BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Rinus VeeKay of Ed Carpenter Racing was the fastest driver in Saturday’s practice session for Sunday’s Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix at Barber Motorsports Park.
It’s the first time VeeKay has led an IndyCar practice session since Toronto in 2022.
VeeKay’s best time was 1:06.5463 around the 17-turn, 2.3-mile Barber Motorsports Park in the No. 21 Chevrolet.
“I like this track, but also the car feels pretty good,” VeeKay said. “We made some changes in the right direction. It was the right direction and I feel very good about that.
“We’re on the edge everywhere. You are really on the edge of the tire everywhere and once we get past the peak, it’s high risk, high reward.
“That’s fun.”
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Romain Grosjean of Juncos-Hollinger Racing was second in the No. 77 Chevrolet at 1:06.5819 followed by Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin, the defending winner at Barber, was third at 1:06.6099 in the No. 3 Chevrolet.
Graham Rahal was fourth at 1:06.6588 in the No. 15 Honda for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing.
Teammate Christian Lundgaard rounded out the top five at 1:06.6973.
Qualifications for Sunday’s race is later today culminating with the Firestone Fast Six.
Earlier in the session, rookie driver Christian Fittipaldi of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing beached his Honda in the gravel just three minutes into the session for the first red flag.
“We were just doing laps, warming up the car, not really pushing, and then the steering wheel came loose and had not steering, basically,” Fittipaldi explained. “The guys are working hard to get it fixed. We have two new sets of tires to use there, and we are trying to fix the issue. The steering just stopped working, basically.”
Rookie driver Theo Pourchaire’s spin in Turn 13 was the reason for the second Red Flag with 20 minutes left in the session. Pourchaire is entered in his second IndyCar Series race for Arrow McLaren IndyCar Team.