He needed the last lap to pull it off, but Dennis Hauger remains untouchable so far this weekend in INDY NXT by Firestone competition at Barber Motorsports Park.

Hauger led the pre-qualifying practice Saturday morning for the Grand Prix of Alabama, turning his best lap of 1 minute, 12.7743 seconds in the No. 28 Rental Group car fielded by Andretti Global on his final trip around the 17-turn, 2.3-mile natural-terrain road course.

SEE: Practice Results

Norwegian rookie Hauger and the rest of the 20-driver field coped with changing track conditions during the 45-minute session. The track started damp, with all drivers on Firestone Firehawk rain tires. Then, as the circuit dried, more and more drivers switched to slicks to find speed.

“It was just about improving every lap out there,” Hauger said. “The track was just getting drier and drier. There were some wet spots out there and there. Happy with the run. We did it the right way with the session and the track just drying out. It was a fun run.”

Qualifying is next at 1:30 p.m. ET Saturday. The 35-lap race starts at 11:30 a.m. ET Sunday. FS1, FOX Sports app, INDYCAR Radio Network will provide live coverage of both sessions.

Brazilian veteran Caio Collet was second quickest in the morning practice with his best lap of 1:12.8753 in the No. 76 HMD Motorsports car. Collet gained ground on Friday practice leader Hauger, as he trailed the series leader by three-tenths of a second after the first practice Friday.

Salvador de Alba was third at 1:13.0559 in the No. 27 Grupo Indi car, followed by teammate Lochie Hughes at 1:13.0722 in the No. 26 McGinley Clinic/USF Pro Championship machine. Andretti Global boasted three of the top four drivers on the final time sheet.

Myles Rowe rounded out the top five at 1:13.1207 in the No. 99 Abel/Force Indy car of Abel Motorsports.