Alex Palou lead the season’s first practice session at Barber Motorsports Park with a lap of 1:08.4721. Colton Hearts was second and Josef fNewgarden 3rd.
Felix Rosenqvist caused the only red flag when he brushed the pit lane wall entering the pits with eight minutes remaining.
Today’s Schedule:
It is finally time for Indycar Racing.
Today’s schedule. All Times Central
7:30am: Gates Open
8:00am – 5:00pm: Surgere Fan Zone / Hagerty Car Corral
8:00am – 8:40am: USF2000 Race #1
8:55am – 9:35am: Porsche Sprint Challenge Race #1
10:00am – 10:45am: NTT INDYCAR SERIES Practice. All Times Central
11:10am – 12:00pm: Indy Pro 2000 Race #1
12:15pm – 1:15pm: Indy Lights Race #1
1:40pm – 2:25pm: NTT INDYCAR SERIES Practice
2:50pm – 3:35pm: Radical Cup Race #3
3:50pm – 4:30pm: USF2000 Race #2
4:55pm – 6:10pm: NTT INDYCAR SERIES Qualifying / Firestone Fast 6
Good morning from Barber Motorsports Park, Irondale AirBnB media center annex. Yesterday was a fun day, but today Indycar takes to the track for the first time in 2021 with two practices and qualifying. The Fast Six format was used rarely last season because most road courses hosted double headers. It will be nice to see it return. Some notes on Friday at Barber Motorsports Park.The crowd was the smallest I have ever seen here. It was a Friday and there are COVID concerns. It was eerie seeing so few people at this track which usually draws a decent number of fans on Friday. I wonder if the absence of Indycar on track kept people away.
The trams are still running, to my surprise. There is one less stop, however. The stop at the entrance to the paddock is closed. There is a pull off for the tram which was blocked. Fans are encouraged to sit with their own party and distance, but no seats are off limits.
The signs reminding fans of the mask wearing requirement were ignored by many fans and sadly also by many of the track staff. There is a sign that says masks must be worn on the trams but staff allowed people on with no reminders.
The fan zone had fewer vendors than usual. We will see if more are present today. It was oddly quiet in an area that is normally filled with lots of activity.
I liked having a day to watch the Road to Indy run their qualifying sessions. I normally pay mild attention to Indy Lights and not much attention at all to the IndyPro 2000 and USF2000, so I enjoyed learning more about who is in each series. The 30 minute qualifying sessions were intense. Some series track records fell and several teams locked out the front rows for their races.
I really enjoyed the Radical Cup. The cars look like mini prototypes and have three classes. They put on a great show with two good races. I hope to see them again at another Indycar event.
There is an interactive version of the Spotter’s Guide on the Indycar app.
Copy the link for the Interactive version:
https://t.co/LITlLtFqef https://t.co/yFmWJ6sUxP
Rain chances for today appear to be diminishing greatly. Qualifying will be dry. I will provide updates at The Pit Window on Facebook and on Twitter @PitWindowToo. There will be a qualifying/practice wrap up later tonight and a race preview story tomorrow morning.
Lots of blue/orange combinations and lots of red and white. It seems odd that 60 is the highest number.
Tomorrow morning I will recap today at Barber. Thanks for following along today/
Today’s schedule: All Times Central
Good morning from the Irondale media annex. The first Indycar race weekend of the year begins with a day dedicated to Road to Indy qualifying. Each series has a separate qualifying session for each of its two races this weekend. There are also two races for Radical Cup and aPorsche Sprint race.
I will post updates during the day on Facebook on The Pit Window page and on Twitter @PitWindowToo. I will post a review of the day’s activities later tonight.
Tomorrow looks like it could be a wet first practice session and qualifying could also be somewhat damp. Race day looks dry and sunny, however.
R C Enerson said on Twitter last night that he has a deal for the Indianapolis 500 and that the announcement is coming “soon.” The only question now is if Top Gun Racing will get a Chevy engine lease. Marshall Pruewtt is reporting that there will be a minimum of 35 cars attempting to make the 33 car field.
Chip Ganassi Racing has scheduled a livery reveal for the 9 car this afternoon around 2:30 local time. No idea what this is.
I’ll be heading out to the” beautiful facility” in a little bit and keep you posted on pandemic related changes.
Photo: Takuma Sato heads to Barber as defending pole and race winner. Joe Skibinski, Indycar
It is Race Week at Last. The NTT Indycar Series is set to begin the 2021 season Sunday at barber motorsports Park near Birmingham. 24 cars will take the green flag at 3:42 pm EDT. The race is on NBC.
The track has set a limit of 20,000 spectators a day. In addition to each fan having a ticket, each vehicle must have a parking pass. As will be the norm at nearly all events this year, fans will not have paddock or pit access. The trams will still be running, but with a smaller capacity.
I am excited to get back to Barber. This year’s race is later in April than the 2018 and 2019 events, which means the extensive plant life will be blooming.
In 2020 this race fell victim to the pandemic. It was scheduled to be the second race of the year. For the first time in its history, Barber opens the season. Several teams have tested here this winter. It will be the first race at this track for last year’s rookies Rinus Veekay and Alex Palou.
I don’t expect the year’s hiatus to affect team performances much. Indycar has raced at barber since 20210, and the teams have extensive information about setups for this track. What will we see this weekend?
Josef Newgarden is the only three time winner at barber, his last win coming in 2018. Team pensk has won six times, winning three races in a row on two different occasions. A seventh win is not out of the question. Will Power has won the pole four times here, adding to Team penske’s mastery of the track. However, in 2019 Rahal Letterman Lanigan racing dominated with a front row sweep in qualifying and a convincing victory by pole winner Takuma Sato. early mechanical trouble by Graham Rahal prevented what might have been 1-2 sweep.
Scott Dixon has never won at Barber. he has been on the podium eight times, six of those as runner-up. Could this be his breakthrough year and his 51st career win?
Andretti Autosport has won twice with Ryan Hunter-Reay, who has a consistent record of top 10 finishes.
Arrow McLaren SP and Pato O’Ward are looking to contend for the championship in 2021 and want to make a strong opening statement. I think O’Ward will be a factor this weekend. Somewhat overlooked in all the buzz about O’Ward has been his teammate Felix Rosenqvist. Rosenqvist edged O’Ward in a stirring duel for the win at road america Race 2 last season.
Eyes will be on how the veteran “rookies” do. Television eyes might focus on just one, but keep an eye on Scott McLaughlin. The Australian Supercars champion is going to surprise some folks with how ell he does.
How will Romain Grosjean’s Formula 1 experience translate to Indycar? Barber should be one of his better tracks this season. If he can get through the flying start, I think he will have a good race.
Jimmie Johnson will get the bulk of the attention. The seven time NASCAR champion says he plans to take things slowly, but we will see. Johnson has worked jard to prepare for his Indycar debut. I wouldn’t put a lot of stock in his results this weekend, but we’ll see how he’s doing after Road America, which will be his sixth race.
Mark Miles talked yesterday about the situation in Toronto. Canada is still having a difficult time with COVID-19. He is waiting as long as he can to make a decision. Miles thoughts about moving or replacing the race::
“If not, I don’t think there will be much opportunity to move it. The rest of the schedule is pretty full and there’s so much going on in Toronto, and that street race requires a lot of planning.
If we needed to, I think the most likely step would be a double-header on a weekend we’re already scheduled. I won’t speculate at this point as to which one it would be, but I don’t think — we wouldn’t be looking at putting a different race in that date. We’d be looking at adding one on a weekend we’re already scheduled and planning to execute.”
Race weekend: Saturday, April 17 – Sunday, April 18
Track: Barber Motorsports Park, a 2.3-mile, 17-turn road course (clockwise) in Birmingham, Alabama
Media links: Entry List (PDF) | Trackside Media Guide (Interactive PDF)
Race distance: 90 laps / 207 miles
Push-to-pass parameters: 200 seconds of total time with a maximum time of 20 seconds per activation.
Firestone tire allotment: Six sets primary, four sets alternate, one additional set available for rookies for use in first practice.
Twitter: @BarberMotorPark @IndyCar, #HIGPA, #IndyCar
Event website: www.barberracingevents.com
INDYCAR website: www.IndyCar.com
2019 race winner: Takuma Sato, 1:55:46.8076, 107.272 mph. No race in 2020 due to COVID-19 pandemic.
2019 NTT P1 Award winner: Takuma Sato, 1:08.5934, 120.711 mph. No race in 2020 due to COVID-19 pandemic.
Qualifying lap record: Sebastien Bourdais, 1:06.6001, 124.324 mph, April 23, 2016
NBC Sports race telecasts: Qualifying, 10 p.m. ET Saturday, NBCSN
2:42 p.m.: Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama (90 laps/207 miles), NBC (live)
Race Notes:
All times EDT
NBCSN will rebroadcast qualifying Saturday night at 10 pm EDT
Race is on NBC
Photo: Josef Newgarden looks to regain the Indycar title. Indycar photo
Long Beach, September 26- The NTT Indycar Series championship hinges on who finishes ahead of whom. Will Scott Dixon win his seventh title? Does Josef Newgarden win his third? Will Alexander Rossi finally earn the trophy he covets?
This is the scenario I see playing out in the season finale. I’m not ready to declare that the young drivers will be battling each other. We might see a brief spurt mid season where Pato O’Ward and Colton Herta are ibn the hunt, maybe one of them leading for a bit, but I think we have one more year of the old guard. By old guard i mean drivers over 25.
I see O’Ward winning multiple times and another first time winner out of the group including Jack Harvey, Rinus VeeKay, and Alex Palou.
While a driver has just seventeen chances to win in a season, there are 51 chances to get on the podium. The number of podiums could well determine the title since I thin there will be nine different winners in 2021.
The early schedule favors Newgarden. He has dominated at barber the last few years, and he won St. Pete last fall. As always happens, though, is the early leader comes back to the field. Dixon has not won at either of the first two tracks. The lack of short ovals will later be a disadvantage to Newgarden.
It’s gong to be wild ride to the finish line.
Who are the nine winners this year? I will name them, but unlike some stories I’ve seen, I won’t assign a number of wins. Here they are, in no particular order:
Newgarden
Dixon
Rossi
Herta
Power
Harvey or VeeKay
O’Ward
Rahal
Sato
A storyline to watch is how much will having Sebastien Bourdais in the team’s number 1 car help A. J. Foyt Racing? The season starts at two tracks where Bourdais has done well. In 2020, Bourdais started seventh and finished fourth at St. Pete. I think Bourdais will improve the qualifying and will have several top 10s and a couple of top 5s. A podium spot may sneak in there as well.
Practices and most qualifying will be on the new Peacock streaming service this season as NBC is phasing out NBCSN. The service is $.99 a month and can be cancelled anytime. If you just get it for the months of the Indycar season, it is 4#0. NBC Gold costs almost $50 for the year. I bought Peacock in tuime for last week’s open test at IMS. I was impressed by the coverage and the picture quality, even on my phone and tablet.
Peacock has now built an Indycar page which has the upcoming broadcasts for the next two weekends. Don’t dismiss it until you try it.
Josef Newgarden will win his third Indycar title in 2021. Scott Dixon has always had a difficult time in a year where he is defending his championship. Alexander Rossi and Andretti Autosport need a strong run at the Indianapolis 500 to have a chance. Last week’s test did not give me hope for that to happen.
Scott McLaughlin will win Rookie of the Year simply because he is the only rookie who will drive in all 17 races. He would probably win anyway.
Graham Rahal will win the Indianapolis 500. The team dominated with a first and third in 2020. I expect them to be strong again in May.
At last, it’s time for Indycar. The season begins this coming Saturday at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham. As life as we knew it slowly creeps back to normal, COVID protocols and spectator limits continue to affect how we watch sports. The 17 race schedule should have fewer disruptions and changes than last year. Some races will see expanded grids as part time teams and drivers jump in at various races. The front of the field shouldn’t change much though. Here are some things to watch in the 2021 NTT Indycar Series. Part II tomorrow.
No Indy lights in 2020 means no champion to move into an Indycar seat for the new year. The rookies arguably are the most experienced and oldest rookie class in history. A seven time NASCAR champion, a three time Australian Supercars champion, and a 10 year formula 1 veteran.
Jimmie Johnson, seven time NASCAR champion, gives Indycar a try with Chip Ganassi Racing. Johnson realizes he is on a steep learning curve. He has tested at Barber a couple of times, so he should be more comfortable in the opener. Johnson is not ready to tackle the ovals this season, but has not ruled out the Indianapolis 500 in 2022. I look for him to have some good runs starting at Road America.
Scott McLaughlin is the only rookie who will run the entire schedule. The three time Australian Supercars champion will run a rare fourth car for Team Penske. McLaughlin seems to have adapted quickly to Indycar in testing, but qualifying and racing are another matter. I expect he will get some top 10s, possibly a podium, and if things fall the right way, he may even win a race. McLaughlin should win Rookie of the Year simply because he is running all the races.
Romain Grosjean will drive for Dale Coyne with Rick Ware Racing. He comes to Indycar after a Formula 1 career in which he earned several podiums early in his career. Grosjean should do well on the larger road courses like Road America and Laguna Seca. The Frenchman will sit out the first three oval races at Texas and Indianapolis, but he is considering running at Gateway.
Most of the race winners will come from the Big 3 teams- Team Penske, Chip Ganassi Racing, and Andretti Autosport- but Arrow McLaren SP is looking to join the club. Pato O’Ward has made it very clear that he considers himself a title contender this year. Entering his second full time season, O’Ward should win his first career race and possibly his second in 2021. He will also need several podiums to stay in contention.
“We want to win races. We want to be consistently fighting for podiums, and we want to be there. We want to be contenders every single race weekend.I think in doing so, that’ll put us in a position at the end of the year to fight for the championship. That is the goal. I want to get to Long Beach having a possibility to win the championship,” O’Ward told media in March.
Scott Dixon should win the two races he needs to tie Mario Andretti’s career total of 52 victories, but getting a third win might be difficult. Josef Newgarden will win at least three races this season. Colton Herta has a chance to be a multiple race winner. Alexander Rossi should get back to Victory Lane as well.
Will Power somehow manages to squeeze two wins out of a year no matter how frustrating a season he has.
Barber is the first track where Indycar will be on track just two days instead of the usual three at road courses. This will give an advantage to the bigger teams and hurt the rookies and smaller teams. I understand the reasons for the move. It cuts costs to teams and creates less risk to all race participants by minimizing contact.
Fridays will still be busy with Road to Indy and other support series. I’m looking at it as a day where i can enjoy the series that are running and pay a little more attention to the drivers in the ladder series. I hope having a day entirely to themselves gives the young drivers some more exposure.
I don’t think the third day will be coming back. It will still be a part of street course weekends, but expect shortened shows to be business as usual going forward. I hope this never applies to Indianapolis 500 practice.
Tomorrow, I’ll talk about the championship battle, what’s new for television, and what fans can expect at the track.
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The Pit Window by Mike Silver 