It may be time for every NTT INDYCAR SERIES driver not named Alex Palou to take a deep breath after qualifying Saturday for the Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix powered by AmFirst.

Four-time series champion Palou appears to be back on peak form, and that’s a very, very frightening prospect for his rivals – especially at Barber Motorsports Park.

SEE: Qualifying Results

Palou earned his first NTT P1 Award of the season and the 13th of his career by leading the Firestone Fast Six with a lap of 1 minute, 6.2341 seconds in the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. The Spaniard won this race last season by 16.0035 seconds – the largest margin of victory in the series in 2025 – after starting from the pole. He led practice this morning, too.

“Honestly, one of the best cars I’ve driven,” Palou said. “This morning (in practice) I already felt the car was really, really good, really well balanced. We just wanted to start up front, capitalize on a really good car we had today and see for tomorrow. Really happy to get our first pole this year.”

Live coverage of the 90-lap race starts at 1 p.m. ET Sunday on FOX, FOX One, the FOX Sports app and INDYCAR Radio powered by OnlyBulls. A 30-minute warmup precedes the race at 10 a.m. ET (FS2, FOX One, the FOX Sports app and INDYCAR Radio powered by OnlyBulls).

David Malukas continued the strong start to his Team Penske tenure, joining Palou in the front row by qualifying second at 1:06.3478 in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet.

Graham Rahal will start third – tying his season best set on the oval at Phoenix – after his best lap of 1:06.5181 in the No. 15 Fifth Third Bank Honda of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. Marcus Armstrong qualified fourth at 1:06.5312 in the No. 66 SiriusXM Honda of Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb Agajanian.

Kyle Kirkwood

Series leader Kyle Kirkwood (photo, above) qualified fifth at 1:06.8326 in the No. 27 JM Bullion/Gold.com Honda fielded by Andretti Global. But he pulled an interesting strategic ploy by running the entire Firestone Fast Six on used tires, saving a valuable, grippier pair of new Firestone Firehawk alternate tires for the race. Romain Grosjean qualified sixth – tying his season best from St. Petersburg – at 1:06.8363 in the No. 18 Bmax Honda of Dale Coyne Racing.

There was tremendous team parity in the starting lineup, as seven different organizations were represented among the top seven qualifiers. Santino Ferrucci will start seventh for AJ Foyt Racing, as Andretti Global is the first repeat team on the grid with Marcus Ericsson qualifying eighth.

The first group in the first session of qualifying was halted when the tough start of the Andretti Global tenure of two-time series champion Will Power continued. Power said his rear brakes failed entering the downhill approach to the tight Turn 5 hairpin, and Power speared head-first into the energy-absorbing foam barrier behind the gravel trap. Power was unhurt and will start 23rd in the No. 26 TWG AI Honda.

Another two-time winner at Barber, Scott McLaughlin, rebounded from a big crash in Turn 1 during practice this morning to qualify a backup No. 3 Odyssey Batteries Team Penske Chevrolet in 14th.

Rookie Mick Schumacher, the son of Formula One legend Michael Schumacher, was the quickest among the three rookies in the 25-driver field, qualifying 20th at 1:06.8140 in the No. 45 ENVE Honda of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing.