IndyCar Results and Recap for the Barber 'Rollercoaster'

IndyCar returns to the track dubbed the 'rollercoaster' at Barber Motorsport Park with a championship that is, what some would consider, 'out of whack'. Prior to this race, it was the first time in years that Alex Palou had not led the championship, with Andretti's Kyle Kirkwood taking that mantle.

During the last time out at the Inaugural Grand Prix of Arlington, it was, indeed, Kyle Kirwood who took the first win around the track with a weekend that saw Andretti dominance throughout.

Now, at Barber, we are back to business as usual with Palou taking a dominant pole position over the Penske of David Malukas and a shocking lap of Graham Rahal that slotted him into third. After a triple header that proved the 2026 IndyCar Championship is anyone's to win, Barber provided intense racing amongst our lead cars.

It was Alex Palou, however, who returned to the position he is so used to, winning the race from pole and shooting back up just two points behind Kyle Kirkwood in championship points.

Pit Road Race

Most of the race results today were not decided on track, but in the hands of the strategists and trips down pit road. Many drivers were unclear about the tire strategy going out onto the track today, which left the grid on split strategies – some starting on softs and others on hards.

Caio Collet and Christian Lundgaard - Children's of Alabama Indy Grand Prix | Penske Entertainment: Joe Skibinski

However, it turned out to be a race that we haven't seen in a while, one that the track favored the Hard Tires over the course of the 2-pit race. Really, though, the positions were decided by the undercut and overcut strategy.

The race on pit road nearly spelled disaster for Palou's win, as Lundgaard was slotted to come out ahead of him on track with most of the race left. However, in the only pit road bumble of the day, the rear right tire of Lundgaard was not bolted on properly, extending his pit from the 7-second window to over 13 seconds.

The Real Winner of the Day: Graham Rahal

Rahal, the namesake of the Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing team, has not stood on the IndyCar Podium since August of 2023 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course race. Today, though, that drought has ended.

Graham Rahal - Java House Grand Prix of Arlington | Penske Entertainment: Joe Skibinski

After a shocking qualifying that saw Rahal start in P3 on the second row, his pace on track maintained position throughout the race. He fended off drivers from Penske's David Malukas, McLaren's Christian Lundgaard and Championship Contender, Kyle Kirkwood, to finish P2.

Experience was the true winning recipe for Rahal as he defended his second place finish lap after lap from McLaren's Christian Lundgaard – affectionately named Lungegaard for his ability to overtake. His two teammates finished in the last places, with Foster in 24th and Schumacher in 25th.

IndyCar Children's of Alabama Grand Prix Results

Position	Driver/ Team	Time Diff from Lead
1.	Palou / Chip Ganassi	-
2.	Lundgaard/ McLaren	+13.278
3.	Rahal/ RLL	+14.288
4.	Malukas/ Penske	+14.996
5.	Kirkwood/ Andretti	+17.797
6.	Armstrong/ Meyer Shank	+20.741
7.	Dixon/ Chip Ganassi	+24.746
8.	Ferrucci/ AJ Foyt	+41.570
9.	Ericsson/ Andretti	+43.859
10.	Newgarden/ Penske	+51.898
11.	Rossi/ ECR	+52.983
12.	Power/ Andretti	+54.048
13.	Rosenqvist/ Meyer Shank	+54.503
14.	Veekay/ Juncos	+54.923
15.	Grosjean/ Dale Coyne	+58.858
16.	McLaughlin/ Penske	+1:00.138
17.	O'Ward/ McLaren	+1:01.069
18.	Siegel/ McLaren	+1:02.407
19.	Rasmussen/ ECR	+1:03.268
20.	Simpson/ Chip Ganassi	+1:04.016
21.	Collet/ AJ Foyt	+1:06.303
22.	Robb/ Juncos	+1 lap
23.	Hauger/ Dale Coyne	+1 lap
24.	Schumacher/ RLL	+1 lap
25.	Foster/ RLL	+1 lap

Palou wasn't the only winner around the track today. Four of the top six finishers in the race had their career-best finishes this time around the track. McLaren's Christian Lundgaard (tied), Penske's David Malukas, Andretti's Kyle Kirkwood, and Meyer Shank's Marcus Armstrong all had their best finishing position at the historic Barber track.

Kyle Kirkwood Andretti | Penske Entertainment: Chris Jones

With these dominant finishes, Kirkwood holds on to his IndyCar Championship lead and Christian Lundgaard now sits in third behind Kirkwood and Palou, thanks to his consistent Top 10 finishes.

Palou remarked after the race that his win, although equally as dominant as his record-breaking win earlier this year in St Petersburg, was thanks to this being "the best car I've ever driven in my life".

IndyCar returns to the fan favorite, Streets of Long Beach on Sunday, April 19th at 5:30 PM ET alongside the IMSA WeatherTech Championship.