QUALIFYING REPORT: Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix 

• After recording the third fastest lap during yesterday’s practice session, Herta continued his history of success on road courses, easily advancing through the first two rounds of qualifying.
• Making his first Firestone Fast Six appearance on the Alabama Rollercoaster, Herta ran as high as first during the session, but the closing seconds saw the Gainbridge Honda fall to third, only 0.1658 seconds off the polesitter.
• Today’s qualifying effort marks the fourth time Herta has qualified in the top four in as many races this season.

“Qualifying at Barber has always been a challenge for me. It’s hard to work your way up the field when you start from the back, so to be able to secure my best starting spot at Barber for tomorrow’s race is exciting. The Gainbridge Honda is really fast, and I think we showed that we just need to find a little bit more for tomorrow. I’m looking forward to it.”

• Coming off of his third career INDYCAR victory, Kyle Kirkwood took to the track for his fourth qualifying session of the season alongside Andretti teammate Herta in Group 2.
• Despite running as high as first in his first round, Kirkwood unfortunately got caught in traffic and did not advance to the second round of qualifying.
• With nine career top-10 road course finishes, Kirkwood will aim to work his way forward from the back of the field for a strong result in his fourth start at Barber Motorsports Park tomorrow.

“Unfortunately, we just got in traffic today. The PreFab Honda definitely had more pace, so it’s a little disappointing, but hopefully that just opens our tire strategy for tomorrow’s race. I’m not stoked with today’s result, but we’ll keep digging for tomorrow. “

• After a crash in this morning’s practice session, Marcus Ericsson came into qualifying hoping to replicate the speed that found the Swede at the top of the leaderboard during yesterday’s practice.
• As the sole Andretti INDYCAR driver in Group 1, Ericsson fought his way through the field, but unfortunately did not go on to advance to the next round of qualifying. 
• With three top-10 finishes at Barber, Ericsson will look to use his prior experience on the circuit to go after his first road course win in tomorrow’s 90-lap race.
  

“We had a great practice yesterday, unfortunately, we struggled with grip today, and our crash in this morning’s practice didn’t help. However, the No. 28 crew did a great job getting the car ready for qualifying. I’m disappointed with today’s result, however, Barber is a long race, so we’re definitely going to regroup tonight and come back strong tomorrow.”

“It was a mixed bag for qualifying. Obviously, we are happy for Colton and the No. 26 guys to be in the Firestone Fast Six for the fourth time this season. I’m disappointed for Marcus after today. He was quick yesterday, but to go from the incident this morning straight into qualifying is tough to do and make as much progress as needed. For the No. 27, I think Kyle just didn’t get a clean lap in qualifying, and the field is that competitive if you don’t get a clean lap in. However, it’s race day tomorrow, and we’ll see what we can do from all of our respective starting positions.”