Rinus VeeKay took pole position for the Grand Prix of Alabama at Barber Motorsports Park, as Josef Newgarden, the current IndyCar championship leader, missed the final stage of qualifying and will start seventh.
VeeKay started the day off with the fastest time in the second practice session. After advancing through rounds one and two, VeeKay leapt over defending race winner Álex Palou to claim his first pole in over a year, setting a fastest lap of 1’06.251 around the 3.8 kilometre circuit.
Despite a small mistake at the start of his final flying lap, McLaren SP driver Pato O’Ward still went quick enough to qualify second, sharing the front row with VeeKay. Palou will start third as he looks for his first win of the year – from the same position that he won from last year at this venue, no less – next to St. Petersburg GP winner Scott McLaughlin in fourth.
Alexander Rossi was unsure if he’d even be able to run in qualifying after a crash in second practice, but he made it all the way into Fast Six qualifying and will start fifth, next to Felix Rosenqvist in sixth.
Newgarden, the points leader and a three-time winner at Barber Motorsports Park, will start seventh next to Romain Grosjean in eighth, Graham Rahal in ninth, and Colton Herta – the fastest driver in Friday’s first practice session – in tenth.
Callum Ilott and Juncos Hollinger Racing advanced to the second round of qualifying for the first time; Ilott will start eleventh as the top rookie, ahead of Marcus Ericsson, who spun off into the gravel at turn nine at the end of round two qualifying, and brought out a red flag as the timer hit zero, resulting in the deletion of his fastest lap.
Further back in the field, Scott Dixon will start 13th as he vies for his first win at the circuit, and Will Power, a four-time pole winner at Barber, starts down in 19th place.
Sunday’s Grand Prix of Alabama will run over 90 laps. The green flag will fly at 6.15pm UK time.
Grand Prix of Alabama qualifying results:
Position
Car
Driver
Team
Engine
1
21
Rinus VeeKay
Carpenter
Chevrolet
2
5
Pato O’Ward
McLaren SP
Chevrolet
3
10
Alex Palou
Ganassi
Honda
4
3
Scott McLaughlin
Penske
Chevrolet
5
27
Alexander Rossi
Andretti
Honda
6
7
Felix Rosenqvist
McLaren SP
Chevrolet
7
2
Josef Newgarden
Penske
Chevrolet
8
28
Romain Grosjean
Andretti
Honda
9
15
Graham Rahal
RLL
Honda
10
26
Colton Herta
Andretti
Honda
11
77
Callum Ilott
Juncos Hollinger
Chevrolet
12
8
Marcus Ericsson
Ganassi
Honda
13
9
Scott Dixon
Ganassi
Honda
14
30
Christian Lundgaard
RLL
Honda
15
45
Jack Harvey
RLL
Honda
16
6
Helio Castroneves
Meyer Shank
Honda
17
51
Takuma Sato
Coyne/RWR
Honda
18
18
David Malukas
Coyne/HMD
Honda
19
12
Will Power
Penske
Chevrolet
20
29
Devlin DeFrancesco
Andretti Steinbrenner
Honda
21
14
Kyle Kirkwood
Foyt
Chevrolet
22
20
Conor Daly
Carpenter
Chevrolet
23
4
Dalton Kellett
Foyt
Chevrolet
24
60
Simon Pagenaud
Meyer Shank
Honda
25
11
Tatiana Calderon
Foyt
Chevrolet
26
48
Jimmie Johnson
Ganassi
Honda