| Race details | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
4th round of the 2026 IndyCar season
| |||||
 Layout of Barber Motorsports Park | |||||
| Date | March 29, 2026 | ||||
| Official name | Children's of Alabama Indy Grand Prix | ||||
| Location | Barber Motorsports Park, Birmingham, Alabama | ||||
| Course | Permanent road course 2.380 mi / 3.830 km | ||||
| Distance | 90 laps 214.200 mi / 344.700 km | ||||
| Weather | Partially cloudy 21 °C (70 °F) | ||||
| Pole position | |||||
| Driver |  Álex Palou (Chip Ganassi Racing) | ||||
| Time | 1:06.2341 | ||||
| Fastest lap | |||||
| Driver |  Christian Lundgaard (Arrow McLaren) | ||||
| Time | 1:08.6127 (on lap 19 of 90) | ||||
| Podium | |||||
| First | Álex Palou (Chip Ganassi Racing) | ||||
| Second | Christian Lundgaard (Arrow McLaren) | ||||
| Third |  Graham Rahal (Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing) | ||||
| Chronology | |||||
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The 2026 Children's of Alabama Indy Grand Prix was the fourth round of the 2026 IndyCar season. The race was held on March 29, 2026, in Birmingham, Alabama at Barber Motorsports Park.[1] The race was contested of 90 laps. Álex Palou won the race, Christian Lundgaard finished second, and Rinus Veekay finished third, his first podium since the 2023 Gallagher Grand Prix.
Background
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Barber Motorsports Park is an 880-acre (360 ha) racing facility in Birmingham, Alabama. It was built by George W. Barber and includes the 230,000-square-foot (21,000 m2) Barber Vintage Motorsport Museum.[2] It is a 2.3 mi (3.7 km) permanent road course with 17 turns and features 80 feet of elevation change.[3] It has been the site of the IndyCar Series' Grand Prix of Alabama since 2010.[4]
Entry list
| Key | Meaning |
|---|---|
| R | Rookie |
Practice
Practice 1
The first practice session was held on March 27, 2026.
| Pos | No. | Driver | Team | Engine | Lap Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 |  Scott McLaughlin |
Team Penske | Chevrolet | 1:07.3840 |
| 2 | 27 | Kyle Kirkwood |
Andretti Global | Honda | 1:07.4128 |
| 3 | 5 |  Pato O'Ward |
Arrow McLaren | Chevrolet | 1:07.4158 |
| Official results | |||||
Practice 2
The second practice session was held on March 28, 2026, but ended early due to Scott McLaughlin's car crashing and going through the fence at the end of turn 1.[5]
| Pos | No. | Driver | Team | Engine | Lap Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 10 | Álex Palou |
Chip Ganassi Racing | Honda | 1:06.4680 |
| 2 | 27 | Kyle Kirkwood |
Andretti Global | Honda | 1:06.5217 |
| 3 | 76 |  Rinus VeeKay |
Juncos Hollinger Racing | Chevrolet | 1:06.5950 |
| Official results | |||||
Qualifying
Qualifying was held on March 28, 2026.
- Notes
- Bold text indicates fastest time.
Warmup
The warmup session was held on March 29, 2026.
| Pos | No. | Driver | Team | Engine | Lap Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 9 | Scott Dixon |
Chip Ganassi Racing | Honda | 1:06.6933 |
| 2 | 15 | Graham Rahal |
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing | Honda | 1:06.7568 |
| 3 | 60 |  Felix Rosenqvist |
Meyer Shank Racing | Honda | 1:06.9815 |
| Official results | |||||
Race
The race was held on March 29, 2026.
Championship standings after the race
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- Note: Only the top five positions are included.
References
- "2026 Schedule" (PDF). IndyCar. Retrieved March 14, 2026.
- "Barber Motorsports Museum". Barber Motorsports Park. February 17, 2026. Retrieved March 13, 2026.
- "Children's of Alabama Indy Grand Prix". IndyCar. Brickyard Trademarks, Inc. Retrieved March 13, 2026.
- Tomberlin, Michael (July 26, 2009). "Indy Car race coming to Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama". The Birmingham News.
- Barnes, Joey (March 28, 2026). "Scott McLaughlin goes through the fence in scary IndyCar crash". Motorsport. Retrieved March 28, 2026.