CHEVROLET IN THE NTT INDYCAR SERIES
Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix
2.3-mile, 17-turn Barber Motorsports Park natural terrain road course
Birmingham, Alabama
Saturday Qualifying Report
March 28, 2026
BIRMINGHAM, Alabama (March 28, 2026) – David Malukas will start the Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix on the outside of the front row in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet, improving his average starting position on the season to 4.3, tied for the series lead with today’s pole winner Álex Palou.
Santino Ferrucci in the No. 14 Homes For Our Troops Chevrolet, Josef Newgarden in the No. 2 PPG Team Penske Chevrolet, and Christian Lundgaard in the No. 7 VELO Arrow McLaren Chevrolet were the other Chevrolet-powered drivers to qualify in the top ten.
Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix Qualifying Results:
A crazy few hours for McLaughlin and Team Penske
McLaughlin, the driver of the No. 3 Odyssey Battery Team Penske Chevrolet dropped the right rear in Turn 1 at Barber Motorsports Park, spinning 180 degrees and impacting the tire and foam barrier and ending up halfway through the catch fence. McLaughlin was seen and released by INDYCAR Medical. He told the INDYCAR Radio Network:
“I just dropped the right rear, unfortunately. It’s a testament to the safety of the INDYCAR and what Barbers has done here. Honestly, I think the crash looked a lot worse than it felt. I hope we can get this thing fixed and go out and ship it again in qualifying. I knew the impact was coming, so I tried to brace myself, and then I ended up halfway through the fence, so it was pretty exciting. I’m sad for my guys. I’ve got the best crew on pit land, and they’ll fix it as fast as they can. It’s a shame.”
The team made a quick decision to go to the backup car, swapping the undamaged Chevy Indy V6, and replacing the damaged parts, getting the car already wrapped for the Streets of Long Beach, prepared in plenty of time for qualifying.
“We’re race drivers,” said McLaughlin to Harvey before qualifying. “You’re paid to push the limits. It’s what you have to do. I have full confidence in the car. I felt really good on that run, it was just a small error with big consequence. It looked pretty crazy, right. For me, it’s just business as usual. Just get in this Odyssey Battery Chevy, feel it for the first lap and send it.”
McLaughlin, in the second group, barely missed out on advancing to the Fast 12, with a lap that was only one-hundredth of a second behind O’Ward, saying after qualifying:
“First off, massive thanks to the Odyssey Battery Chevy team. I put us behind with the big shunt in practice and these guys just always answer the bell. Can’t thank them enough for their hard work. It was great just to be able to get out for qualifying and if we are in the first group I think we sail through. Really proud of the effort.”
What they’re saying – qualifying:
David Malukas, No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet qualified:
“I’m satisfied for sure, but I think it still hurts because we could have gone for the pole. It was so close between me, Palou and Kirkwood, especially in that Fast 12; I couldn’t believe how tight it was. Overall, we did well. I made a call there in the Fast Six, and we definitely overstepped it on the car. I thought in my head, this is going to be perfect. I went a few corners and said man, I overdid it, so that’s on me. I wanted to be aggressive on the set-up. Overall, this Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet has been awesome. From Practice One, we’ve been on such a good streak and really happy that we can start on that front row and keep this consistency we’ve had in 2026 going.”
Santino Ferrucci, No. 14 Homes For Our Troops Chevrolet qualified 7th:
“Honestly, one of our new things this year is try and start with the car we rolled out with and just build on it. We had it, we’ve been missing time in Turn 12 & 13, and it’s been on me to fix that. And, I just kind of sent it through (Turn) 13 and I think I sent it too far because I passed the line off the track. It sucks, because that what cost us sixth. I can’t thank everybody at A.J. Foyt Racing, HFOT.org and Chevy. We’ve come a long way in the last few years. We’re trying to make this the new normal. We made the Fast 12 in Arlington and almost in the Fast Six this weekend. We’ve had great race cars, but I just want to pass less cars. I like being the pass master, but it feels good to start up front.”
Josef Newgarden, No. 2 PPG Team Penske Chevrolet qualified 9th:
Christian Lundgaard, No. 7 VELO Arrow McLaren Chevrolet qualified 10th:
“Qualifying was disappointing. We had a lot more going into it than where we ended up. Overall, pace in Q1 was good; pace in Q2 was not quite there. We have some things we need to figure out. Balance wasn’t really the issue, I don’t think. We just lacked a bit of grip in Q2, and it felt weird, so we’ve got some things to figure out in our debrief and address for the race tomorrow.”
Alexander Rossi, No. 20 ECR Java House Chevrolet qualified 11th:
“Pretty anti-climatic result, but a good improvement from yesterday. I am glad we were able to get the No. 20 Java House Chevrolet out of our group and into the second round of qualifying. We have some good ideas for tomorrow!”
Pato O’Ward, No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet qualified 12th:
“It was a very frustrating day. No explanation to what happened in Qualifying. We had the exact same reads for what happened to the 5 and the 7 car, which obviously, we need to get to the bottom of it because these days can’t be happening when we feel like we have a chance for pole and are then eight tenths behind.”
Scott McLaughlin, No. 3 Odyssey Battery Team Penske Chevrolet qualified 14th:
“First off, massive thanks to the Odyssey Battery Chevy team. I put us behind with the big shunt in practice and these guys just always answer the bell. Can’t thank them enough for their hard work. It was great just to be able to get out for qualifying and if we are in the first group I think we sail through. Really proud of the effort.”
Nolan Siegel, No. 6 SmartStop Arrow McLaren Chevrolet qualified 15th:
“A little bit of a confusing Qualifying. I think all of us are expecting a lot more pace. The car felt really good and the session was executed quite well, and the lap time didn’t match the feeling. So, (I’m) confused, and I think that’s consistent across the camp. We have some things to look into, but I’m happy with the execution of Qualifying and we’ll just find some speed.”
Rinus VeeKay, No. 76 Juncos Hollinger Chevrolet qualified 16th:
“Tough qualifying to say the least. To start, we’ve had really great pace all weekend, especially on the Blacks. We showed some promising pace in practice #1 on the Reds. In qualifying, we started on Blacks. We were P2, really quick and happy with the car. Then on the Reds, unfortunately, once again could not find the grip on that tire and didn’t get the jump in lap time that we were looking for like almost everybody else did. Just a bummer. We have a lot more pace than where we qualified. We need to figure this out coming into the rest of the season to see where we can find that grip on the Red tire. We’re making it a bit harder on ourselves for the race. We’ve got it all to play for. We’ve got good minds on strategy and good pace to make strategy happen, so all eyes forward.”
Christian Rasmussen, No. 21 ECR Splenda Chevrolet qualified 17th:
“We just missed it. We’ve been struggling to find the balance the whole weekend. We’ve thrown some big changes at the Splenda Chevrolet over the course of the weekend but obviously haven’t quite found a solution yet. We’ll keep working.”
Caio Collet, No. 4 Combitrans Amazonia Chevrolet qualified 21st:
“I think the car felt very good, both on black and red tires. On red tires, we only had one lap, and unfortunately, I made a big mistake out of turn nine, so that was it. I mean, after that, I lost a little bit of the peak of the tire, and qualifying was over. Not much to say, except that I have a good race car for tomorrow.”
Sting Ray Robb, No. 77 Juncos Hollinger – Goodheart Chevrolet qualified 25th:
“Today was very interesting. Barber is always a challenging track. A lot of interesting dynamics to think about. But, very temperature sensitive and we felt that today. We made a great step overnight to get a good car for practice 2 this morning and really felt like we were in a good spot going into qualifying. But, when we put the Red tires on in qualifying we weren’t able to get the pace out of them that we expected. Both cars struggled with similar things. Rinus and I are both wanting the same thing from the car, which is nice so that we can change the set up together for tomorrow. I think warm up will be good, but the high temps in the middle of the day will be challenging for us. We’ll make some good adjustments overnight and hopefully be able to race forward.”
NTT INDYCAR SERIES News Conference
Saturday, March 28, 2026
David Malukas
Press Conference
THE MODERATOR: David Malukas with his best starting position in his fourth start, second front-row start in 2026.
Happy to be starting front row tomorrow?
DAVID MALUKAS: Yeah, very happy. Super happy. Obviously we had the opportunity to go for pole. It was actually my call to make a big setup swing change going into the Fast Six. Overdid it. It was a bit on me.
Very happy with everything. Yeah, front row for tomorrow is fantastic.
THE MODERATOR: How is the car for tomorrow?
DAVID MALUKAS: I think it’s very good. From practice one, practice two, our pace, on primary tires, but on reruns, we seem to have pace. Lap time was there. I think we’re in for a good race tomorrow.
THE MODERATOR: Let’s open it up for questions.
Q. David, obviously starting on the front row, super important. Alex started on pole last year, ran away from the field. How important is that first lap, first corner, to get ahead? How aggressive are you planning on driving?
DAVID MALUKAS: We’ll see how the race plays out. I mean, this track, it’s tough to pass. There’s only a few spots. We’ll see how the first lap plays out. If the opportunity is there, we’ll go for it. If not, we need to kind of settle in.
It’s a bit of a game. You don’t want to be pushing so hard, kill your tires, ruin your race for one position.
Q. A couple drivers starting behind you on presumably new reds. How important is that going to be to your race?
DAVID MALUKAS: Yeah, I mean, if Palou is going to do the same thing like last year and pull away, hopefully we can pull away with him and creat a gap before those guys get the new set of reds.
It is going to be a big change for them, but hopefully track rebuilds up and toward the end there is not going to be a big difference when they have that new tire difference. I think it will be good either way. The car is quick.
Q. David, earlier today your teammate, Scott McLaughlin, had a very wild ride. What was your reaction when you saw that?
DAVID MALUKAS: Yeah pretty much that. It was crazy. The car was almost skidding. Like you throw a rock in the water, in a pond, it was skidding. You couldn’t slow it down. Looked like a big hit.
Team Penske guys built it so quick, got it done. Very impressive.
Q. You were able to save the day by getting into the Fast Six, the only Chevy or Penske in the Fast Six. How does that help the Chevy side?
DAVID MALUKAS: I think it’s very big, very strong. I think for us, from day one yesterday, it seemed that pace was very good for all of us, for more Chevys. It’s been interesting how things came out, even through practice two.
It’s interesting. We’ll look at everything and see why things changed for qualifying.
Q. On the tire strategy, was there ever a question for you guys if you were going to use new or old alternates for that final six laps or you wanted to try to get the pole and be on those new tires for the Fast Six?
DAVID MALUKAS: Normally when we make one of those decisions we make it early on and commit to it no matter what’s going on around us. We did the same thing in St. Pete. We committed to doing used. Coming into Barber, we committed to going to the new tires for the Fast Six.
Q. Did you notice any difference with the cars based on the temperature compared to yesterday?
DAVID MALUKAS: I mean, for sure from my side, yeah, it was a big difference. I think the difference was more in practice two. I think quallie the temp went up a bit, kind of closed in a little bit more to how practice one reds were.
We got the setup accorded to what the temperature was. But yeah, a little different.
Tune-In Guide
Sunday
NTT INDYCAR SERIES Warm Up – 10am (ET)/9am (CT)/8am (MT)/7am (PT) –FS1/ INDYCAR Radio Network/SIRIUSXM 218
Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix (90 laps) – 1pm (ET)/noon (CT)/11am (MT)/10am (PT) – FOX/INDYCAR Radio Network/SIRIUSXM 218
Chevrolet History at Barber Motorsports Park
Chevrolet Wins – 9
2024 – Scott McLaughlin – Team Penske
2023 – Scott McLaughlin – Team Penske
2022 – Pato O’Ward – Arrow McLaren
2018 – Josef Newgarden – Team Penske
2017 – Josef Newgarden – Team Penske
2016 – Simon Pagenaud – Team Penske
2015 – Josef Newgarden – ECR
2013 – Ryan Hunter-Reay – Andretti Global
2012 – Will Power – Team Penske
Chevrolet Poles – 10
2024 – Scott McLaughlin – Team Penske
2022 – Rinus VeeKay – ECR
2021 – Pato O’Ward – Arrow McLaren
2018 – Josef Newgarden – Team Penske
2017 – Will Power – Team Penske
2016 – Simon Pagenaud – Team Penske
2015 – Helio Castroneves – Team Penske
2014 – Will Power – Team Penske
2013 – Ryan Hunter-Reay – Andretti Global
2012 – Helio Castroneves – Team Penske
Chevrolet Podiums: 21
Driver Podiums: Josef Newgarden (4), Will Power (4), Scott McLaughlin (3), Scott Dixon (2), Helio Castroneves (2), Simon Pagenaud (2), Ryan Hunter-Reay (1), Christian Lundgaard (1), Pato O’Ward (1), Rinus VeeKay (1)
Team Podiums: Team Penske (13), ECR (3), Arrow McLaren (2), Chip Ganassi Racing (2), Andretti Global (1)
Chevrolet Laps Led: 699
Driver Laps Led: Josef Newgarden (141), Will Power (114), Simon Pagenaud (87), Helio Castroneves (73), Rinus VeeKay (58), Pato O’Ward (52), Santino Ferrucci (14), Sebastian Saavedra (11), Sebastien Bourdais (6), Scott Dixon (3), James Hinchcliffe (1)
Team Laps Led: Team Penske (455), ECR (104), Andretti Global (54), Arrow McLaren (52), KV Racing Technology (13), A.J. Foyt Racing (18), Chip Ganassi Racing (3),
Manufacturer History at Phoenix International Raceway
Wins (with competition)
9 – Chevrolet (2024, 2023, 2022, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2013, 2012)
4 – Honda (2025, 2021, 2019, 2014)
Poles (with competition)
10 – Chevrolet (2024, 2022, 2021, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012)
4 – Honda (2026, 2025, 2023, 2019)
Historical Chevrolet in the INDYCAR SERIES information
- INDYCAR SERIES Manufacturer Championships (since 1979)
- Chevrolet-Powered Wins in the Twin-Turbo 2.2L V6 Era (2012-present)
- Chevrolet-Powered Wins – All-Time
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