McLaughlin tops opening Barber IndyCar practice

The opening practice session for Sunday’s Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix at Barber Motorsports Park saw Scott McLaughlin lead the 25 drivers at the end of the three-stage outing. The New Zealander has been fastest in every opening road or street race session so far in 2026.

With IndyCar’s 40-minute first run for all drivers, Team Penske’s McLaughlin was fastest and once the field spit into two groups with 12 minutes apiece to focus on sampling Firestone’s faster alternate tire compound, Arrow McLaren’s Christian Lundgaard was quickest in the opening group and McLaughlin rose to lead the second where the fastest lap of the day was posted.

McLaughlin’s 1m07.3840s tour in the No. 3 Chevy was just ahead of Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood in the No. 27 Honda (1m07.4128s), Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward in the No. 5 Chevy (1m07.4158s) and Lundgaard in the sister No. 7 McLaren Chevy 1m07.4379s). Penske’s David Malukas in the No. 12 Chevy (1m07.5456s) and teammate Josef Newgarden completed the top six with the No. 2 Chevy (1m07.5600s).

“Pretty good start for us on the Odyssey Battery Chevy," McLaughlin said. "We were all strong, which is a good sign for the team. We’ve done a lot of hard work in the off-season to figure out where we can be better. We’ve still got a lot to learn and be better at and stronger. Overall a pretty good start for us. Bring on tomorrow.”

Outside of the usual spins, the main adversity suffered during the session belonged to ECR’s Alexander Rossi whose No. 20 Chevy slowed with a reported fuel delivery problem and required a red flag to retrieve the car.

UP NEXT: Second Practice, Saturday 11am ET.

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