Scott McLaughlin times fastest to conclude Friday action at Barber Motorsports Park
- Jeffrey Hrunka
- Mar 27
- 4 min read
Updated: Mar 28
Jeffrey Hrunka - INDYCAR Contributor
Championship favorites couldn’t top the board.
After Team Penske’s difficult weekend in Arlington, the trio of Scott McLaughlin, David Malukas and Josef Newgarden dominated NTT INDYCAR SERIES’ first practice session at Barber Motorsports Park. The Chevrolet-powered team showed the most consistency between the two tire compounds, but were scattered through the top-10 once the field put on the alternate compound.
Scott McLaughlin, driver of the No. 3 Team Penske Chevrolet, led the session, just two hundredths in front of the rest of the field. Kyle Kirkwood, driver of No.27 Andretti Global Honda and Pato O’Ward, driver of the No.5 Arrow-McLaren Chevrolet, timed second (1:07.413s) and third (1:07.416s), earning their best laps once on the alternate compound.
For O’Ward’s teammate, Christian Lundgaard, driver of the No.7 Arrow-McLaren Chevrolet, he was the fastest driver in the second portion of first practice when the field was split into two groups. Even with the late pace on the alternates, he said more work is needed on the setup to translate that speed to the primary compound.
"I didn't feel good on the primes. Balance was decent. Definitely some stuff to work on, I didn't really see where I was going to find half a second or 7/10ths that we were missing at the time," Lungaard said. "On outright pace, we're right there on the alternates. I think that's definitely a positive. I think we need to find a little bit for the race."
Andretti Global has struggled on its recent trips to Barber Motorsports Park, as the team has not earned a win in Birmingham, Alabama, since Ryan Hunter-Reay won back-to-back years in 2013 and 2014. Combine this with Kirkwood's road course struggles, with no finish better than ninth at Barber Motorsports Park and no road course wins in 27 starts and it didn’t look good for the team entering this weekend.
However, the unlucky streak seemed to halt for practice for all three Hondas, after Kirkwood and Will Power, driver of the No.26, ended the session inside the top-10, with Marcus Ericsson, driver of the No.28, on the outside in 13th (1:07.927s). Power has seen success at Barber with his former outfit, Team Penske. He looks to translate it in his first season with Andretti Global.
"It changes every year. Honestly, when I was at Penske, turn up, you'd be quick one year, turn up with the same setup, completely different. Once again, I would say the tires change, conditions change. It's never the same. You just have to understand what you want from the feel of the car," Power said. "You have to be very much on your toes and kind of try to understand what the track requires in this condition."
Defending Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix winner Alex Palou, driver of the No.10 Honda, ended the session in seventh (1:07.673s) ahead of all his Chip Ganassi Racing teammates. The team struggled as a whole, with six-time champion Scott Dixon, driver of the No.9, ending the session 15th (1:07.970s) and Kyffin Simpson, driver of the No.8, timing last in 25th (1:08.681s).
All three rookies failed to show speed through the 60-minute practice session, as Caio Collett led the group in 21st (1:08.269s) with Dennis Hauger (1:08.352s) and Mick Schumacher (1:08.397s) in 22nd and 23rd, respectively..
NTT INDYCAR SERIES Practice 1 Results (Top 10):
*The majority of personal best times were made in the group practice sessions on the alternate tires
Myles Rowe edges out JM Correa and Josh Pierson to lead sole INDY NXT practice session
After a fourth-place finish in the INDY NXT Grand Prix of Alabama last season, Myles Rowe, driver of the Abel Motorsports No.99, showed his pace in the series' first visit back, topping the sole INDY NXT practice session on Friday afternoon.
JM Correa (1:12.035s), driver of the Cusick Morgan Motorsports No.68, and Josh Pierson (1:12.128s), driver of the Andretti Global No.29, rounded out the top three, being the only drivers to time within a tenth of Rowe.
Champion leader Max Taylor timed third of the four Andretti Global cars in the session, slotting his No.28 sixth (1:12.227s). He is one of eight drivers inside the top-10 in the championship standings to finish inside the top-10 on time. Only current championship runner-up, rookie Nikita Johnson, and Andretti Global's Seb Murray were outside this mark, seven tenths behind in 14th (1:12.611s) and 15th (1:12.798s).
Enzo Fittipaldi, driver of the HMD Motorsports No. 67, led all rookies through the 45-minute session with Alessandro de Tullio and teammate Tymek Kucharczyk ending the session seventh (1:12.37s) and eighth (1:12.372s), respectively.
INDY NXT SERIES Practice Results (Top 10):
The NTT INDYCAR SERIES and INDY NXT SERIES return to the track on Saturday, March. 28 for practice and qualifying for both series on FS2 and FS1, respectively. INDT NXT will also hold its first of two races to close out the day on Saturday afternoon.
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