Dennis Hauger continued his flawless start to the 2025 INDY NXT by Firestone qualifying sessions by securing pole position for the Grand Prix of Alabama at Barber Motorsports Park on Saturday. The Norwegian driver set the fastest lap of 1 minute, 12.7705 seconds in the No. 28 Rental Group car fielded by Andretti Global.
Hauger made an immediate impact in the series by winning both the pole and the race in his debut at St. Petersburg, Florida, on March 2, and he showed no signs of slowing down.
Qualifying Amid Mixed Weather Conditions
Saturday’s qualifying unfolded as a tale of two sessions due to changing weather. The 20-car field was divided into two groups. Drivers in the first group faced damp conditions and ran on Firestone Firehawk rain tires. By the time the second group took to the 17-turn, 2.3-mile natural terrain circuit, the track had dried enough for them to switch to the faster Firestone slick tires after their warmup lap. This created a significant gap in lap times between the two groups.
Despite the disparity, series rules dictate that the starting grid is formed by alternating the quickest times from each group. This meant Caio Collet, who posted a top lap of 1:24.8394 in the wetter first group in the No. 76 HMD Motorsports car, joined Hauger on the front row—even though his time was more than 12 seconds slower.
This pattern persisted throughout the grid: odd-numbered starting positions went to drivers from the drier, faster second group, while even-numbered spots were filled by drivers from the wetter, slower first group.
Hauger Maximizes His Final Lap
Hauger was already leading when he improved his best time on the session’s final lap. After rookie Max Taylor spun off track late in the session in the No. 18 HMD Motorsports car, triggering a red flag and losing his two quickest laps, all drivers in the second group were granted one last flying lap.
“It was looking like it was drying up, but you don’t really know before you go out there,” Hauger said. “After the first lap, I was like, ‘We’ve to pit for a sticker (slicks) run.’ After we did that, I think most people did in the end.
“It was a good run, a good last lap. I managed to maximize it. The Andretti team and 28 crew have had a good weekend so far and are looking forward to starting on pole tomorrow.”
Barber Starting Grid Highlights
The 35-lap Grand Prix of Alabama kicks off Sunday at 11:30 a.m. ET and will be broadcast live on FS1, the FOX Sports app, and the INDYCAR Radio Network.
Rookie Evagoras Papasavvas will start third in his series debut, posting a best lap of 1:13.3669 in the No. 24 HMD Motorsports car. He will be joined on the second row by Lochie Hughes of Andretti Global, who qualified fourth with a lap of 1:25.4437 in the No. 26 McGinley Clinic/USF Pro Championship car.
Myles Rowe qualified fifth at 1:13.4377 in the No. 99 Abel/Force Indy machine for Abel Motorsports, while Bryce Aron secured sixth place with a time of 1:25.5923 in the No. 9 Chip Ganassi Racing car.
