2024 Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix

Race Notes

• The 2024 Children's of Alabama Indy Grand Prix was 90 laps on the 17-turn, 2.3-mile Barber Motorsports Park road course totaling 207 miles.
• The pit road speed limit was 45 mph and the race started the third time past the flag stand. Pole sitter Scott McLaughlin gridded drivers' left.
• The fuel window was 26–29 laps under green-flag conditions, assuming all teams use a two-stop strategy.
• All cars but those of Christian Lundgaard, Pato O'Ward, Graham Rahal, Alex Palou, Romain Grosjean, Scott Dixon, Christian Rasmussen, Marcus Ericsson, Agustín Canapino, Sting Ray Robb and Pietro Fittipaldi started the race on Firestone Firehawk primary black tires. Each car was required to use one set of new alternate red tires and once set of primary black tires during the race.
• At 12:30 p.m. CDT, the ambient temperature was 75 degrees with cloudy skies. The track temperature was 98 degrees according to Firestone engineers.
• Also at 12:33 p.m., country music artist Riley Greene gave the command, "Drivers, start your engines." All cars fired and rolled off the grid.
• On Lap 1, Scott McLaughlin led the field into Turn 1. Behind, there was contact in Turn 1 involving the cars of Rinus VeeKay, Kyffin Simpson, Sting Ray Robb and Jack Harvey. All cars were able to continue on track. VeeKay was later penalized for avoidable contact and served a drive-through penalty.
• The race's first of four full-course cautions began on Lap 5 when the No. 30 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda of Fittipaldi spun off course after contact from the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet of O'Ward. Fittipaldi's car made further contact with the Turn 13 tire barrier. O'Ward was later penalized for avoidable contact and served a drive-through penalty.
• McLaughlin led on the Lap 10 restart and continued at the front of the field until his first pit stop on Lap 28, which committed the Team Penske driver to a three-stop strategy.
• Palou assumed the lead following McLaughlin's pit stop and became the lead car on the two-stop strategy, which necessitated fuel saving and slower lap times. Palou pitted on Lap 30.
• Following pit stops, McLaughlin returned to the lead on Lap 35 and remained in that position when the race's second caution period began on Lap 43 for the No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet of Alexander Rossi stopped off course with a missing left-rear tire. The leaders including McLaughlin pitted on Lap 46 while under caution.
• Green-flag racing resumed on Lap 48 with Palou leading. The race's third full-course caution period began on Lap 55 when the No. 41 AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet of Sting Ray Robb made contact with the Turn 1 tire barrier after a reported steering failure. The leaders of the two-stop strategy pitted on Lap 56, necessitating even more fuel saving to get to the end of the 90-lap race.
• The race resumed at the conclusion of Lap 60 with Santino Ferrucci leading until his final pit stop on Lap 66. Linus Lundqvist then led laps until his final pit stop on Lap 70.
• McLaughlin resumed the race lead on Lap 70 and came out of his final pit stop on Lap 75 as the race leader on Lap 76.
• McLaughlin led the remainder of the race, taking the white flag with a 1.2133-second advantage over Will Power. He crossed the finish line for the final time with a 1.3194-second lead over Power, securing his first victory of 2024 and the fifth win of his NTT IndyCar Series career. He also won at Barber in 2023, making this his first repeat victory at an IndyCar racetrack.
• Official points after the Children's of Alabama Indy Grand Prix:
  1. Herta 101
  2. Power 100 (-1)
  3. Palou 98 (-3)
  4. Dixon 94 (-7)
  5. Rosenqvist 87 (-14)
  6. O'Ward 71 (-30)
  7. Kirkwood 67 (-34)
  8. Lundqvist 62 (-39)
  9. McLaughlin 59 (-42)
  10. Ferrucci 58 (-43)
      

Session Notes

• Warm-up for the 2024 Children's of Alabama Indy Grand Prix at Barber Motorsports Park began on time at 9:15 a.m. CDT.
• The session ran for its full 30-minute duration with one red-flag period that slowed the action.
• At 9:23 a.m., the No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing Honda of Felix Rosenqvist was stopped on course at Turn 9. The resulting red flag lasted for three minutes.
• At the conclusion of warm-up, the No. 10 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda of Alex Palou was fastest with a lap time of 1:06.3195.
  

Qualifying Notes

• Qualifying for the NTT P1 Award consists of three segments. In the first round, each group receives 10 minutes of track time with the clock starting when the first car hits the alternate start-finish line. The fastest six cars from each group advance to Round 2 while the remaining cars are assigned positions 13 to 27. Group 1 drivers will occupy the odd-numbered positions while Group 2 drivers will occupy the even-numbered positions based on their fastest lap times. During Round 2, the 12 advancing cars receive 10 minutes of track time with the fastest six cars advancing to the Firestone Fast Six while the remaining cars are ranked in positions seven through 12 based on their fastest laps. During the Firestone Fast Six, the six cars receive six minutes of guaranteed green-flag time. At the end of session, cars are ranked one through six based on their fastest laps.
• The entirety of qualifying was green with no red flags.
• One penalty was issued when the No. 30 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda of Pietro Fittipaldi was judged to have engaged in qualifying interference during Group 2 qualifying. Fittipaldi was stripped of his two fastest laps and the ability to advance.
• Christian Lundgaard, Will Power, Scott McLaughlin, Marcus Armstrong, Pato O'Ward and Felix Rosenqvist advanced to the Firestone Fast Six.
• At the conclusion of Round 3, NcLaughlin's 1:05.9490 in the No. 3 Team Penske Chevrolet earned the New Zealander his first NTT P1 Award of 2024 and his sixth career NTT IndyCar Series pole.
  

Session Notes

• Practice 2 for the 2024 Children's of Alabama Indy Grand Prix at Barber Motorsports Park started on time at 11:15 a.m. CDT.
• The session ran for its full 45-minute duration with two red-flag periods that stopped the clock.
  • At 11:18 a.m., the No. 30 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda of Pietro Fittipaldi went off course in Turn 2 due to an apparent steering failure. The resulting red flag lasted for six minutes.
  • At 11:46 a.m., the No. 6 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet of Théo Pourchaire went off course in Turn 14. The red-flag period lasted for three minutes.
• At the conclusion of Practice 2, the No. 21 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet of Rinus VeeKay was fastest with a lap time of 1:06.5463.
  

Session Notes

• Practice 1 for the 2024 Children's of Alabama Indy Grand Prix at Barber Motorsports Park started on time at 2:40 p.m. CDT and ran for its full 75-minute duration.
• The session was slowed by two red-flag periods:
  • At 2:54 p.m., the No. 2 Team Penske Chevrolet of Josef Newgarden spun in Turn 15 and ran off course. Newgarden was able to return to pit lane without assistance. The red flag lasted for two minutes.
  • At 3:04 p.m., the No. 78 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet of Agustin Canapino stopped off course after spinning in Turn 2. The red flag lasted for four minutes.
• At the conclusion of Practice 1, Newgarden was fastest with a lap time of 1:06.7045.