Rossi, who will roll off 10th, lapped the 2.3-mile 17-turn course in Birmingham, AL, in 1m06.6677s, the only driver to reach the 124mph barrier. He led Colton Herta of Andretti Autosport by 0.1245s, with Scott Dixon of Chip Ganassi Racing third.
Long Beach winner Kyle Kirkwood made it two Andretti cars in the top four although he and Herta will start 12th and 14th respectively this afternoon.
Their polesitting teammate Romain Grosjean ran 14 laps on softer alternates, achieving a 1m08s effort on his final lap, suggesting the softer rubber will hang on well, allowing drivers to commit to a two-stop strategy – provided they have faith in their fuel-saving abilities.
All three Penskes made the Top 10, as did Graham Rahal and Simon Pagenaud. However, these former Atlantic championship rivals will be trying to make an impression – and get canny with strategy – from 19th and 16th respectively on the grid.
The green flag waves for the 13th Grand Prix of Alabama at 2.30pm local (Central) time.
P |
Name |
FTime |
Diff |
FL |
Laps |
FSpeed |
Engine |
Tire |
Team |
1 |
1:06.6677 |
1:06.6677 |
17 |
22 |
124.198 |
Chevy |
A |
Arrow McLaren |
|
2 |
Colton Herta |
1:06.7922 |
0.1245 |
17 |
21 |
123.967 |
Honda |
A |
Andretti Autosport w/Curb-Agajanian |
3 |
Scott Dixon |
1:06.8538 |
0.1861 |
21 |
24 |
123.852 |
Honda |
A |
Chip Ganassi Racing |
4 |
Kyle Kirkwood |
1:06.9723 |
0.3046 |
16 |
19 |
123.633 |
Honda |
A |
Andretti Autosport |
5 |
1:07.0124 |
0.3447 |
14 |
24 |
123.559 |
Chevy |
A |
||
6 |
Graham Rahal |
1:07.0697 |
0.4020 |
19 |
22 |
123.454 |
Honda |
A |
|
7 |
1:07.1708 |
0.5031 |
21 |
23 |
123.268 |
Chevy |
A |
Team Penske |
|
8 |
1:07.2042 |
0.5365 |
19 |
21 |
123.207 |
Honda |
P |
Chip Ganassi Racing |
|
9 |
1:07.2155 |
0.5478 |
16 |
25 |
123.186 |
Chevy |
A |
Team Penske |
|
10 |
Simon Pagenaud |
1:07.2917 |
0.6240 |
14 |
23 |
123.046 |
Honda |
A |
|
11 |
1:07.2964 |
0.6287 |
16 |
23 |
123.038 |
Chevy |
A |
||
12 |
1:07.3113 |
0.6436 |
16 |
19 |
123.011 |
Honda |
A |
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing |
|
13 |
1:07.3352 |
0.6675 |
15 |
25 |
122.967 |
Chevy |
A |
Arrow McLaren |
|
14 |
Sting Ray Robb |
1:07.3479 |
0.6802 |
17 |
22 |
122.944 |
Honda |
A |
Dale Coyne Racing w/RWR |
15 |
1:07.4119 |
0.7442 |
14 |
25 |
122.827 |
Chevy |
A |
Ed Carpenter Racing |
|
16 |
1:07.5287 |
0.8610 |
6 |
24 |
122.615 |
Honda |
P |
Chip Ganassi Racing |
|
17 |
1:07.5367 |
0.8690 |
17 |
23 |
122.600 |
Honda |
A |
Dale Coyne Racing with HMD |
|
18 |
1:07.6184 |
0.9507 |
15 |
25 |
122.452 |
Honda |
A |
Meyer Shank Racing |
|
19 |
1:07.6429 |
0.9752 |
18 |
18 |
122.408 |
Honda |
A |
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing |
|
20 |
Marcus Armstrong |
1:07.6868 |
1.0191 |
8 |
24 |
122.328 |
Honda |
P |
Chip Ganassi Racing |
21 |
1:07.7596 |
1.0919 |
19 |
24 |
122.197 |
Honda |
P |
Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport |
|
22 |
1:07.8282 |
1.1605 |
8 |
21 |
122.073 |
Chevy |
A |
Juncos Holling Racing |
|
23 |
Romain Grosjean |
1:07.9639 |
1.2962 |
7 |
24 |
121.829 |
Honda |
P |
Andretti Autosport |
24 |
1:08.1015 |
1.4338 |
8 |
20 |
121.583 |
Chevy |
P |
Ed Carpenter Racing |
|
25 |
Benjamin Pedersen |
1:08.1575 |
1.4898 |
11 |
23 |
121.483 |
Chevy |
A |
AJ Foyt Enterprises |
26 |
1:08.2370 |
1.5693 |
8 |
25 |
121.342 |
Chevy |
P |
Arrow McLaren |
|
27 |
1:08.3430 |
1.6753 |
6 |
21 |
121.154 |
Chevy |
A |
AJ Foyt Enterprises |