Category: Auto Racing

Grosjean Continues Andretti Pole Dominance

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Romain Grosjean too the pole for tomorrow’s Children’s of Alabama Grand Prix at Barber Motorsports Park, turning a lap of 1:05. 8396. Grosjean edged Alex Palou by 0.0734 seconds in winning his second pole of 2023 and third career pole position.

Andretti Autosport has won three of the four poles this season. Kyle Kirkwood won the pole at Long Beach.

Five teams put cars in the Fast Six. Only Chip Ganassi Racing had two cars in the final round.

Quick Thoughts

Is tomorrow the day Grosjean finally converts a good starting spot into a victory? St. Pete was in his grasp until the incident with Scott McLaughlin.

Pato O’Ward has qualified in the top six of every race in 2023.

If Kyle Kirkwood can stay on track during qualifying, he will win a ton of poles. His spin today was the secon incident in qualifying this year.

Nice to see some success for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. Christian Lundgaard will start sixth.

Despite a strong team showing in practice, Scott McLaughlin was the only Team Penske car in the Fast Six.

All time career pole winner Will Power has an average starting spot of 10.5 this season.

Today’s crowd was good, although it seemed a bit down from previous Barber Saturdays.

Palou Tops Practice 2

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Alex Palou got a clean lap with about 12 minutes to go in the morning practice and it was good enough to lead the session by two tenths if a second over Josef Newgarden and Scott

The Penske duo of Newgarden and McLaughlin led most of the session.

Practice ran clean until Helio Castroneves spun and stalled on track with 45 seconds left. Only a couple of cars went out to complete the time.

500 Qualifying Tweaked

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Indianapolis Motor Speedway announced the qualifying format for the 107th running of the the Indianapolis 500. While similar to lastyear as far as the number of cars eligible for the pole, the program has been modified to create more content on Sunday.

The new format, per IMS and Indycar: The schedule does not include the practice periods preceding each day’s action.

DAY ONE: Saturday, May 20

11 a.m.-5:50 p.m.: Full Field Qualifying (Live on Peacock, also 2:30-4:30 p.m. on NBC)

Qualifying will take place for positions 1-30. Positions 13-30 will be set, and those drivers will not requalify Sunday.

When every car in the qualifying order for Saturday has been presented at least one chance to qualify, teams may choose from two lanes for second and subsequent attempts. Cars in the priority lane (Lane 1) must withdraw their qualified time – if the car has one – but get priority access to the track ahead of Lane 2. Lane 2 is for cars that have already qualified but wish to improve their position.

Once cars are outside of the Top 30, they are considered to not have a qualification speed as only positions 1-30 will be locked in during Day One.

DAY TWO: Sunday, May 21

2-3 p.m.: Top 12 Qualifying (Live on Peacock)

Positions 7-12 will be determined. The order is based on Saturday times, slowest to fastest. Each car is guaranteed one attempt. The fastest six advance to the Firestone Fast Six to determine positions 1-6.

4-5 p.m.: Last Chance Qualifying (Live on NBC)

Positions 31-33 will be determined. Each car is guaranteed one attempt and may make multiple attempts until time expires. Each car’s most recent qualification speed will remain eligible for the starting lineup until the time is withdrawn or qualifications end.

5:15-5:45 p.m.: Firestone Fast Six (Live on NBC)

Positions 1-6 will be determined. The order is based on times from Top 12 Qualifying earlier Sunday, slowest to fastest. Each car is guaranteed one attempt. The fastest driver in the Firestone Fast Six will earn the coveted NTT P1 Award for pole.

This program eliminates the two hour gap that Sunday in 2022 had. I assume the series will play Sunday by ear each year, since this may be the last year there are more than 33 cars for a while.

As I stated last year, I thnk 12 cars eligible for the pole is too many. I am also unsure of the value of bumping for just one car. I will expand on my thoughts next week when I sharethe entire May program.

Qualifying Day at Barber

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Today’s schedule

Times listed are Central Time

Gates open at 8:00am

  • All Fan Zone Activities
  • 7:50am – 8:10am Porsche Sprint Challenge – Cayman (Qualifier)
  • 8:25am – 8:45am Porsche Spring Challenge – GT3 (Qualifier)
  • 9:00am – 9:45am Blue Marble Radical Cup (Race #2)
  • 10:00am – 10:45am INDY NXT (Practice #2)
  • 11:00am – 12:00pm NTT INDYCAR SERIES (Practice #2) Peacock
  • 12:20pm – 1:00pm Porsche Sprint Challenge North America – Cayman (Race #1)
  • 1:20pm – 1:40pm INDY NXT (Qualifier)
  • 2:00pm – 3:15pm NTT INDYCAR SERIES (Qualifier) Peacock
  • 3:30pm – 4:00pm INDY NXT autograph session
  • 3:35pm – 4:20pm Blue Marble Radical Cup (Race #3)
  • 4:35pm – 5:15pm Porsche Sprint Challenge North America – GT3 (Race #1)

Good morning from Barber Motorsports Park. The weather forecast call for 73 degrees and partly cloudy when practice begins and 77 degrees and cloudy with a 15% chance of rain for qualifying.

Starting position is key to success in the nrace at Barber. Qualifying will be interesting. In yesterday’s practice, the top six were separated by 0.36 seconds and the top twelve had a gap of 0.65 seconds.

Notes

Romain Grosjean will get a new engine for the number 28.

Yesterday afternoon Inidnapolis Motor Speedway announced its May schedule and Indianapolsi 500 qualifying format. There are a couple of tweaks to qualifying. I will talk about May in my next post in a bit.

Perhaps it’s the timing of this race, but it seems odd to step on another race’s weekend with an announcement like this.

I will be back with practice results, qualifying groups, and qualifying results later.

McLaughlin Fastest in Barber Friday Practice

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Scott McLauhghlin led a strong Team Penske showing in the first practice for the Children’s of Alabama Grand Prix. Will Power finished third after going off track with about 10 minutes left in the session. Josef Newgarden was seventh fastest.

The practice period stopped three times. Helio Castroneves went off track and stopped against the barrier in turn 14. Romain Grosjean lost an engine and stopped on track. Will Power went off track and into the sand trap in turn 2.

Despite the strong Penske showing, Pato O’Ward was the only other Chevy in the top 10.The McLaren driver finished eighth’

Colton Herta had the second quickest time, but was the onle Andretti car in the top 12. Long Beach winner Kyle Kirkwood was just 22nd fastest.

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing showed improvement with Christian Lundgaard in sixth and Graham Rahal in 12th.

Practice to set qualifying groups is at 11 am Central time tomorrow, with qualificiations at 2 pm Central.

Laid Back Friday

Today was one of the more relaxing Fridays at Barber. The crowd seemed a little low for Friday.

I had a chance to check mout the Indycat=r merchandise tent. Iy appears each driver has at leasy=t two different shirts available. There are some nice designs and colors. Greenlught cars aren’t available for some of this year’s drivers yet, but hopefully they will be out next month.

An advantage of a small crowd is that the trams ran quickly. That won’t be the case the rest of the weekend.

Results

prix

Barber Preview

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Today’s schedule:

Friday, April 28 Times Eastern

Indycar

3:40-4:55 Practice 1 Peacock

Indy NXT

2:40-3:25

Barber Mtorsports Park had produced some good racing, but more often than not, it’s pit strategy that is the key to victory. In the rain drenched 2018 race, Josef Newgarden took rain tires long before anyone else . he was was slow until the rains came, then ended upmin the lead when the rest of the field had to pit.

A;ex Palou used a two stop strategy to win in 2021. In 2022, while it wasn’t pit strategy that determined the race, it was Rinus VeeKay’s mistake on his out lap after hisfinal stopthat allowed Pato O’Ward to pass the pole sitter and go on to win.

Youth Movement

Before the pandemic, barber was a track for veterans. The last two years, the younger drivers have dominated. In 2021 Pato O’Ward won the pole, but an early pit stop cost hiom the race. Alex Palou won the race.

Last year Rinus VeeKay sat on the pole. O’Ward won the race, Palou was second, and VeeKay third.

Will Kyle Kirkwood be in the mix in 2023? Coming off his dominant victory in Long Beach, it is possible.

The Big Four

Chip Ganassi Racing, Team Penske, and Andretti Autosport have each won a race this year. I think the fourth member of the Big Four, Arrow McLaren, jpoins them this weekend.O’Ward won last year, and the te team has been strong here for the last two races, with a pole in 2021 and a victory last year.

O’Ward could win again. The track has had several drivers win multiple times. Ryan Hunter-Reay, hwon twice, Josef Newgarden has three victories, and Will Power has two wins.

O’Ward’s biggest competiton could come from teammate Alexander Rossi. Rossi does well on natural road courses.

I think O’Ward gets nhis first win of the season Sunday.

Weather

Weather is always a potential factor at Barber, although it appears the chances for a dry weekend are increasing. Rain looks more likely to affect qualifying than the race as of this moment.

Barber is a track where qualifying determines your race. The entire podium generally starts in the top 5.

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Spreading the Wealth

In 12 previous races, six teams , Penske, Ganassi, Andretti, Rahal, Carpenter, and Arrow McLaren have won at Barber. Penske has won six times, SAndretti has won twice.

The oddity in the list of winners is that Scott Dixon’s name is missing. Dixcon has five podiums at Barber, but has yet to reach the top step.

2023 will be one of the most competitve weekends we have seen in Alabama. Andretti is having a strong resurgence, Team Penske looks to be back to full strength, Arrow McLaren cannot be dismissed, and Ganassi boasts a former winner and the current points leader.

Rinus VeeKay won the pole for Ed Carpenter Racing, and he is eager to finsih what he started last year.

Is this the weekend Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing finds themselves?

It’s Barber Race Weekend

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I love getting too Barber Motorsports Park on Thursday. It’s a chance to visit the museum on a very slow day, and the nRoad to Indy usually tests the ndaybbefore the wekend officially begins.

Museum visitors can walkmout on the bridges to watch the action, and the exhibits never get old. The Formula Lotus section has been redone a bit, with five cars suspended behind theirn traditional display area. All the vehicles have new, more detailed plaques with information about them, and there is a vido discussing some of the machines.

I tried a different way of arriving today. I flew to Atlanta, rented a car, drove the two hours to Barber. I’m not sure I’d do this again. Atlanta’s airport is the fifth circle of Hell.

Thursday also lets me appreciate the landscaping and whimsy of the track at a leisurely pace.

Winners should drink milk here as well, considering George Barber was in the dairy business

Museum Highlights

My first stop at the Barber Museum is to pay my respects to Dan Gurney and John Surtees.

Some Track Action

Radical Cup

I will have my Race preview up tomorrow mornong.

A reminder – 100 Days to Indy premeires tonight on the CW at 9 Eastern. It will be on nthe CW app tomrrow. I nwill have my thoughts on it sometime this weekend. Just keep in mind that if you read this column, you are not the target audience. View it from that perspective.

Children’s of Alabama Grand Prix Fast Facts

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Race weekend: Friday, April 28 – Sunday, April 30

Track: Barber Motorsports Park, a 2.3-mile, 17-turn road course (clockwise) in Birmingham, Alabama

Race distance: 90 laps / 207 miles (NTT INDYCAR SERIES) |

35 laps / 80.5 miles / 55 minutes (INDY NXT by Firestone)

Push-to-pass parameters: NTT INDYCAR SERIES: 200 seconds of total time with a maximum single duration of 20 seconds. The push-to-pass is not available on the initial start or any restart unless it occurs in the final two laps or three minutes of a timed race. | 
INDY NXT by Firestone: 150 seconds of total time with a maximum time of 15 seconds per activation

Firestone tire allotment (NTT INDYCAR SERIES): Six sets primary, four sets alternate. One additional set is available to rookie drivers for use in the Friday afternoon practice session.

Twitter: @BarberMotorPark @IndyCar, @INDYNXT, #INDYBHM, #IndyCar Instagram: @BarberMotorPark, @INDYCAR, #INDYBHM, #INDYCAR Facebook: @BarberMotorsportsPark, @INDYCAR, @INDYNXT, #INDYBHM, #INDYCAR TikTok: @INDYCAR, @INDYNXT, #INDYCAR YouTube: @INDYCAR Event website: www.indyalabama.com NTT INDYCAR SERIES website: www.indycar.com | INDY NXT by Firestone website:www.indynxt.com

2022 race winners: NTT INDYCAR SERIES Pato O’Ward (No. 5 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet) INDY NXT by Firestone Linus Lundqvist (No. 26 HMD Motorsports)

2022 NTT P1 Award winner (NTT INDYCAR SERIES): Rinus VeeKay (No. 21 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet), 1 minute, 6.2507 seconds, 124.980 mph

2022 INDY NXT by Firestone pole winner: Linus Lundqvist (No. 26 HMD Motorsports) 1:12.5713, 114.095 mph

Qualifying records: NTT INDYCAR SERIES Pato O’Ward, 1:05.5019, 126.409 mph, April 17, 2021 (set in Round 2 of qualifying) INDY NXT by Firestone Linus Lundqvist, 1:11:5149, 115.780 mph, April 16, 2021

NBC Sports race telecast: 3 p.m. ET Sunday, April 30, NBC (live). Leigh Diffey is the play-by-play announcer for NBC’s coverage of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES alongside analysts Townsend Bell and James Hinchcliffe.

Peacock live streaming: All NTT INDYCAR SERIES practice sessions and qualifying will stream live on Peacock, NBC’s direct-to-consumer livestreaming product. NBC’s Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix race telecast will be simulcast on the streaming service. The INDY NXT by Firestone Grand Prix of Alabama will be streamed on Peacock Premium with practice and qualifying shown on INDYCAR LIVE.

INDYCAR Radio Network broadcasts: Mark Jaynes is the anchor alongside driver analyst Davey Hamilton. Jake Query and Nick Yeoman are the turn announcers. Michael Young, Alex Wollf and Georgia Henneberry are the pit reporters. The Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix race (2:30 p.m. ET), INDY NXT by Firestone Grand Prix of Alabama (12:45 p.m. ET) and all NTT INDYCAR SERIES and INDY NXT by Firestone practices and qualifying sessions air live on network affiliates, SiriusXM 160, racecontrol.indycar.com and the INDYCAR App powered by NTT DATA.

At-track schedule (All Times Local/Central Time):
Friday, April 28
1:40-2:25 p.m. – INDY NXT by Firestone practice,
INDYCAR LIVE
2:40-3:55 p.m. – NTT INDYCAR SERIES practice (75 minutes), Peacock

Saturday, April 29

10-10:45 a.m. – INDY NXT by Firestone practice, INDYCAR LIVE

11 a.m.-noon – NTT INDYCAR SERIES practice (45 minutes), Peacock

1:20-1:40 p.m. – INDY NXT by Firestone, INDYCAR LIVE

2-3:15 p.m. – Qualifying for the NTT P1 Award (three rounds of knockout qualifying), Peacock

Sunday, April 30

11-11:30 a.m. – NTT INDYCAR SERIES warmup, Peacock

11:55 a.m. – INDY NXT by Firestone Grand Prix of Alabama “Drivers, start your engines” Noon – INDY NXT by Firestone Grand Prix of Alabama (35 laps/55 minutes), Peacock.

2 p.m. – NBC on air

2:23 p.m. – Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix “Drivers, start your engines”

2:30 p.m. – Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix (90 laps / 207 miles), NBC (Live)

“WHAT TO LOOK FOR” AT BARBER:

1. Another young first-time winner? Romain Grosjean could spoil the fun, but the odds point to the NTT INDYCAR SERIES’ next first-time winner to join Kyle Kirkwood in the under-25 club. Both David Malukas (21) and Christian Lundgaard (21) already have come close to winning in their young careers, and both are showing indications of a second-year breakthrough along the lines of Alex Palou, Pato O’Ward, Rinus VeeKay and Scott McLaughlin in recent seasons. Marcus Armstrong (22) has impressed in his first two starts with Chip Ganassi Racing, and Armstrong’s former roommate, Callum Ilott (24), also has knocked on the door of a first podium.

2. Dixon needs a Barber: It can be argued that Scott Dixon is the most successful NTT INDYCAR SERIES driver in Barber Motorsports Park history yet he doesn’t have a win to show for it. Who wouldn’t take Dixon’s stat line at the 17-turn, 2.38-mile permanent road course? Nine podium finishes in 12 races, six times a race runner-up. That’s impressive by any measure. As for reaching the top step of the podium in Birmingham, Alabama, Josef Newgarden has been the track’s recent master, winning three of the past seven races. Team Penske teammate Will Power (No. 12 Verizon 5G Chevrolet) has won two races. Power is a four-time NTT P1 Award winner at Barber, part of the record 68 poles he has scored in his career.

NTT INDYCAR SERIES Notes: Kyle Kirkwood became the third winner in as many NTT INDYCAR SERIES races this season as he earned his first career victory April 16 at Long Beach. 2022 Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge winner

Marcus Ericsson finished on the podium for the second time in three races and leads Pato O’Ward by 15 points heading into the critical Month of May, which has more than 150 points on offer over the next four weeks with races at Barber Motorsports Park, Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course and the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge.

The Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix will be the 13th NTT INDYCAR SERIES event conducted at Barber Motorsports Park.

Active race winners who are expected to compete are: Helio Castroneves, Will Power, Josef Newgarden, Simon Pagenaud, Alex Palou and Pato O’Ward. ACTIVE RACE WINNER WINS SEASONS Josef Newgarden 3 2015, 2017, 2018 Will Power 2 2011, 2012 Pato O’Ward 1 2022 Alex Palou 1 2021 Simon Pagenaud 1 2016 Helio Castroneves 1 2010

Five drivers have won the race from the pole – Will Power in 2011, Ryan Hunter-Reay in 2013, Simon Pagenaud in 2016, Josef Newgarden in 2018 and Takuma Sato in 2019.

ACTIVE POLE WINNER POLES SEASONS Will Power 4 2010, 2011, 2014, 2017 Helio Castroneves 2 2012, 2015 Rinus VeeKay 1 2022 Pato O’Ward 1 2021 Josef Newgarden 1 2018 Simon Pagenaud 1 2016 Scott Dixon has finished on the podium in nine of his 12 previous starts at Barber Motorsports Park – including six runner-up finishes – but h

e has yet to finish on the top step of the podium at the picturesque road circuit. Marcus Ericsson, Josef Newgarden or Kyle Kirkwood can solidify their chance at the PeopleReady Force For Good Challenge’s $1 million prize by winning at Barber Motorsports Park. Ericsson (Streets of St. Petersburg) and Kirkwood (Streets of Long Beach) have won on street circuits while Newgarden has a win on an oval (Texas Motor Speedway). A win on a road course would make one of them one step closer to earning a $500,000 bonus and a matching $500,000 donation for a chosen charity.

Four drivers have competed in every NTT INDYCAR SERIES race at Barber Motorsports Park – Scott Dixon, Will Power, Graham Rahal and Takuma Sato. All but Sato are entered this season.

Team Penske has six wins at Barber Motorsports Park (2010, 2011, 2012, 2016, 2017 and 2018). Andretti Autosport, Chip Ganassi Racing, Ed Carpenter Racing, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing and Arrow McLaren are the only other teams to win at the track. Andretti Autosport won in 2013 and 2014 with Ryan Hunter-Reay. Ed Carpenter Racing won with Josef Newgarden in 2015, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing won in 2019 with Takuma Sato, Chip Ganassi Racing won in 2021 with Alex Palou and Arrow McLaren won in 2022 with Pato O’Ward.

Twenty-three of the 27 drivers entered in the event have competed in NTT INDYCAR SERIES races at Barber Motorsports Park. Ten entered drivers have led laps: Will Power 212, Josef Newgarden 135, Helio Castroneves 93, Simon Pagenaud 87, Rinus VeeKay 58, Alex Palou 60, Scott Dixon 46, Pato O’Ward 52, Graham Rahal 25 and Alexander Rossi

Four NTT INDYCAR SERIES Rookie of the Year contenders – Marcus Armstrong, Augustin Canapino, Benjamin Pedersen and Sting Ray Robb – are entered and will race an NTT INDYCAR SERIES car at Barber Motorsports Park for the first time. Milestones: 

Rinus VeeKay will attempt to make his 50th NTT INDYCAR SERIES start … Scott Dixon will attempt to make his 309th consecutive start, the second-longest streak in INDYCAR SERIES history.                      

  INDY NXT by Firestone Notes:
INDY NXT by Firestone resumes its 2022 season this weekend at Barber Motorsports Park. Danial Frost made a late move and held off a pack of challengers to win a wild season opener at St. Petersburg but will face an equally tough test at Barber. Frost and his HMD Motorsports teammates should enter with confidence as the team has won the last three INDY NXT by Firestone races at the 2.3-mile road course. The 19-car field for the INDY NXT Grand Prix of Alabama is the largest INDY NXT by Firestone field at Barber Motorsports Park. The previous high was 17 in the first race in 2010. While none of the current field of drivers has won an INDY NXT by Firestone race at Barber, four drivers – Jagger Jones, Reece Gold, Nolan Siegel and Hunter McElrea – have visited victory lane at the picturesque road course in ladder series. The 2023 season features a deep and talented field with INDY NXT race winners such as Frost, Toby Sowery, Hunter McElrea and Christian Rasmussen joining a promising rookie class that includes Jamie Chadwick (three-time W Series champ), Louis Foster (USF Pro 2000 champ), Jagger Jones (USF2000 Rookie of the Year) and rising stars Nolan Siegel and Reece Gold (USF Pro 2000). Other contenders include returning drivers Jacob Abel, Rasmus Lindh, Kyffin Simpson and Ernie Francis Jr.
Two teams with championship pedigree have rejoined the series for 2023. Two-time champions Juncos Hollinger Racing is fielding a pair of cars for rookies Reece Gold and Matteo Naninni. Cape Motorsports – which last fielded a team in the INDY NXT in 2010, is fielding cars for Enaam Ahmed and Jones.
A new qualifying format will place a premium on banking a quick lap around the 1.8-mile street circuit. Teams will have a single 15-minute session with a limited guarantee of eight minutes of green flag running, depending on whichever comes first. If an entry does not set a time, their order will be based on entrant points.