The annual visit to Barber Motorsports Park is one of the most anticipated events on the IndyCar schedule each year. The beautiful 2.3-mile permanent road course has 17 flowing turns and features 80 feet of elevation change that challenge drivers and engineers. So far this weekend, some teams have had more challenges than others.
While all of the attention was on the biggest names in the sport coming into the weekend, one driver had different plans. Rinus VeeKay finished 6th at St Petersburg and 10th at Texas earlier this season. Those are the only two top-ten finishes for Ed Carpenter Racing through three races. After a disappointing end to the 2021 campaign, he is ready to turn things around.
VeeKay earned his second career pole today with a blistering lap at 66.2507 seconds around the scenic road course. The 21-year old has shown plenty of promise in his young career, and today was just another example of what he is capable of.
“I knew we had potential yesterday but we didn’t know we had potential to be fastest,” VeeKay said. “The reds really give us what we need right now. There’s a little bit of time to be found on the blacks but I’m happy. Being fast is enjoyable.”
Joining VeeKay on the front row tomorrow will be Pato O’Ward, who is making his second consecutive front row start at Barber after earning pole position last year. That race last year was won by Alex Palou, who will start 3rd tomorrow in his No. 10 Chip Ganassi Honda.
Scott McLaughlin has been the lone bright spot for Team Penske this weekend, and qualified in 4th position. Felix Rosenqvist made it a perfect 2-for-2 in Firestone Fast Six qualifying for the Arrow McLaren SP team.
Alexander Rossi will start from the 5th position tomorrow, and was the top qualifying driver from the Andretti stable. That is quite surprising when you consider how his day actually started.
After an incident-free practice on Friday, the morning session was incredibly wild. Nearly 15 minutes…
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