Round 4: Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama

[bjohnsonsmith]

Round 4: Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama, 24 - 26 April, 2015

This Sunday will be the 6th running of the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama at Barber Motorsports Park. The race was first held on April 11, 2010 and was won by Hélio Castroneves driving for Team Penske, in a Dallara IR5-Honda. Prior to that, Barber Motorsports Park hosted a testing session in October 2007, the success of which led to a full-field, three-day testing session in March 2009. An open date became available in the 2010 season's race calendar and Barber Motorsports Park made a successful bid to hold the race, over Cleveland (Burke Lakefront Airport), Houston, Baltimore, Nashville, Charlotte and Portland.

Hopefully this year's race won't be marred by bad weather, like last year's was, with the start delayed by lightning and heavy rain. The result was a 100-minute timed race, eventually finishing under caution after rookie, Russian driver Mikhail Aleshin crashed heavily into the tire barrier, littering the track with carbon fibre.

Track layout:


Length: 2.38 Miles (3.83 Km)
Turns: 15
Lap record: Scott Dixon, 6 April 2013. 1:06.7750, 123.999 Mph (199.557 Kmh), Chip Ganassi Racing, Dallara DW12-Honda, Izod IndyCar Series. 2.38 Miles (3.83 Km)

Last year's winner:
Ryan Hunter-Reay
Andretti Autosport
Dallara DW12-Honda
Laps: 69 - race shortened due to time limit
Distance: 164.22 Miles (264.286 Km)
Race Time: 1:40:43
Average Speed: 94.537 Mph (152.142 Kph)

TV Coverage:
NBCSN
Green flag at 3:00pm ET.

[D.R.T.]

Despite the delayed start - I enjoyed last years event in the rain. More racecraft etc.

[BudLightJaguar]

Who's going to break the lap record this time?

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by BudLightJaguar

Who's going to break the lap record this time?

And by how much? The two Bourdais records that were broken, St. Pete and Long Beach, were set during the CCWS and that says something about the cars they were racing at the time.

[Nikki Katz]

I see that Gonzales is in at Coyne. I'd like it if they gave Daly a proper chance some time, though it seems that the team is currently just taking the highest bidder.

[10TENTHS]

Originally Posted by Nikki Katz

I see that Gonzales is in at Coyne. I'd like it if they gave Daly a proper chance some time, though it seems that the team is currently just taking the highest bidder.

So like the CART era then...

[Nikki Katz]

Originally Posted by 10TENTHS

So like the CART era then...

Heh, quite. Though in the last years they did at least put a proper driver in one of their cars. At least it's just the one team really doing this in IndyCar at the moment.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by Nikki Katz

Heh, quite. Though in the last years they did at least put a proper driver in one of their cars. At least it's just the one team really doing this in IndyCar at the moment.

Pay to drive's been around for years, unfortunately that's how some teams survive. It's happens in F1.

[Nikki Katz]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

Pay to drive's been around for years, unfortunately that's how some teams survive. It's happens in F1.

Of course, but all of the drivers currently in F1 are good enough to be in F1 (though Mehri's been a bit disappointing to date). Dracone isn't good enough for IndyCar. Gonzales is probably only borderline acceptable given his form in other series. I'm not really to fussed about Huertas either to be honest. The other teams may have drivers that are not as good as those you'd like to see in the car, but they're not out of their depth.

[BudLightJaguar]

Time for the second yellow.

[bjohnsonsmith]

There's something wrong with Kimball's car after being hit by Montoya.

[BudLightJaguar]

Seriously, the pit lane exit road is the most dangerous spot on the track.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Great overtake by Rahall on Castroneves.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Congrats to Newgarden on his debut win.

[RWill2073]

That was a fantastic race. Great racing on a beautiful track. Rahal was the star of the race and showed what he can do. He passed three of the series' best on the outside of a corner perfectly cleanly. Just awesome.

For anyone that's been to barber, is it possible to walk all around the outside track without having to drive?

[Burp]

Now THAT was hell of a race.

If someone had told me it was going to be a 90 lap precession with a Chevy top 10 i wouldn't of bet against it. What a turn up that was.

A great advert for the series (if anyone watched it)

Yellow when there needed to be a yellow. None of this waiting for the field to cycle through the pits before going full course caution. Some win some loose.

A bit of elbows out. Cars on different strategies. First time winner. Passing all over the place. Can't fault it.

[canamman]

Been since 2004 Nashville since I have done an Indy car
race and I was due.

Sunday 4-26-15
Weather - Cloudy cool in the morning , sunny breezy p.m.

Seat - I checked out different views all day Sat and decided
this would be perfect for Sunday. Top Row of grand
stands at the fan village. These stands are first come
first serve, no reserved. It holds 500-600. Plenty
of big screens plus they pulled the IRL trailer stage
over to us and did the driver intros there. Katie
did a good job with her driver interviews. I will always
try and sit there for future indy races.

Race - Glad you guys understood that was a good race. If
you were there scanning drivers radios you would
have seen just what a crap shoot the tire and fuel
strategy was all day. Some guys stretched the blacks
as far as they would go and then get caught when
some fresh red tires came out and visa versa.
Rahal was quite ****ed when he came back out
and was 14th or 15th after a pit stop. I mean
if a caution came out while he was making his
way back up and the other pit stops cycled through
he could have been screwed. Different strategies
for everyone it seemed.

Crowd- It was just right. Stands were full, plenty on the hill
sides , easy bathroom and food lines. Parked on the
opposite end of the track to the exit , 40 mins I was
on 20. I have spent 2 or 3 hours getting out of some places.

Getting around - The free trams did a good job all weekend. Longest
wait was maybe 10 mins. They were never held up in traffic
that I noticed.

Autograph Saturday - Got all the Indy car and Lights autographs. That
was really cool. Man some of those guys are young.

So now I feel better prepared for the month of Indy and I imagine
I will need to work Barber into the racing budget annually. It is a good
show.

[fieldodreams79]

Originally Posted by JHamilton

It is very pretty but not a great place to attend an event. Not the track's fault, but it's a little slow for my taste.

I wouldn't have minded going for Sunday and sitting on the hill on the backside of the circuit. Lovely day, lovely place and a great race to boot. Think IndyCars bring the best out of that place, tbh.

Originally Posted by canamman

Been since 2004 Nashville since I have done an Indy car
race and I was due..

Sounds like you had a great time! Certainly was a nice day for it.

[rwintle]

Originally Posted by canamman

Been since 2004 Nashville since I have done an Indy car
race and I was due.

Thanks for the run-down. Glad to hear it was enjoyable!

[mikuni]

The first Indy race I have watched in a while and it was great. You could see tyres and fuel were playing into it hugely, but it was easy to follow the race if you were taking this into account, and it all played out with enough laps to go to provide an exciting run to the finish where you weren't really sure how it would end, even at the start of the final lap.

Hopefully a sign of things to come for Indy.

[fieldodreams79]

Awesome win for Newgarden! Been a fan of this kid since his first few races in Indycar. Seemed pretty classy in his first interview after his first win. Good for him!

I've not liked too many races I've seen on TV at Barber, but that was good stuff. Decent passing, some tight racing and the track delivered something entertaining. The few high speed corners of this track make these cars fun to watch in places. Add in the story lines and battles made this race quite enjoyable to watch.

Thought Power's move /contact was complete idiocy until the Mayor slash across Rahal's nose. Seems that its a gamble there and very close on judgment. Power misjudged. Blind spot? I don't think so. Then he came back. Oh, Will. Always keep me guessing...

And JPM. Think he may have gotten away with some contact on Charlie there, but that was close and its racing I guess.

Strong drive for Rahal with some nifty moves. When was the last time there was an American 1-2 on a road course? Can't be that long ago, right?

[10TENTHS]

Originally Posted by fieldodreams79

When was the last time there was an American 1-2 on a road course? Can't be that long ago, right?

Last year at this very circuit (Ryan Hunter-Reay and Marco Andretti). Newgarden finished 2nd to Hunter-Reay at Iowa.

[fieldodreams79]

Originally Posted by 10TENTHS

Last year at this very circuit (Ryan Hunter-Reay and Marco Andretti). Newgarden finished 2nd to Hunter-Reay at Iowa.

Thank you. I didn't pay much attention to IndyCar last year, but that's interesting. Wonder what it was before that now.

[gomick]

Really enjoyed that race - Congrats to Newgarden & the drive of Rahal was brilliant aswell... Good track too!

[GTRMagic]

Hopefully the CFH Racing win might entice more (some?) corporate sponsorship for Mr Newgarden's entry...