IndyCar
Pato O’Ward Wins INDYCAR Pole Position At Barber Motorsports Park
BIRMINGHAM, AL (Pittsburgh Racing Now) – Arrow McLaren SP’s Pato O’Ward is on the pole position for the NTT INDYCAR SERIES season opening race after knockout-style qualifying at Barber Motorsports Park.
O’Ward’s fast lap of ?105.8479-seconds (125.744 mph) was .0698-seconds faster than the No. 27 NAPA Honda of Alexander Rossi who will start second.
“The times you saw today, you don’t see that anywhere else in the world,” said O’Ward of the tight qualifying times. “I was really happy with the car. It was behaving well. You really have to hustle this car to get the speed out of it. We’ve got a good car.”
“I think our best starting spot in year’s past was eighth so a big step up and we have a shot at it tomorrow,” said Rossi.
The newest member of Chip Ganassi Racing, Alex Palou, will line up third in the No. 10 SegiTV Honda after a fast lap of 1:06:0538 (125.611 mph).
“Qualifying was super close as INDYCAR is, it’s amazing to be honest,” said Palou. “The competition here is crazy. We have a good race car so hopefully we can bring back some trophies.”
Team Penske’s Will Power starts fourth in the No. 12 Verizon Chevrolet. Power’s best lap was 1:06:1186 (125.230).
PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon begins his quest for a seventh Championship from the fifth starting spot in the No. 9 Grow Up Great Honda after a quick lap of 1:06:3976 (124.703).
Dixon’s CGR teammate Marcus Ericsson rounds out the fast six with a fast lap of 1:06:4102 (124.680) in the No. 8 Huski Chocolate Honda.
Driver’s failing to advance to the fast six included former Formula 1 driver Romain Grosjean, who will start seventh in his series debut.
Grosjean is one of three, highly-touted rookies who have diverse racing backgrounds.
The second rookie, three-time Australian Supercar Champion Scott McLaughlin will start in there 12th position after failing to make it out of the second round.
Seven-time NASCAR Cup Series Champion Jimmie Johnson set a goal of not qualifying last in his first attempt in an INDYCAR. Johnson accomplished that goal and will start 21st in the No. 48 Carvana American Legion Honda. Carvana Racing caught up with the rookie-of-the-year contender.
Day ☝️ is done at @BarberMotorPark!
Hear more from @JimmieJohnson about his day on track👇 #NoFinishLines pic.twitter.com/jyIUgMwVVu
— Carvana Racing (@CarvanaRacing) April 18, 2021
Two veterans who experienced issues and went off track will start deep in the field. Felix Rosenqvist will start 22nd and James Hinchcliffe will start 24th.
Track action for The Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama starts at 11:30 a.m. (ET) Sunday with a 30-minute warm-up session (live on Peacock) followed by the race beginning at 3 p.m. (ET) Sunday on NBC and the INDYCAR Radio Network.
WASHINGTON D.C. (August 22, 2026) – Alex Palou’s blistering lap of 56.8993 seconds in the No. 10 OpenAI Chip Ganassi Racing Honda puts the four-time NTT IndyCar Series Champion on the pole position for Sunday’s Freedom 250 on the streets of Washington D.C.
“Incredible,” said Palou. “My car was on rails. Super-fun lap, super-fun car to drive. Couldn’t be happier. Looking forward to tomorrow. Tomorrow is going to be a long day, man, 250 miles.”
Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood lines up second after a lap of 57.4661 in the No. 27 Sam’s Club Honda.
“P1 both first and second group, and the last one Alex Palou is just a legend and goes faster on his one-lap dash than he did the whole rest of the run, I think,” Kirkwood said. “He made us look silly out there.”
Scott McLaughlin spoiled the Honda party up front, putting the No. 3 PPG Chevrolet third on the grid after a fast lap of 57.4200.
Palou’s CGR teammates Scott Dixon and Kyffin Simpson did not fare as well as their teammate.
Dixon was on a lap that would have allowed him to transfer into the next round of qualifying, when Simpson hit the wall, triggering a red flag which cancelled Dixon’s lap. The No. 9 PNC Bank Honda will start 14th.
Bringing out the red flag penalized Simpson of his two fastest laps so the No. 8 Sunoco Honda will start last in 25th.
Coverage of the Freedom 250 starts at 11:30 a.m. on Fox and IndyCar Radio with the green flag waving in our nation’s capital at 1 p.m.
MARKHAM, ONTARIO (August 15, 2026) – The NTT IndyCar Series is making it’s first visit to a new street circuit in Markham, Ontario but a familiar face topped the speed charts after the first practice.
Four-time Series Champion Alex Palou turned the fastest lap around the 12-turn, 2.19-mile temporary street course, a 1-minute, 14.9915-seconds (100.811 mph) lap in the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda.
A.J. Foyt Racing rookie Caio Collett was second quick with a 1-minute, 15.0454-seconds (100.739) in the No. 4 Chevrolet.
Louis Foster was third quick in the No. 45 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda at 1:15.0278 (100.702) followed by Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin 1:15.2981 (100.401). Will Power rounded out the Top 5 at 1:15.3152 (100.378).
Palou’s Chip Ganassi Racing teammates were not as strong. Six-time Series Champion Scott Dixon was 20th at 1:16.4583 (98.877) in the No. 9 PNC Bank Honda. Kyffin Simpson was 24th at 1.17.3893 (97.688) in the No. 8 Sunoco Honda. Simpson made contact with the wall at Turn 6, causing damage to the rear suspension. Simpson limped to pits for repair and returned to action later in the session.
Practice 2 is set for 2:30 p.m. as delayed track construction forced officials to cancel Friday’s activities and condense Saturday’s schedule. NTT P1 Pole Qualifying is set for 6:30 p.m. ET
MARKHAM, ONTARIO (August 14, 2026) – Issues with the completion of the temporary street circuit in Markham Ontario has forced the NTT INDYCAR SERIES first practice to be moved to Saturday as all of Friday’s on-track activity had to be scrubbed from the schedule.
“INDYCAR is incredibly disappointed that our promoter was not able to complete the track build on time, despite significant support from our team on site,” INDYCAR President J. Douglas Boles said. “Ontario has always been a magnificent market for our sport and the number of spectators that attended today is a shining example of that. New events can always pose logistical challenges and we join in the frustration of our loyal fans and apologize.”
Green Savoree Promotions also issued a statement.
“Ensuring the safety of the drivers and the completion of the certification process of competing on a brand-new racetrack delayed all on-track activities today. Today’s sessions have been rescheduled to Saturday, August 15, to allow for further track preparations.”
“We greatly appreciate all the fans who made it out to the Ontario Honda Dealers Indy at Markham today and chose to spend the day with us. The attendance and support were overwhelming.”
The revamped schedule calls for the first practice to take place at 10:00 a.m. followed by a second practice at 2:30 p.m. and P1 Pole Qualifying at 6:30 p.m.
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