By: NTT INDYCAR SERIES (Photo Courtesy INDYCAR)
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (Saturday, May 3, 2025) – The NTT P1 Award changed hands four times in the last 40 seconds of an exciting qualifying session Saturday for the Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix powered by AmFirst at Barber Motorsports Park, but it was that guy again – series points leader Alex Palou – who claimed the top spot.
Three-time and two-time reigning NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion Palou earned his first pole of the season and the seventh of his career with a top lap of 1 minute, 7.2918 seconds in the No. 10 HRC Chip Ganassi Racing Honda during the Firestone Fast Six. Palou has won two of the first three races of this season, finishing second in the other, and has built a 34-point lead over Kyle Kirkwood of Andretti Global in the standings.
SEE: Qualifying Results
“What an amazing day for the 10 car,” Palou said. “This is such a special place for us here. We got our first race win in INDYCAR back in 2021.
“It was super close. I don’t think my first lap (in the Firestone Fast Six) was very good. I was just hoping to get a perfect lap on the second one on the alternates (Firestone Firehawk tires). So, yeah, cannot wait for tomorrow now.”
The 90-lap race is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. ET Sunday (FOX, the FOX Sports app and the INDYCAR Radio Network). Palou will seek his first win on the 17-turn, 2.3-mile natural-terrain road course since he earned his first series victory in his inaugural start with Chip Ganassi Racing in 2021. Palou drove for Dale Coyne Racing as a rookie in 2020.
Two-time reigning Barber winner Scott McLaughlin just missed earning his second straight pole for this race. He will start second after his best lap of 1:07.4387 in the No. 3 Good Ranchers Team Penske Chevrolet.
Colton Herta will start third after his best lap of 1:07.4576 in the No. 26 Gainbridge Honda of Andretti Global. Two-time Barber winner Will Power will join Herta in the second row after qualifying fourth at 1:07.5616 in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet. It was the best qualifying performance of the season for two-time series champion Power, whose previous best was 13th at St. Petersburg and Long Beach.
Rinus VeeKay qualified fifth at 1:07.9103 in the No. 18 askROI Honda fielded by Dale Coyne Racing. This was the first time VeeKay has reached the Firestone Fast Six on a road or street circuit since he won the pole for this race in April 2022.
Nolan Siegel rounded out the third row with a career performance. Siegel will start a career-best sixth after his best lap of 1:08.0470 in the No. 6 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet. It was the first time Siegel made the Firestone Fast Six in his young NTT INDYCAR SERIES career, which started midway through last season.
Two notable drivers failed to advance out of the first round of the three-segment qualifying format.
Kirkwood will start 18th in the No. 27 PreFab Honda of Andretti Global after winning the pole and the race last month at the most recent event, the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.
Six-time series champion Scott Dixon went off track into the gravel trap on his last flying lap in the opening segment and failed to advance in the No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. He will start a season-low 26th in the 27-car field, his worst start since he also qualified 26th for the Big Machine Spiked Coolers Grand Prix in August 2021 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.
