QUALIFYING REPORT: Grand Prix of Alabama

No. 26 McGinley Clinic /

USF Championship Dallara

• Lochie Hughes took on his first INDY NXT qualifying session this afternoon at Barber Motorsports Park in Group 1, where he maintained a spot at the top of the time charts for the majority of the session, alternating through the top-three spots.
• Ultimately, Hughes was unable to put together a lap that would improve upon his fast-lap time, and the Aussie wrapped up the session in P2 in his group and fourth overall.
• Today’s result marks Hughes’ second time starting an INDY NXT race in the top four.

“It was a good qualifying. We got P2 in our group, but we got shafted a little bit in the group we were in. We started out wet and were maybe in a bit too much of a wet setup, so in the beginning, we looked quite good, but we just burnt the tires up. I don’t really have much experience with these Firestone wet tires, so I really didn’t know how it’d go. I just kind of overheated them a bit too much, so when the track dried out at the end, I just had no more tire left. It was a good learning experience, and we’ll be starting on the second row tomorrow, so we can fight from there.”

Salvador de Alba

No. 27 Grupo Indi Dallara

• Following his teammate Hauger’s lead, Salvador de Alba switched to slick tires early in the session to capitalize on the drying track.
• Unfortunately, de Alba struggled to find the speed he needed to improve his lap time by the end of the session, landing him outside of the top-10 for tomorrow’s race.

“We just finished quali and really struggled with the dry setup. It just wasn’t a good session for the No. 27, but congrats to Dennis, and we’re looking forward to tomorrow.”

No. 28 Rental Group Dallara

• After leading both practice sessions over the past two days, Dennis Hauger continued to dominate the Grand Prix of Alabama weekend with his second career INDY NXT pole position and his first at Barber Motorsports Park.
• Dennis was the first of his teammates in Group 2 to change to the slick tires, allowing him to significantly improve his speed and lead the qualifying session.
• Although this is only his second INDY NXT race weekend, of the seven on-track sessions that Hauger has participated in, he has led six of them.

“After the first lap, I was like we have to pit for sticker reds, and after we did that, I think most people made that switch. It was a good run and a good last lap that we managed to maximize. I think the Andretti team and the whole 28 team have done a great job and have had a good weekend so far. We’re definitely looking forward to starting on the pole. Hopefully, it’s going to be a sunny day tomorrow and we can have a clean race and do what we need to do. It’s been going well so far, so hoping we can continue that tomorrow.”

No. 29 Topcon Dallara

• Taking on qualifying in Group 1, James Roe was one of the competitors forced to record a qualifying lap with rain tires. Roe maintained a strong speed at the beginning of the session, running in the top three, but unfortunately ran into traffic near the end of the session, prohibiting him from improving his fastest lap time.

“I think we did the best with what we could have done today. We ran into traffic on our last lap there, but we were P1 in every other sector before we got traffic. Today was just challenging with the conditions. It really could’ve been anyone’s pole. We’ll just go from the outside of row four and settle in for a bit of a fight.”

No. 2 Dream Racing Dubai Dallara

• Qualifying for the first time in Barber, Seb Murray joined teammates Roe and Hughes in Group 1 for his qualifying effort.
• Murray kept a clean session in the wet, running in the top three of his group at one point. Ultimately, the Scottish driver’s fast-lap time earned him a starting position in the top 10 for tomorrow’s race, the highest starting spot of this INDY NXT career.

“We just finished up qualifying here at Barber, and it was pretty good. The team did a good job getting the car back out. The weather has been a mix all day. We had a wet quali section, and we crossed the line in P5, so it’s been good. We’ve got good pace in the dry, so hopefully we can make our way up the pack in the race tomorrow.”

No. 3 Frank’s RedHot Dallara

• Ricardo Escotto took on today’s qualifying session in Group 2, switching to the slicks like his teammates early on in the session as the track dried.
• Unfortunately, due to an untimely red caused by a competitor (No. 18) in the middle of the session, Escotto struggled to find pace and improve his fast-lap time, putting him in the back half of the field for tomorrow’s race.

“It was a disappointing qualifying. We struggled a lot, and it was bad timing with the red flag – just an overall tough session. We have lots of laps to make up tomorrow.”

“First off, congrats to Dennis and the No. 28 team – he did a great job out there today. I think the whole team did a superb job today in adverse conditions in both practice and qualifying. We had to go from rain tires and rain setups to a partial dry setup to a completely dry setup with slicks all in the same session and it just shows that we’re committed to executing every weekend. Very proud of the entire Andretti INDY NXT team today.”