Scott McLaughlin’s morning accident set the tone for a wild day at Barber Motorsports Park. Prior to IndyCar qualifying, The IndyNXT race saw the two leaders crash while battling for first place, and Nikita Johnson winning his second race of the year.

In the first round of qualifying Will Power lost his brakes entering turn 5 and went nose first into the barrier. Power was not injured, but he will again start at the rear of field. Power has had a difficult beginning in phase two of his career. Since he joined Andretti, Power has had some form of contact every weekend.

In a fierce, competitive qualifying session, Alex Palou won the pole position. he edged David Malukas by 11 hundredths of a second. Points leader Kyle Kirkwood will start fifth.

“Honestly, one of the best cars I’ve driven,” Palou said. “This morning (in practice) I already felt the car was really, really good, really well balanced. We just wanted to start up front, capitalize on a really good car we had today and see for tomorrow. Really happy to get our first pole this year.”

Graham Rahal will start third, Marcus Armstrong rolls off fourth, and Romain Grosjean will start from sixth.

Grosjean had a great lap going in Round 1 until he was impeded by Sting Ray Robb. Grosjean still advanced, while Robb lost his two best laps to that point.

McLaughlin’s crew got his backup car ready. he finished seventh in his group and will start 14th tomorrow.

Notes

IndyCar’s competitiveness was on full display with six teams reaching the Fast Six, and a seventh team starting seventh.

Palou is the fourth different driver to take pole in four races in 2026.

It was a great day for the AMR Safety team and all who helped implement the safety innovations on these race cars. Two drivers escaped serious injuries this afternoon thanks to car’s design.

Of the seven different teams will grid in the first three and a half rows, McLaren is conspicuously missing.

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