The NTT IndyCar Series returned to Barber Motorsports Park to start the 2021 season with qualifying. There were three rounds of qualifying, and in the end, Pato O’Ward came out on top to win the first pole of the season with a lap time of 01:05.8479 at 125.744 mph. Alexander Rossi qualified second with a time of 01:05.9177 at 125.611 mph.
The other notable qualifying positions are defending champions Scott Dixon is starting fifth, former Haas F1 driver Romain Grosjean qualified seventh, former Repco Supercars driver Scott McLaughlin qualified twelfth, and seven-time NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson qualified twenty-first. The race will air live tomorrow at 3 pm on NBC
| Position | Car No. | Driver | Team |
| 1. | 5 | Pato O’Ward | Arrow McLaren SP |
| 2. | 27 | Alexander Rossi | Andretti Autosport |
| 3. | 10 | Alex Palou | Chip Ganassi Racing |
| 4. | 12 | Will Power | Team Penske |
| 5. | 9 | Scott Dixon | Chip Ganassi Racing |
| 6. | 8 | Marcus Ericsson | Chip Ganassi Racing |
| 7. | 51 | Romain Grosjean | Dale Coyne Racing with RWR |
| 8. | 2 | Josef Newgarden | Team Penske |
| 9. | 26 | Colton Herta | Andretti Autosport |
| 10. | 20 | Conor Daly | Ed Carpenter Racing |
| 11. | 60 | Jack Harvey | Meyer Shank Racing |
| 12. | 3 | Scott McLaughlin | Team Penske |
| 13. | 18 | Ed Jones | Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan |
| 14. | 21 | Rinus VeeKay | Ed Carpenter Racing |
| 15. | 22 | Simon Pagenaud | Team Penske |
| 16. | 14 | Sebastian Bourdais | A.J. Foyt Enterprises |
| 17. | 28 | Ryan Hunter-Reay | Team Penske |
| 18. | 15 | Graham Rahal | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing |
| 19. | 30 | Takuma Sato | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing |
| 20. | 59 | Max Chilton | Carlin |
| 21. | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Chip Ganassi Racing |
| 22. | 7 | Felix Rosenqvist | Arrow McLaren SP |
| 23. | 4 | Dalton Kellett | A.J. Foyt Enterprises |
| 24. | 29 | James Hinchcliffe | Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport |
