After a late-race caution on the final lap at Arlington, Kyle Kirkwood snatched his first win of the season from Alex Palou. This result propelled him to the top of the drivers’ championship standings. IndyCar is now returning to Barber Motorsports Park. This marks an emotional return after the death of George Barber Jr., the circuit and museum’s founder.
Qualifying
Qualifying followed a knockout-style format, similar to the Formula E World Championship, but with IndyCar’s own unique structure. The session began with the field split into two groups. Each group ran separately. Only the fastest six drivers from each group advanced to the next round. This created a Top 12 shootout.
The top 12 drivers competed again. From there, just the quickest six progressed to the final round. This round is known as the Fast Six. In this final session, all six drivers battled for pole position. Like in Formula E, pole position was rewarded with championship points. In IndyCar, the pole sitter earns two valuable points, adding extra importance to qualifying performance.
Results
Group 1:Alex Palou, Christian Lundgaard, Graham Rahal, Marcus Armstrong, Alexander Rossi and Santino Ferrucci advanced to the Top 12.
Group 2: Kyle Kirkwood, David Malukas, Romain Grosjean, Pato O’Ward, Josef Newgarden and Marcus Ericsson also moved through to the Top 12.
From the Top 12, Kirkwood, Palou, Armstrong, Rahal, Malukas, and Grosjean advanced to the Fast Six. There, they fought for pole position. They also competed for two crucial championship points. Pole position ultimately went to Palou, who claimed the valuable two-point bonus.
Race
Palou maintained the lead of the Alabama Grand Prix. Meanwhile, Kirkwood and Rahal ran side by side during the opening laps. On lap nine, Lundgaard just managed to get past Ferrucci. He took sixth place. Ericsson lost two positions due to understeer.
On lap 17, Rahal moved into second place, passing Malukas in Turn 10. It did not look like a red strategy at all. Kirkwood tried to get past Malukas, but was pretty wide, which kept Malukas in 11th. Mclaughlin slides past Ferrucci, but Ferrucci challenges it and stays behind Mclaughlin.
On lap 34, VeeKay made contact with the back of Rossi. This contact caused VeeKay to spin. Despite the spin, he managed to keep his position. From lap 35 through to lap 65, there was little action in the race aside from routine overtakes, with Palou showing strong pace out front. On lap 66, Palou and Schumacher ran side by side as they exited the pit lane. Lundgaard had issues with putting hards on the rear tyre. from lap 67 to 84 just normal battles. from lap 85 to 87 rahal and lungaard were battling for second place. on the last lap rahal was keeping on to third place from Malukas and keeps third place. palou wins at Barber.
Top Ten
- Alex Palou
- Christian Lundgaard
- Graham Rahal
- David Malukas
- Kyle Kirkwood
- Marcus Armstrong
- Scott Dixon
- Santino Ferrucci
- Marcus Ericsson
- Josef Newgarden
Featured image credit: Road Track
Edited by Alexandra.
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