Rinus VeeKay will lead the NTT IndyCar Series starting lineup to the green flag Sunday in the Honda Indy Gand Prix of Alabama at Barber Motorsports Park.
After his second career pole position, the Ed Carpenter Racing driver is seeking his second career victory.
“Confidence is high and this is a track where passing is not happening too much,” VeeKay, 21 said after turning a lap of 1 minute, 6.2507 seconds. “From here, we can have a great race and fight for a win, definitely.”
TIRE DESIGNATIONS: The starting lineup with compound choices
Pato O’Ward qualified second, locking out the front row for Chevrolet. The manufacturer has won the first three races of the season with Team Penske drivers Scott McLaughlin (who qualified fourth) and Josef Newgarden, who just missed the Fast Six final round.
RETWEET to congratulate @rinusveekay on winning his second career pole award in @INDYCAR!
— INDYCAR on NBC (@IndyCaronNBC) April 30, 2022
He'll lead the field to green Sunday at 1P ET on @NBC and @PeacockTV. pic.twitter.com/NtWgduWxQT
Newgarden has a series-high three victories at Barber and will earn a $1 million bonus if he can notch his fourth victory at the track Sunday.
Rain is in the forecast for Sunday’s race, which could be the first in inclement weather since IndyCar added the aeroscreen cockpit safety device two years ago.
“I think everybody’s rain tires on the truck are probably like two years old, which aren’t ideal,” O’Ward said. “Hopefully, it rains now so we can get some fresher ones for the race. I think it would do us well if we all had a chance to see what it was like in warmup. Not in terms of, like, by yourself, but I think it changes a lot whenever there’s 26 cars going around.
HOW TO WATCH BARBER: All the details for Sunday’s race at NBC
“I think there’s a big difference between you being by yourself or being out there, just getting a feeling of what the spray could be.”
Here’s the IndyCar starting lineup for Sunday’s Honda IndyCar Grand Prix of Alabama on the 17-turn, 2.3-mile street course (qualifying position, car number in parentheses, driver, engine, speed):
ROW 1
1. (21) Rinus VeeKay, Chevrolet, 01:06.2507 (124.980 mph)
2. (5) Pato O’Ward, Chevrolet, 01:06.4003 (124.698)
ROW 2
3. (10) Alex Palou, Honda, 01:06.4415 (124.621)
4. (3) Scott McLaughlin, Chevrolet, 01:06.4967 (124.517)
ROW 3
5. (27) Alexander Rossi, Honda, 01:06.5549 (124.409)
6. (7) Felix Rosenqvist, Chevrolet, 01:06.6410 (124.248)
ROW 4
7. (2) Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet, 01:06.3348 (124.821)
8. (28) Romain Grosjean, Honda, 01:06.3820 (124.733)
ROW 5
9. (15) Graham Rahal, Honda, 01:06.6339 (124.261)
10. (26) Colton Herta, Honda, 01:06.7295 (124.083)
ROW 6
11. (77) Callum Ilott, Chevrolet, 01:07.2000 (123.214)
12. (8) Marcus Ericsson, Honda, 01:07.3561 (122.929)
ROW 7
13. (9) Scott Dixon, Honda, 01:06.5142 (124.485)
14. (30) Christian Lundgaard, Honda, 01:06.7462 (124.052)
ROW 8
15. (45) Jack Harvey, Honda, 01:06.6511 (124.229)
16. (06) Helio Castroneves, Honda, 01:06.8138 (123.926)
ROW 9
17. (51) Takuma Sato, Honda, 01:06.7541 (124.037)
18. (18) David Malukas, Honda, 01:06.8898 (123.786)
ROW 10
19. (12) Will Power, Chevrolet, 01:06.7775 (123.994)
20. (29) Devlin DeFrancesco, Honda, 01:07.0242 (123.537)
ROW 11
21. (14) Kyle Kirkwood, Chevrolet, 01:06.8213 (123.913)
22. (20) Conor Daly, Chevrolet, 01:07.0350 (123.518)
ROW 12
23. (4) Dalton Kellett, Chevrolet, 01:07.6869 (122.328)
24. (60) Simon Pagenaud, Honda, 01:07.1052 (123.388)
ROW 13
25. (11) Tatiana Calderon, Chevrolet, 01:07.9248 (121.900)
26. (48) Jimmie Johnson, Honda, 01:09.0075 (119.987)