Alex Palou, P1 Award – Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix – Photo by Joe Skibinski

By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio

Check “pole position” off Alex Palou’s 2025 INDYCAR to-do list.

Alex Palou – Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix – Photo by Joe Skibinski

Palou emerged from a frantic 40 final seconds of Firestone Fast Six qualifying Saturday for the Children’s Alabama Indy Grand Prix to clinch his first pole of the NTT IndyCar Series season. Palou toured BMP’s 2.3-mile/17-turn natural-terrain road-course in Birmingham in 1-minute, 7.2918-seconds/123.046 mph to continue his relentless early season bid for a fourth driver’s championship and third in a row.

In case you blinked, Palou has won two of the season’s first three races and finished second in the other. The 28-year-old Spaniard and his Chip Ganassi Racing crew have fashioned a 34-point lead over Kyle Kirkwood of Andretti Global with a pair of races at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway beckoning before the end of the Month of May.

Alex Palou – Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix – Photo by Paul Hurley

The NTT P1 Award changed hands four times during those last 40 seconds before Palou settled the issue.

“What an amazing day for the No. 10 car,” said Palou, driver of the No. 10 HRC Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. “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 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.”

Scott McLaughlin – Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix – Photo by Paul Hurley

The 90-lap/207-mile race is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. (EDT) Sunday (FOX, the FOX Sports app and the INDYCAR Radio Network). Palou is chasing his first win at BMP since bagging 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.

Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin, the two-time/reigning BMP winner, just missed recording his second straight pole for this event. The native of New Zealand will start second after his best lap of 1:07.4387-seconds/122.778 mph in the No. 3 Good Ranchers Team Penske Chevrolet.

Colton Herta – Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix – Photo by Paul Hurley

Colton Herta will start third after his best lap of 1:07.4576-seconds/122.744 mph in the No. 26 Gainbridge Honda of Andretti Global.

Two-time Barber winner Will Power of Australia will join Herta in Row 2 after qualifying fourth at 1:07.5616-seconds/122.555 mph in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet. A two-time series champion, Power orchestrated his best qualifying performance of the season by a wide margin, as his previous best was 13th on the Streets of St. Pete in Florida and Long Beach, Calif.

Rinus VeeKay of The Netherlands qualified fifth at 1:07.9103-seconds/121.926 mph in the No. 18 askROI Honda fielded by Dale Coyne Racing. It marked the first time VeeKay reached the Firestone Fast Six on a road or street circuit since he won P1 for this race in April 2022.

Nolan Siegel – Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix – Photo by Paul Hurley

Nolan Siegel completed the third row with a career performance. Siegel will start a career-best sixth after his best lap of 1:08.0470-seconds/121.681 mph in the No. 6 NTT DATA Arrow McLaren Chevrolet. It was the first time Siegel advanced into the Firestone Fast Six in his series career, which started midway through last season.

“I think it was just execution to be honest,” Siegel said. “Going into qualifying, we didn’t expect to be in the Firestone Fast Six. We thought our true pace was in the top-10 after we were in that range in the other two sessions. In the Firestone Fast Six, I think everything went smoothly. We were calm, collected and made good changes. We didn’t get ahead of ourselves and executed everything really well. That’s what it takes. Everyone else here is near-perfect and if you’re not perfect, the results don’t come.”

Arrow McLaren ace Pato O’Ward placed eighth after a best lap of 1:07.7056-seconds/122.294 mph.

Pato O’Ward – Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix – Photo by Paul Hurley

“In Practice 2, I had a mishap in Turn 17 and we didn’t get a lot of running in, so we were playing a bit of a guessing game going into qualifying,” said O’Ward, a native of Mexico with family ties to San Antonio. “We just missed it there by a little bit, but considering the fact that we didn’t have a lot of running in, I’m not displeased with it.

“Obviously, we want to be a bit further up front but I think it’s all to play for (the race). Strategy is going to be important like it’s been the last few races. It’s good to see all three (Arrow McLaren) cars got into the top-12 and cool to see Nolan get into his first Firestone Fast Six. We can work from here.”

Santino Ferrucci – Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix – Photo by Paul Hurley

Dallas resident Santino Ferrucci will start 13^th after a best lap of 1:07.8228-seconds/122.083 mph in the No. 14 Sexton Properties Chevrolet fielded by Waller, Texas-based A.J. Foyt Racing.

“It was an OK session,” Ferrucci said. “I think our car was pretty good, definitely fast enough to advance. It was really tough to get a gap. Also, the way that everything worked out, we were too heavy on fuel, which is honestly all the lap time that we really needed to advance as well. Or just having a clean out-lap before we started our push-lap to understand the balance correctly. You’re missing it by five-hundredths-of-a-second, so it’s the blink of an eye. But these days it’s so tight. We sit good in 13th with three sets of sticker reds and we’ll come through the field.”

David Malukas – Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix – Photo by Paul Hurley

Ferrucci’s teammate, David Malukas, will grid 20th in the No. 4 A.J. Foyt Racing Chevrolet.

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 at the most recent event last month, the prestigious 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. The native of New Zealand will start a season-low 26th in the 27-car field, “Dixie’s” worst start since qualifying 26th for the Big Machine Spiked Coolers Grand Prix in August 2021 on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road-Course.

Dennis Hauger – INDY NXT by Firestone – Grand Prix of Alabama – Photo by Paul Hurley

Rookie Dennis Hauger remained perfect in INDY NXT by Firestone qualifying Saturday, earning pole position for the Grand Prix of Alabama in mixed conditions at Barber Motorsports Park.

A 22-year-old native of Norway, Hauger secured the top starting spot for Sunday’s race with a best lap of 1-minute, 12.7705-seconds/113.782 mph in the No. 28 Rental Group car fielded by Andretti Global. Hauger won his debut race in INDYCAR’s developmental series from P1 on March 2 at St. Petersburg, Fla.

Qualifying was a tale of two sessions conducted in changing weather conditions. The 20-driver field was split into two groups, with the first group all using Firestone’s Firehawk rain tires because of damp track conditions. However, the 2.3-mile/17-turn natural-terrain circuit dried enough for the second group to switch to Firestone’s faster slick tires after their warmup lap, creating a huge discrepancy in times between the two groups.

Series rules state the grid is set by alternating the quickest times in each group, so Brazilian Caio Collet will join Hauger on the front row even though his best time of 1:24.8394-seconds/97.596 mph in the No. 76 HMD Motorsports car from the wetter, first group was more than 12-seconds slower than Hauger’s best.

That trend continued throughout the lineup, as starters in the odd-numbered grid spots all came from the drier, faster second group while all even-numbered starters qualified in the wetter, slower first group.

Hauger already was on top when he improved upon his best time on his last lap. Every driver in the second group was given one final flying lap after rookie Max Taylor spun off-track late in the session in the No. 18 HMD Motorsports car, losing his two quickest laps for triggering a red flag during qualifying.

“It was looking like it was drying up, but you don’t really know before you go out there,” Hauger said. “After the first lap, I was like, ‘We’ve to pit for a sticker (slicks) run.’ After we did that, I think most people did in the end.

“It was a good run, a good last lap. I managed to maximize it. The Andretti team and No. 28 crew have had a good weekend so far and are looking forward to starting on pole.”

The 35-lap/80.5-mile/55-minute race will start at 11:30 a.m. (EDT) Sunday and be available on FOX Sports 1, FOX Sports app and the INDYCAR Radio Network.

Additionally, Evagoras Papasavvas will start third in his series debut in the No. 24 HMD Motorsports machine. Papasavvas, a 17-year-old American of Cypriot descent, turned an impressive top lap of 1:13.3669-seconds/112.857 mph in the second group. Rookie Lochie Hughes of Australia and Andretti Global will join him in Row 2 after qualifying fourth at 1:25.4437-seconds/96.906 mph in the No. 26 McGinley Clinic/USF Pro Championship car of Andretti Global.

Myles Rowe qualified fifth at 1:13.4377-seconds/112.749 mph in the No. 99 Abel/Force Indy machine of Abel Motorsports. Bryce Aron will start sixth after his run of 1:25.5923-seconds/96.738 mph in the No. 9 Chip Ganassi Racing machine.

Sanctioning body INDYCAR has announced an update to race tire usage requirements at the Sonsio Grand Prix on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road-Course on Saturday, May 10.

Teams will be required to use two sets of Firestone Firehawk alternate compound tires (one more than previously required) and two sets of primary compound tires (one more than previously required).

There are no requirements in terms of new (sticker) sets of tires used in the race. The two completed laps needed to satisfy the tire requirement rule, where one (1) lap must begin once the Green Flag has been displayed to the Race Leader (Rule 15.3.3.2.3.) for each of the four sets (Rule 15.3.3.2.) remains in effect.

The update strives to ensure an all-out, driving on the limit, entertaining product for fans and generate even more strategic challenges for North America’s premier open-wheel racing series. Working with Firestone, the current, standard event weekend road and street circuit tire allocation that began this season (five sets of primaries and five sets of alternates) was contemplated with this tire requirement format option in mind.

Tire allocation for the IMS Road-Course, the only two-day road and street circuit event on the 2025 NTT IndyCar Series schedule, remains unchanged at five sets of primaries and four sets of alternates.

“INDYCAR is continually looking into ways to improve an already extraordinary on-track product,” INDYCAR President J. Douglas Boles said. “Firestone is a terrific partner, and their higher degradation alternate tire has given strategists plenty to think about on road and street circuits this year. We expect this update will challenge teams and drivers even more.”

In an additional move to ensure more robust on-track activity during the Sonsio Grand Prix event, Practice 2 on the IMS Road-Course will be adjusted from a limited green flag guarantee of 45 minutes to 35.

Following the event on the IMS Road-Course, INDYCAR will review both updated procedures and evaluate its use for future races.

Coverage of the Sonsio Grand Prix, Round 5 of the 2025 NTT IndyCar Series championship, is scheduled to begin at 4:30 p.m. (EDT) Saturday, May 10 on FOX, the FOX Sports app and the INDYCAR Radio Network. First practice is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. Friday, May 9, and can be seen on FS2.

NTT IndyCar Series Point Standings _ 1, Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing, 142; 2, Kyle Kirkwood, Andretti Global, 108; 3, Christian Lundgaard, Arrow McLaren, 96; 4, Felix Rosenqvist, Meyer Shank Racing, 88; 5, Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing, 86; 6, Pato O’Ward, Arrow McLaren, 80; 7, Colton Herta, Andretti Global, 73; 8, Scott McLaughlin, Team Penske, 69; 9, Will Power, Team Penske, 63; 10, Josef Newgarden, Team Penske, 58;

11, Alexander Rossi, Ed Carpenter Racing, 58; 12, Marcus Ericsson, Andretti Global, 55; 13, Santino Ferrucci, A.J. Foyt Racing, 51; 14, Marcus Armstrong, Meyer Shank Racing, 50; 15, Kyffin Simpson, Chip Ganassi Racing, 48; 16, Rinus VeeKay, Dale Coyne Racing, 46; 17, Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 45; 18, David Malukas, A.J. Foyt Racing, 42; 19, Christian Rasmussen, Ed Carpenter Racing, 40; 20, Sting Ray Robb, Juncos Hollinger Racing, 39;

21, Conor Daly, Juncos Hollinger Racing, 32; 22, Robert Shwartzman, Prema Racing, 30; 23, Nolan Siegel, Arrow McLaren, 26; 24, Callum Ilott, Prema Racing, 25; 25, Louis Foster, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 25; 26, Devlin DeFrancesco, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 24; 27, Jacob Abel, Dale Coyne Racing, 17.

FOX SPORTS’ 2025 NTT INDYCAR SERIES BROADCAST COVERAGE SCHEDULE

Sunday, March 2 _ Streets of St. Petersburg, Fla. (Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing)

Sunday, March 23 _The Thermal Club, Thermal, Calif.  (Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing)

Sunday, April 13 _ Streets of Long Beach, Calif. (Kyle Kirkwood, Andretti Global)

Sunday, May 4 _ Barber Motorsports Park, Birmingham, Ala. (FOX, 1:30 p.m.)

Saturday, May 10 _ Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road-Course (FOX, 4:30 p.m.)

Sunday, May 25 _ Indianapolis Motor Speedway Oval (FOX, 10 a.m.)

Sunday, June 1 _ Streets of Detroit (FOX, 12:30 p.m.)

Sunday, June 15 _ World Wide Technology Raceway, Madison, Ill. (FOX, 3 p.m.)

Sunday, June 22 _ Road America, Elkhart Lake, Wis. (FOX, 3:30 p.m.)

Sunday, July 6 _ Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Lexington (FOX, 2 p.m.)

Saturday, July 12 _ Iowa Speedway, Newton, Race 1 (FOX, 5 p.m.)

Sunday, July 13 _ Iowa Speedway, Newton, Race 2 (FOX, 2 p.m.)

Sunday, July 20 _ Streets of Toronto, Canada (FOX, 2 p.m.)

Sunday, July 27 _ WeatherTech Raceway, Laguna Seca, Monterey, Calif. (FOX, 3 p.m.)

Sunday, Aug. 10 _ Portland (Ore.) International Raceway (FOX, 3 p.m.)

Sunday, Aug. 24 _ The Milwaukee Mile, West Allis, Wis. (FOX, 2 p.m.)

Sunday, Aug. 31 _ Nashville Superspeedway, Lebanon, Tenn. (2:30 p.m.)

NOTE _ All times Eastern. Dates and times subject to change.