Christian Rasmussen (Al Steinberg photo)
BIRMINGHAM, Alabama — Christian Rasmussen led Friday’s opening practice session for the Indy NXT by Firestone Grand Prix of Alabama, setting a lap faster than the course record at Barber Motorsports Park.
Rasmussen of Denmark led with a top lap of one minute, 11.4618 seconds in the No. 6 HMD Motorsports with Dale Coyne Racing. That’s faster than the course record lap of 1:11.5149 set by Linus Lundqvist in qualifying in 2021. Course records can only be set in qualifying or a race.
“A good start to the weekend with P1 in the first practice session,” said Rasmussen. “HMD gave me a great car straight away so hopefully we can continue that over the weekend. Qualifying will be super important this weekend. It’s going to be all about that one piece, so that’s going to be our main focus so far.”
History confirms Rasmussen’s focus on qualifying at this 2.3-mile, 17-turn road course. In 17 Indy NXT races at Barber, the polesitter has won 14 times.
Rasmussen led HMD Motorsports in the top four over the 45-minute session. Kyffin Simpson was second with a 1:11.5705 in the No. 21 HMD Motorsports with CGR engine, followed by rookie Nolan Siegel with a 1:11.6148 in the No. 39 HMD Motorsports with DCR engine.
Toby Sowery returned to the series for the first time since 2021 by setting the fourth fastest lap of the session, 1:11.7539 in HMD Motorsports No. 14 with Dale Coyne Racing. Brit Sowery won a race in 2019 as a rookie with HMD and secured six more podiums on his way to third place in the season standings.
Hunter McElrea rounded out the top five with a 1:11.7897 in the #27 Andretti Autosport Smart Motors car.
March’s season-opener winner at St Petersburg, Daniel Frost had it all up and down. He was the early leader but his No. 68 HMD Motorsports car with DCR stopped at turn nine.
The car continued but Frost had to go off the track for the remainder of practice due to an apparent mechanical problem. Frost finished 10th at 1:12.2058.
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