IndyCar Barber starting lineup: Team Penske has front row of Scott McLaughlin, Will Power after 'rough week'
Scott McLaughlin continued Team Penske's redemption tour weekend at Barber Motorsports Park, capturing the pole position for Sunday's Children's of Alabama Indy Grand Prix (noon ET, NBC and Peacock).
McLaughlin, whose third-place finish in the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg was disqualified Wednesday by IndyCar for push to pass violations, turned a 1 minute, 5.9490-second lap in his No. 3 Dallara-Chevrolet for his sixth pole position and first since Nashville last year.
McLaughin barely nipped teammate Will Power (1:06.0460), giving Team Penske a front-row lockout at the 17-turn, 2.3-mile road course that will play host to the third race of the NTT IndyCar Series season.
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After an eventful week and a jumble in the championship standings, the NTT IndyCar Series will hold its first road course points race of the season.
After falling from 10th to 29th in the points standings because of his St. Pete disqualification (for using the overtake button on a restart), McLaughlin entered Barber in need of a strong result to resuscitate his suddenly flailing championship hopes, never mind team morale.
"It’s been tough," McLaughlin told NBC Sports' Kevin Lee. "The (car) was so good today, and I just wanted to give the guys and girls on the team an opportunity to be back on the front row and back on pole. It's been tough the last couple of races, and we just haven’t hit in qualifying. I’m so proud of the execution today. This means a lot, but we'll keep focusing like this the rest of the season and keep working hard.
"I sent it pretty hard the last couple of corners, but anytime you get a chance to get a Team Penske front row, that’s the main objective and a great thing for the team. I’m very proud of everyone."
Penske teammate Scott McLaughlin also disqualified; Will Power docked 10 points.
Power, who lost 10 points from the St. Pete penalty but kept his second-place finish, qualified second for the second consecutive race, again coming up just short of his first pole since the 2022 season finale (and extending his record total of 70).
"I’ve said it all year, we’re going to be quick everywhere," Power told NBC Sports' Dillon Welch. "We’ve got great cars, great engines. I’m not surprised. It was obviously a pretty rough week for everyone on the team. Pretty disappointing. But we moved forward quickly.
"We’re hitting at such high levels. I keep missing out by the tiniest of margins, but we’re there man. I’m happy to get in the top six fighting for a pole. It'll come. We keep knocking on the door. I’m so determined to get a bloody win. It's been so long, and we're fighting hard."
Christian Lundgaard qualified third (1:06.0818), followed by Pato O'Ward, Felix Rosenqvist and Marcus Armstrong.
Two-time IndyCar champion says he was unaware using push to pass on restarts was illegal at the time he did it.
Just missing the Fast Six final round were Graham Rahal and Josef Newgarden, who qualified eighth after the Team Penske star paced practice Friday.
The two-time IndyCar series champion and 2023 Indy 500 winner had his St. Pete season-opening victory stripped after illegally using push to pass multiple times on restarts.
"Just needed a better lap; I didn’t do a very good job," Newgarden told Lee. "The team did a great job, and we have a great car this weekend. I'm excited to race. I'm here with my team. I'm ready to rock."
Rounding out the top 12 were Kyle Kirkwood, Alex Palou, Romain Grosjean and Meyer Shank Racing rookie Tom Blomqvist, who made the second round of IndyCar qualifying for the first time.
