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Children's of Alabama Indy Grand Prix

Leeds, Alabama - April 27, 2024

Perhaps no other track on the NTT INDYCAR SERIES schedule requires the amount of commitment per lap than Barber Motorsports Park. Its elevation changes and blind corners mean that drivers demand a certain level of trust in their cars to extract the optimal lap time. This makes qualifying at Barber one of the most-thrilling events on the calendar each Saturday of the Alabama race weekend and something every race fan should experience. 

Team Penske had scored eight NTT P1 Awards in the 13 series races contested at Barber prior to this weekend, but the last came in 2018 when Josef Newgarden took the top qualifying spot on his way to his second win at the circuit. Scott McLaughlin ended that drought on Saturday afternoon with a lap of 1:05.9490 seconds in the No. 3 Good Ranchers Chevrolet, just nipping his teammate Will Power who was once again close to his 71st career pole position in the No. 12 Verizon Chevrolet. Josef Newgarden and the No. 2 PPG Chevrolet team came close to also transferring into the Firestone Fast Six final round of qualifying but ultimately fell just short and will start Sunday's race from the eighth position. 

The green flag for the Children's of Alabama Indy Grand Prix will fly tomorrow at 1:00 pm ET on NBC. 

TRIPLE CENTURY: With McLaughlin's Barber pole position, Team Penske hit the 300 mark for NTT INDYCAR SERIES pole positions. The first INDYCAR SERIES pole position for the team came in the Golden Gate 150 at Sonoma Raceway on July 4, 1970 with Team Penske Hall of Fame driver, Mark Donohue. In addition, it is the 690th pole position for the team across all series. 

FRONT ROW LOCKOUT: The front-row lockout by McLaughlin and Power is the 102nd time Team Penske has accomplished this feat with the previous coming in the second race of the Iowa Speedway doubleheader in 2023 where Power bested McLaughlin for the top spot. 
 

THEY SAID IT: "We wanted an opportunity to be back on pole, and the Good Ranchers Chevrolet was great. We're just proud to get back in this fight with a good qualifying run and start our championship run this weekend. We've got a great car here. I love this place and love the people here. Hopefully, we can put on a good show for the fans and may the best driver win."
- Scott McLaughlin