The forecast for today’s NTT INDYCAR SERIES race at Barber Motorsports Park features sunshine and seemingly ideal temperatures. That’s great news for Team Penske, which is happy to be past most of the storm clouds of this week’s Push to Pass controversy.
It has been a difficult few days for the winningest team in the sport’s history, but as a group it responded well in qualifying for the Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix powered by AmFirst (1 p.m. ET, NBC, Peacock, INDYCAR LIVE, INDYCAR Radio Network).
SEE: Starting Lineup/Tire Choice
Scott McLaughlin (No. 3 Good Ranchers Team Penske Chevrolet) and Will Power (No. 12 Verizon Business Team Penske Chevrolet) earned front-row starting positions for today’s 90-lap race and Josef Newgarden (No. 2 PPG Team Penske Chevrolet) can bid for his record-extending fourth win on this 17-turn, 2.3-mile natural terrain road course from the eighth spot.
McLaughlin will go for his second consecutive victory in the event, and Team Penske has seven wins here in all, which is more than all other teams combined. Power has won twice, although it’s been a while (since 2011-12).
Power is riding a streak of 29 consecutive races since his last win, the longest drought of his career. The two-time series champion with 41 race wins had never gone a full season in this series without a winner’s trophy until last year. The last time he hoisted the top prize was in the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear in June 2022.
Newgarden and McLaughlin were disqualified from the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg presented by RP Funding for illegal use of the series’ overtake system. Newgarden, who had won that season-opening race, bore the brunt of the criticism, and he will start today’s race from the eighth position. He’s ready for redemption, insisting he is “ready to rock,” but how other competitors race him will be interesting to watch.
Team Penske won’t be the only group on a mission. Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing just missed having two drivers – Christian Lundgaard (No. 45 Hy-Vee Honda) and Graham Rahal (No. 15 Hendrickson Honda) – start in the top six, but a communication issue likely cost Rahal at least one spot. He will roll off in seventh in pursuit of his first race win since sweeping the Detroit doubleheader in 2017.
Lundgaard won last year’s Honda Indy Toronto from the pole, and he will start third. RLL has reason for optimism today as it has a history of success at Barber Motorsports Park. In 2019, it swept the front row with Takuma Sato and Rahal, and Sato won the race.
Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward was declared the St. Petersburg winner following Newgarden’s disqualification. The driver of the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet would prefer to hoist a trophy after being the first driver to cross the finish line, but he will take what he can get. For now, that’s five career race wins in this series.
This will be the first race this season that Meyer Shank Racing’s Felix Rosenqvist (No. 60 AutoNation/SiriusXM Honda) will not start a race on the front row. He will start fifth, one position ahead of Chip Ganassi Racing’s Marcus Armstrong, who gave the No. 11 Root Insurance Honda its highest starting position since joining the team at the beginning of last year.
This will be the third consecutive race that a driver will make his NTT INDYCAR SERIES debut. This time it’s Luca Ghiotto, an Italian who will start 21st in the 27-car field in the No. 51 Dale Coyne Racing Honda. Ghiotto is one of six rookies that will take the green flag.
Determining the best path to victory is part of the charm of competing on this circuit in the rolling hills in Birmingham. Teams generally choose between conserving fuel and making this a two-stop race or going full speed ahead with a third stop factored in. Last year, McLaughlin chased down and passed Romain Grosjean (then of Andretti Global but now driving the No. 77 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet) with the additional stop. But of the 15 cars that finished on the lead lap, nine opted for only two stops.
The 30-minute pre-race practice is set for 10:15 a.m. (Peacock, INDYCAR LIVE and the INDYCAR Radio Network).
INDY NXT by Firestone is also on track today, with its 35-lap race set for 11 a.m. ET (Peacock, INDYCR LIVE and the INDYCAR Radio Network). Jacob Abel of Abel Motorsports will lead the 21-car field to green for the second time in his career.
The action in both races figures to be intense.