pole in 1:06.234; Malukas on front row

Alex Palou posted a 1:06.234 in knockout qualifying at Barber Motorsports Park to take pole for the Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix, his 13th career pole and first of the season. Palou (No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda) narrowly beat David Malukas to lead the front row; Graham Rahal qualified third, Marcus Armstrong fourth, championship leader Kyle Kirkwood fifth and Romain Grosjean completed the Firestone Fast Six. The Q3 results set the grid for Sunday’s 90-lap Race, and Palou — the 2025 champion — will look to repeat last year’s victory.

Scott McLaughlin topped FP1 for Team Penske in the No. 3 Chevrolet, posting a best lap reported around 1:07.38 (with some accounts listing times nearer 1:07.72 or combined-session numbers near 1:08.09). Kyle Kirkwood, Pato O’Ward, Christian Lundgaard and David Malukas rounded out the FP1 top five as teams tested a new Firestone compound and multiple setup programs. FP1 is a practice session and does not directly alter championship points; Kirkwood enters the weekend as the championship leader.

The weekend featured several incidents that affected starting positions and preparations: McLaughlin suffered a heavy crash on the morning of qualifying and used a backup car to start 14th, Alexander Rossi lost control in Turn 5 in FP1, stopped with fuel-pressure issues, served a five-minute stoppage penalty and was classified 16th, and Will Power experienced a brake failure and heavy crash in qualifying but was reported uninjured. With the grid now set by qualifying, teams have shifted focus to Race strategy and pit planning that will determine the distribution of points on Sunday.