Graham Rahal slammed his aeroscreen in frustration and had a brief, pointed discussion with his Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing crew after falling .0524 of a second short of advancing to the Firestone Fast Six during NTT P1 Award qualifying Saturday.
Rahal sped around Barber Motorsports Park in the second round of the three-round knockout qualifying format to set the 27-car lineup for Sunday’s Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix powered by AmFirst with a final lap of 1 minute, 6.0942 seconds.
That lap time narrowly placed Rahal into the final transfer spot to the final round. He immediately brought his No. 15 Hendrickson Honda down pit lane, forgoing one more lap around the 2.3-mile, 17-turn road course.
That decision prevented the team from advancing past the second round. Seconds later, Meyer Shank Racing’s Felix Rosenqvist laid down a lap of 1:06.0418 in his No. 60 AutoNation/SiriusXM Honda to bump Rahal from the final transfer spot.
Rahal never had a chance to counter. He was upset with the team for telling him too late that he had an opportunity for a final lap before time expired.
“We had enough fuel probably to do one more (lap), and I would have used it, for sure,” Rahal said. “But I wasn't told until I had already lifted to come into the pits. Unfortunately, it's really tight here, it's really fast. So, obviously, there's frustration because I think we've got a car that's definitely capable and to not see it through is super disappointing.”
Nailing a strong starting spot is vital at Barber. Since 2018, all five winners of this have started from the top two rows.
But Rahal knows if anyone can buck that trend, it could be him. He said Friday that Barber Motorsports Park suits his racecraft better than most tracks on the schedule. The scenic road course rewards drivers who can maintain tires throughout a race, which he thinks is a strength. He finished second in this race in 2015 and 2016.
Plus, there is a silver lining for drivers who miss the Firestone Fast Six. Rahal has only one lap on the set of the softer, grippier Firestone Firehawk alternate compound tires he used in qualifying and maintains another fresh set that the six drivers ahead of him used in the final round of qualifying.
Rahal was seventh and fourth, respectively, in the two practice sessions this weekend.
Dixon Out in Round 1
NTT INDYCAR SERIES points leader Scott Dixon is winless in 13 Barber Motorsports Park starts. Trends say he could be winless in 14 tries following Sunday’s 90-lap race.
The NTT INDYCAR SERIES points leader has left the track celebrating a victory once, Simon Pagenaud in 2016. The 2021 race served as the season opener, so while eventual champion Alex Palou won that race, he wasn’t the points leader entering.
Dixon failed to advance his No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda past the first round of qualifying Saturday. The six-time series champion starts 13th.
“I thought we would have been OK but came up a little short,” he said. “I thought maybe Lap 2 or Lap 3 I could have done a bit different. I need to look at the others to see how they played out whether they just went straight out the box but maybe under-drove it a little bit.”
While a driver never has won at Barber from outside the top 10 on the starting grid, anyone who follows the NTT INDYCAR SERIES knows never to count out Dixon.
He masterfully conserved enough fuel to hold off a hard-charging Colton Herta, Palou and Josef Newgarden to score his 57th career victory in last Sunday’s Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.
Dixon’s last five trips to victory lane have come from a starting spot of eighth of worse, including four of his last five coming from 14th, 15th, 16th and 11th on the grid, respectively.
“Anything is possible,” Dixon said on if he can win Sunday from 13th.
VeeKay Rolls from Ecstasy to Agony
Rinus VeeKay experienced quite a range of emotions Saturday at Barber Motorsports Park. He stamped his name as an NTT P1 Pole Award favorite after leading the morning practice session in his No. 21 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet.
Unfortunately, an electrical issue during the opening round of qualifying relegated VeeKay to a lap of 1:07.7392, good only for the 27th and last spot on the starting grid for the 90-lap race Sunday.
“My build laps were fine, and the car felt really good,” he said. “I just lost power on the straightaway. Our best course of action was to fix it overnight and save a set of tires for the race.”
VeeKay said his race strategist Brent Harvey knows how to make great calls, so he thinks he still has a good chance for a strong finish Sunday. VeeKay finished third at this race after winning the NTT P1 Award in 2022.
“It just really sucks with how much I like this track, being fastest in practice and knowing we were going to be fast in qualifying. I just wanted so much to make it through and give them back something for their hard work. It’s nothing they did wrong. It’s race cars. They break sometimes.”
Ghiotto Happy with First Qualifying Experience
Former F2 driver Luca Ghiotto is making his NTT INDYCAR SERIES debut with Dale Coyne Racing this weekend at Barber Motorsports Park. The Italian made progress throughout the two practice sessions and continued that pace in qualifying.
Ghiotto registered a lap of 1:06.9633 early in Group 1 of the opening round in DCR’s No. 51 Honda. On a fresh set of the softer Firestone Firehawk alternate compound tires, he improved to 1:06.4788. That was good for 11th in his group and 21st in Sunday’s starting lineup.
“It was a crazy experience,” he said. “I’m happy because we kept improving, even now in qualifying we were closer to the top. The car felt good. Of course, there’s some more in myself as I still need to fully be on the limit of the car.
“I feel like already being 11th (in the group) and putting some cars behind us is a decent result and is honestly far more than I expected. It’s been a crazy learning curve from Friday morning, and I just can’t wait for the race. With 90 laps in the race, there’s plenty of time to learn more.”
Ghiotto will share Row 11 with Dale Coyne Racing teammate Jack Harvey, who rolls off 22nd in his No. 18 Dale Coyne Racing Honda.
Rosenqvist Gets Fresh Engine, Continues Fast Pace
Rosenqvist hopped out of his No. 60 AutoNation/SiriusXM Honda prematurely during practice Saturday morning, telling NBC he was battling an engine problem. His Meyer Shank Racing team elected to take preventative measures and changed Honda engines before NTT P1 Award qualifying.
The team effort paid off. Rosenqvist charged to a fourth consecutive Firestone Fast Six appearances, including three-for-three this season, and will start fifth Sunday.
“I’d say that was a pretty good qualifying effort,” Rosenqvist said. “We basically missed most of practice two, and we had a telemetry issue in practice one. The weekend has been really rough, so we said that if we make it into the top 12, we would be really happy.
“So, to make the Fast Six, we didn’t really expect it. I feel like we made the most out of it and it puts us in a good position to do something in the race tomorrow.”
Rosenqvist qualified on the front row in the first two points-paying races this season, starting second in the season-opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg presented by RP Funding and earning the NTT P1 Pole Award for last weekend’s Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.
His rookie teammate, Tom Blomqvist, secured his best career starting spot in 12th. This was the first time both MSR cars made the second round of qualifying since the final race of the 2022 season.
“First top 12 for me, so that’s a positive,” Blomqvist said. “My engineer (Ron Borhorst) told me before the start of the year that as long as we keep moving up race by race, we’ll be doing well. We’re just chipping away at it.”
Blomqvist made three NTT INDYCAR SERIES starts last season and has improved in qualifying in the last five races. He started 27th and 21st, respectively, last year at Portland International Raceway and WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. This year, he qualified 17th at St. Petersburg, 15th at Long Beach and 12th today at Barber.
Foster Battling Electrical Gremlins
The good news for Andretti Global sophomore driver Louis Foster – points aren’t awarded in INDY NXT by Firestone practice.
The bad news? Foster’s No. 26 Copart/Novara Technologies Andretti Global entry hasn’t been on track much in preparation for Sunday’s 35-lap race (11:15 a.m. ET Sunday, live, Peacock, INDYCAR LIVE, INDYCAR Radio Network) at Barber Motorsports Park.
Just 33 minutes into Friday’s opening practice session, Foster stopped on track, battling an electrical issue. That stumbling block wasn’t rectified overnight. One minute into Saturday morning’s practice, Foster stalled again, this time in Turn 10.
Once towed back to pit lane, the crew thrashed with efforts to diagnose Foster’s electrical gremlins. After several minutes working, Foster sped out of his pit box to see if the problem was rectified. It wasn’t.
In two practice sessions, Foster completed 13 combined laps. The team wasn’t able to fix the problem between practice and qualifying as the British driver didn’t turn a lap and starts last (21st).
Foster earned both of his victories last season as an INDY NXT rookie on natural, free-flowing road courses (Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Portland International Raceway) and was third in the season finale at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. Following a runner-up finish to open this season at St. Petersburg, Foster was tabbed among the favorites for the championship.
Conquer Paralysis Now Gala Set for May 24
One of the most popular events surrounding the Indianapolis 500 returns for the 24th time this year, with the onsemi Racing to Recovery Gala presented by Youth Opportunity set for Friday, May 24.
The event benefits Conquer Paralysis Now, the nonprofit founded by INDYCAR SERIES team owner and former driver Sam Schmidt, and again offers the opportunity for attendees to join in person at locations in Indianapolis or Las Vegas and virtually via a live online stream.
The Indiana Roof Ballroom (140 W. Washington St., Indianapolis, IN 46204) returns as the site for the in-person party in Indianapolis, as does the Lake Mead Christian Academy Secondary Campus (655 E. Lake Mead Pkwy., Henderson, NV 89015) in the Las Vegas area. Doors will open at 6 p.m. ET Friday, May 24 in Indianapolis and 4 p.m. PT in Las Vegas. The virtual livestream kicks off at 7 p.m. ET with dinner at 7:30 p.m.
Visit https://one.bidpal.net/whenisnow/welcome or text WhenIsNow to 243725 for ticket information.
CPN has raised more than $18 million through the years to fund scientific research, medical treatment, rehabilitation and technological advances that lead toward a cure.
Odds and Ends
- Pietro Fittipaldi brought out an early red flag in Saturday morning’s practice session. The steering column malfunctioned, which sent the Brazilian driver on a scary ride through the Turn 2 gravel. Luckily, without the ability to steer the car, Fittipaldi’s No. 30 Mi-Jack Honda stopped short of making contact with the wall.
- Going back to 2019, this race has been won by four different teams (Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, Chip Ganassi Racing, Arrow McLaren, Team Penske) in four years.