It’s time to go on track for the first time this weekend as IndyCar 2026 gets ready for the Barber racing weekend with Practice 1! Latest race winner Kyle Kirkwood leads the championship winner following a commanding performance in Arlington, with Palou and Newgarden close behind.
IndyCar drivers go green in Barber for Practice 1!
Drivers actually take a while to get started with on-track action, as Newgarden logs the first lap eight minutes into the session, a 1:10.428s. Ten minutes into the session, Ericsson sets the first lap time in the 1:09s, with Rossi a close second. The Penske driver trip lowers the benchmark, with Malukas, Newgarden and McLaughlin all lapping in the 1:08s. The American-Lithuanian then lowers his best to 1:08.134s.
The first red flag of the day is issued as Rossi’s car no. 20 stops. Luckily, the Ed Carpenter Racing driver manages to steer his challenger into the runoff at Turn 5, due to a fuel pressure issue. The session resumes with twenty minutes left on the clock. It’s an unfortunate issue in a happy day for the team, as they announced the joining of a new reserve driver.
Kirkwood moves up to P2 with a 1:08.255s, whereas McLaughlin goes up to 1:08.090s. The latest Penske acquisition rejoins his teammate in P2, while the reigning champion Palou slots into third. All drivers focus on longer simulations, not rooting for the fastest race lap.
Kirkwood also completed a strong save after having a moment, but he remained on track.
Consequently, the full grid session ends with the same top five as earlier. A remarkable Penske 1-2 rounds off the first part of 2026 IndyCar Practice 1 in Barber. Kirkwood, Palou and O’Ward, best Chevrolet, complete the top 5.
Group 1 returns on track
Dixon set the top early benchmark two minutes in with a 1:09.30s. Rookie driver for AJ Foyt Collet takes then the lead, followed shortly after by Siegel.
Ultimately, Lundgaard ended the session on top from Malukas, Palou, Armstrong and Dixon, setting a better lap than the best effort of Practice 1 in Barber last year. In fact, Lundgaard leads in 1:07.437, whereas Ericsson had signed at the time a 1:07.740s.
More racing in store for Group 2
Newgarden was the earlier lead of Group 2, with a 1:11.995s. Times quickly lower however, as Collet, Ericsson, O’Ward and Kirkwood, with an impressive 1:07.412s. O’Ward and Power too set laps within the realm of the 1:07s. Following the strong Barber team performance in 2025, Andretti is also now taking Barber by the storm, with three drivers in the top 4 of Group 2.
In the final moments of the session, McLaughlin bested the 2026 championship leader’s previous best effort with a powerful 1:07.384s. Ultimately, the Penske driver holds the best racing lap of the day in 1:07.380s, ahead of Kirkwood, O’Ward, Lundgaard and Malukas.
