Skip to content

Arrow McLaren 2026 Barber Motorsports Park Qualifying Report

McLaren RacingImage - Indycar - 2026 - BarberSaturday

28 March 2026 21:00 (UTC)

ARROW McLAREN 2026 BARBER MOTORSPORTS PARK QUALIFYING REPORT

"We had a lot more going into it than where we ended up"

Arrow McLaren 2025 Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix Race Preview Sponsor

Arrow McLaren demonstrated strong speed in both opening practice sessions, but unfortunately that pace didn’t carry over into top Qualifying results at Barber Motorsports Park on Saturday afternoon.

Christian and Pato advanced to Round 2 securing starting positions of P10 and P12, respectively, and will look to move forward alongside Nolan, who lines up P15.

Ahead of Qualifying in Practice 2, an incident involving Scott McLaughlin’s No. 3 car brought out a red flag, ending the session early while crews repaired cables and the Turn 1 barrier.

Location

Birmingham, Ala.

Race Date

March 29

Round

4 out of 18

Total Laps

90

Total Race Distance

207.0 miles / 333.13 km

Track Length

2.3 miles / 3.7 km

Number of Turns

17

McLaren RacingImage - IndyCar - 2026 - CL7 Banner

Christian Lundgaard, Driver, No. 7 VELO Arrow McLaren Chevrolet

Practice 2

P9, 1:06.7543

Practice 2 Laps

14

Qualifying - Round 1, Group 1

P2, 1:06.2435

Qualifying - Round 2

P10, 1:06.5102

Starting Position

P10

"Qualifying was disappointing. We had a lot more going into it than where we ended up. Overall, pace in Q1 was good; pace in Q2 was not quite there. We have some things we need to figure out. Balance wasn't really the issue, I don't think. We just lacked a bit of grip in Q2, and it felt weird, so we've got some things to figure out in our debrief and address for the race tomorrow."

McLaren RacingImage - Indycar - 2026 - PO5 Banner

Pato O'Ward, Driver, No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet

Practice 2

P10, 1:06.8013

Practice 2 Laps

15

Qualifying - Round 1, Group 2

P6, 1:06.7171

Qualifying - Round 2

P12, 1:06.8186

Starting Position

P12

"It was a very frustrating day. No explanation to what happened in Qualifying. We had the exact same reads for what happened to the 5 and the 7 car, which obviously, we need to get to the bottom of it because these days can't be happening when we feel like we have a chance for pole and are then eight tenths behind."

McLaren RacingImage - Indycar - 2026 - NS6 Banner

Nolan Siegel, Driver, No. 6 NTT DATA Arrow McLaren Chevrolet

Practice 2

P18, 1:07.1920

Practice 2 Laps

15

Qualifying - Round 1, Group 1

P8, 1:06.5881

Starting Position

P15

“A little bit of a confusing Qualifying. All of us expected more pace. The car felt really good and the session was executed quite well, but the lap time didn’t match the feeling. So, I'm confused, and I think that’s consistent across the camp. We have some things to look into, but I’m happy with the execution of Qualifying and we’ll just find some speed."

Session Start Times

Warmup

Sunday, 10:00 a.m. ET

FS1

Race Tune In

Sunday, 1:00 p.m. ET

FOX

Green Flag

Sunday, 1:17 p.m. ET

FOX

RELATED ARTICLES

ARROW McLAREN INDYCAR TEAM

PARTNERS
Chevrolet - Grid Logo
NTT Data - Grid Logo
Smartstop - Grid Logo
VELO - Grid Logo
Onsemi - Grid Logo
California Closets Logo
Collars & Co. - Grid Logo
Expand Machinery - Grid Logo
Firestone - Grid Logo
Keco - Grid Logo
Mechanix Wear - Grid Logo
NewAge Products Logo
Republic Airways - Grid Logo
Stratasys - Grid Logo