This weeekend the NTT IndyCar Series heads to Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham for the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama presented by AmFirst.
Josef Newgarden a two-time NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion, leads teammate Scott McLaughlin by five points heading into the critical Month of May, which has more than 400 points on offer with races at Barber Motorsports Park, Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course and the double points-paying Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge.
The 90-lap race is timed to go at 12:15pm Sunday 1 May local time (5:15am Monday morning NZ time).
Here are the fast facts….
Scott Dixon has finished on the podium in nine of his 11 previous starts at Barber Motorsports Park – including six runner-up finishes – but he has yet to finish on the top step of the podium at the picturesque road circuit.
Josef Newgarden can clinch the PeopleReady Force For Good Challenge’s $1 million prize by winning at Barber Motorsports Park – where he has won three times in his career. Newgarden has wins on an oval (Texas Motor Speedway) and street circuit (Streets of Long Beach). A win on a road course would earn him a $500,000 bonus and a matching $500,000 donation for his charities, Wags and Walk Nashville and SeriousFun Children’s Network.
Five drivers have competed in every NTT INDYCAR SERIES race at Barber Motorsports Park – Scott Dixon, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Will Power, Graham Rahal and Takuma Sato. All but Hunter-Reay 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 and Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing 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, and Chip Ganassi Racing won in 2021 with Alex Palou.
Twenty of the 26 drivers entered in the event have competed in NTT INDYCAR SERIES races at Barber Motorsports Park. Eleven entered drivers have led laps: Will Power 212, Josef Newgarden 133, Helio Castroneves 93, Simon Pagenaud 87, Takuma Sato 74, Alex Palou 56, Scott Dixon 46, Pato O’Ward 25, Graham Rahal 25, Alexander Rossi 3 and Rinus VeeKay 1.
Six NTT INDYCAR SERIES Rookie of the Year contenders – Tatiana Calderon, Devlin DeFrancesco, Callum Ilott, Kyle Kirkwood, Christian Lundgaard and David Malukas – are entered and will race an NTT INDYCAR SERIES car at Barber Motorsports Park for the first time.
Milestones: Marcus Ericsson will attempt to make his 50th NTT INDYCAR SERIES start … Scott Dixon will attempt to make his 292nd consecutive start, the second-longest streak in INDYCAR SERIES history.
Comments