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| IndyCar heads south to Barber Motorsports Park |
Coverage
Time: Coverage begins at 4:00 p.m. ET on Sunday April 7th with green flag scheduled for 4:15 p.m. ET.
Channel: NBCSN
Announcers: Leigh Diffey, Townsend Bell and Paul Tracy will be in the booth. Kevin Lee, Kelli Stavast, Marty Snider and Robin Miller will work pit lane.
IndyCar Weekend Schedule
Friday:
First Practice: 12:15 p.m. ET (45 minutes)*
Second Practice: 3:50 p.m. ET (60 minutes)*
Saturday:
Third Practice: 11:45 a.m. ET (45 minutes)*
Qualifying: 4:00 p.m. ET (Live coverage on NBCSN)
Sunday:
Warm-Up: 12:10 p.m. ET (30 minutes)*
Race: 4:15 p.m. ET (90 laps)
* - All practice and qualifying sessions are available live with the NBC Sports Gold IndyCar pass.
Can Newgarden Run Away With the Title?
While Barber Motorsports Park is a fairly new venue on the IndyCar schedule, there is one driver that has made it his proving ground and that is the current IndyCar championship leader Josef Newgarden.
Newgarden has won three times in seven times and all three victories have come in the last four races. He has four consecutive podium finishes at the track and six consecutive top ten finishes. He has the third best average finish at the track amongst all drivers with at least three starts at 5.7 and he had 133 laps at Barber, the second most all-time. Every time he has led at Barber he has gone on and won the race.
Newgarden heads to Barber not just looking for his third consecutive victory at the track but as the championship leader after a victory at St. Petersburg and third at Austin. The Tennessean enters with
93 points and has an 18-point lead over Austin winner Colton Herta. Scott Dixon is 36 points back in third with Alexander Rossi and Graham Rahal rounding out the top five, 40 points and 43 points respectively. Newgarden's teammate Will Power is 46 points back in sixth.
While appearing to have a healthy lead two races into a season, Newgarden's advantage is not insurmountable. Two years ago, Sébastien Bourdais led the championship after two races by 19 points. He led the championship after the third race but fell to fourth in the championship after the fourth race at Phoenix.
Since reunification, only three times has the championship leader after two races gone on to win the championship. Simon Pagenaud is the most recent of the three championship winners and he had a four-point lead after two races in 2016. Pagenaud did not relinquish the championship lead from that point forward. Power led the championship after two races in 2014 by 27 points but he was lost the championship lead not once but twice during the season. He led for the first four races but dropped to second, 40 points behind Ryan Hunter-Reay, after finishing eighth in the Indianapolis 500. Power regained the championship lead after the second Belle Isle race, where he won and finished second, and he held a 19-point advantage over Hélio Castroneves. Power led the championship for the next four races before dropping to second after Iowa, nine points behind Castroneves and he remained second for the next two races. He re-took the championship lead at Mid-Ohio and increased his championship lead to 51 points before the Fontana finale and he won the title by 62 points.
Dario Franchitti is the third driver to accomplish it. He led by 15 points after Long Beach in 2009 but at no point that season did he lead the championship for consecutive races. He led the championship after five of 17 races but he did not lead the championship in any of the six races prior to him taking the title with a victory at the Homestead finale. In fact, his 15-point lead after Long Beach was the largest championship lead he had at any point over that season.
Since 1979, 19 times over 55 seasons has the driver leading the championship after two races won the title. This is the ninth time since reunification a Penske driver has led the championship after two races in a season.
Who is Angriest?
While Newgarden heads to Barber flying high, a handful of drivers head to Barber after less than desired results from Austin. The question is will any of these drivers turn their anger into results?
Will Power led the first 45 laps at the Austin race from pole position only to have to surrender after not making his final pit stop before the caution for Felix Rosenqvist's accident. However, instead of dropping from the lead to 12th or 13th and at least having a chance to make up some ground in the closing laps, Power lost first gear exiting his pit box and his race ended right there on pit lane.
While Power has finished on the podium in five of his last seven starts, he has finished outside the top twenty after mechanical issues in the other two and expanding it to the 13 starts since his Indianapolis 500 victory, Power has six podium finishes and five finishes of 18th or worse.
Power has won twice at Barber but his victories came in 2011 and 2012. He has started on the front row in eight of nine Barber races with the lone exception being ninth in 2012. Despite his qualifying success, the results have trailed off. He had seven consecutive top five finishes but in the last two years he has finished 14th and 21st. His 2012 victory is the last time he has finished on the Barber podium. His 208 laps led are the most at the track but he has only led once at Barber in the last four years. He led 60 laps in the 2017 race.
Alexander Rossi was hot on Power's heels for all 45 laps before the Rosenqvist caution and it appeared the race could come down to the final pit stop. Like Power, Rossi did not make a pit stop before the caution and he was shuffled to outside the top ten. Rossi lost a few spots off that restart but he rebounded and worked his way to a ninth place finish, his ninth consecutive top ten finish.
However, it was the second time in three starts Rossi had a possible victory scuttled because of a caution during a pit window. At Portland, Rossi led 30 laps, the most in the race and while he shuffled back to second, Rossi was lined up to take the lead during the pit sequence if it were not for a caution. Instead of winning the race or at least finishing second, he was eighth in the final result.
The results have gotten better for Rossi at Barber from year one but he still has some work to do. His three finishes are 15th, fifth and 11th and last year he went off the road in the wet while in the top ten. His starting position has improved each year at the track from 20th to 18th to eighth. He has yet to lead a lap at Barber but he has completed all 262 laps in his three starts.
Scott Dixon was looking at a top five finish at Circuit of the Americas before the caution for his teammate's accident and like Rossi, Dixon dropped to the back. Unlike Rossi, Dixon could only climb to 13th, his first finish outside the top ten since 12th last year at Iowa and only the fourth time he has finished outside the top ten since 2017. It ended a streak of seven consecutive top five finishes.
Barber has been Dixon's white whale. No driver has a better average finish at Barber than Dixon, no driver has more podium finishes at Barber and Dixon is nine-for-nine when it comes to top ten finishes at the track but he has yet to win at the track. He has made the Fast Six session every year at the track but has never started better than third. He has led 44 laps at the track but 38 of those came in the 2012 race.
Dixon might be nine-for-nine but Simon Pagenaud is eight-for-eight at Barber having only missed the 2010 race. Pagenaud is coming off a disappointing 19th at Austin; ending a streak of 11 consecutive top ten finishes. The Frenchman finds himself 13th in the championship on 37 points. He has four top five finishes at Barber and he has led 87 laps at the track but 84 of those laps came in his 2016 victory. The other three came in 2015. Pagenaud has not led a lap on a natural-terrain road course since he won the 2017 finale at Sonoma.
The good news for Pagenaud is he has a trend of rebounding. He has finished in the top ten in the race after a result outside the top 15 on 14 of 15 occasions. The only time it did not happen was in 2016 when he finished 19th in the Indianapolis 500 and then finished 13th in the next race at Belle Isle.
Who Can Keep Up A Good Start?
A few drivers have looked good in the first two races and are looking to keep up the results.
Felix Rosenqvist may have had a rough Austin race, ending with an unfortunate accident, but the Swede has been quick and he finds himself tenth in the championship on 40 points. In each race, Rosenqvist has qualified ahead of his senior teammate Dixon. The last time Dixon was not the top Ganassi qualifier in three consecutive races was in 2015 at Fontana, Milwaukee and Iowa when Tony Kanaan was tops at Fontana and Iowa and Sage Karam was top at Milwaukee.
Tied with Rosenqvist on points is Jack Harvey. The part-time but regular competitor in the 2019 season has finished tenth in both races this season and while Harvey was one of the quicker drivers at St. Petersburg, he had a fortunate turnaround at Austin. He brought out a red flag during his qualifying group and had to start on the last row. The lone caution benefitted Harvey as he moved into a position for a top ten finish.
Though lacking a top ten finish, Spencer Pigot has finished 11th in both races and he is two points outside the top ten. Pigot is a point ahead of Pagenaud and Takuma Sato in the championship. This will be Pigot's third Barber start and he has finished 20th and 15th in his first two starts at the track. The only Ed Carpenter Racing driver to finish in the top ten at Barber is Josef Newgarden, who won at the track with the team in 2015. The best finish for a ECR driver not named Josef Newgarden is 11th, where Luca Filippi finished in 2015.
Patricio O'Ward may have missed the season opener but he carried himself well at Austin and followed up his impressive debut in last year's season finale with a respectable result in his second race. O'Ward started and finished eighth at Austin, bettering his career best finish by a position. O'Ward did run out of fuel on the final and lost at least two spots before he made it to the finish line. O'Ward has made eight starts at Barber in the Road to Indy. He swept the Pro Mazda races in 2016 and he swept the Indy Lights races last year. O'Ward is one of five drivers in this year's IndyCar race with an Indy Lights victory at Barber joining Zach Veach, Ed Jones, Pigot and Herta.
Ten Years at Barber
IndyCar has reached a milestone with Barber hosting its tenth IndyCar race. A few faces will attempt to continue perfect attendance in Barber races. Two of the drivers we have covered above in great detail, Power and Dixon, but there are five other drivers entering this weekend on nine Barber starts.
Ryan Hunter-Reay is the only one of the five drivers to have won at Barber and the American has two victories at the track. He won the 2013 and 2014 races and last year he finished second to Newgarden. He has only led a lap in the two Barber races he won. All four of his top ten finishes at Barber are top five finishes. He has never finished worse than 14th at the track and he has completed all 781 laps.
Marco Andretti was runner-up finisher to his teammate in 2014 and he has six top ten finishes in nine Barber starts. In the inaugural event, Andretti led 58 of 90 laps before finishing fifth due to an extra pit stop. Since the 2010 race, Andretti has only led one lap at Barber, which came in 2014. Despite Andretti's race results, he has not made it to the final round of qualifying since he started four in the inaugural race. He has completed 778 of 781 laps with all three laps missed coming in 2017 when he suffered a gearbox problem on the pace laps and started two laps down.
Graham Rahal has twice finished runner-up at Barber, in 2015 and 2016. In the 2015 race, Rahal was on a three-stop strategy and while he charged to second, Newgarden won comfortable. The following year Rahal took the lead from Pagenaud late but the two drivers had to battle through lapped traffic. Rahal clipped the back of the back marker Jack Hawksworth, damaging his front wing and allowing Pagenaud to easily retake the lead. Rahal was able to nurse the car home in second. Like Andretti, Rahal has completed 778 of 781 laps. He was a lap down in the first Barber race, where he drove for Sarah Fisher Racing, and the following year he finished two laps down. He has been on the lead lap for seven consecutive Barber races.
Tony Kanaan has five top ten finishes in nine Barber starts but he has never finished in the top five at the track. Kanaan has also never started in the top five at Barber. He has never led a lap at Barber, by far the track with the most starts where he has not led a lap. He has not led a lap in eight Road America starts and five Portland starts. A.J. Foyt Racing has only one top ten finish at Barber. It came in 2012 when Mike Conway finished seventh. Kanaan has completed 778 of 781 laps at Barber having finished a lap down in 2012 and two laps down last year after suffering an electrical issue.
Takuma Sato is the last but not the least of the drivers going for a tenth career start at Barber. Unfortunately for Sato, he does have the least number of top ten finishes of the seven drivers with two but they have both come in the last two races with finishes of ninth and eighth. Barber is the location of Sato's first time making the Fast Six in qualifying, as he started sixth in the inaugural Barber race, the third race of Sato's IndyCar career. Since that race Sato has started outside the top ten in eight consecutive Barber races and he has not made it out of the first round of qualifying in the last five Barber races. Sato has also completed the least number of laps at Barber of the seven drivers at 721 of 781 but he has finished on the lead lap in six consecutive years at the track and he retired after 52 of 90 laps in the 2012 race due to an ignition failure.
Fast Facts
This will be the sixth time IndyCar has raced on April 7th and first time since last year when Josef Newgarden won at Phoenix.
The series raced at Barber on April 7th in 2013, a race Ryan Hunter-Reay won.
An Unser won the other three races held on April 7th. Bobby Unser won at Phoenix on April 7, 1963 while Al Unser won at Texas World on this day in 1973 and Bobby Unser won at Trenton on April 7, 1974.
With Colton Herta winning at Austin it sets IndyCar up to have first-time winners in consecutive races for the first time since 2008 when Graham Rahal won at St. Petersburg and Danica Patrick won at Motegi.
James Hinchcliffe has six top ten finishes in eight Barber starts and he is coming off his best finish of third at the track. He has started in the top ten in seven of his eight starts.
Sébastien Bourdais is coming off a career best starting position of third and career best finish of fifth at Barber in last year's race.
The average number of lead lap finishes at Barber is 17.222 with a median of 17. Seven of nine Barber races have had more than 15 cars finish on the lead lap. The most lead lap finishers are 21 in 2013 and 2015. The fewest lead lap finishers is 13 in the inaugural Barber race in 2010.
Chip Ganassi Racing is one victory away from 107 victories, which would tie the team with Newman-Haas Racing for second most in IndyCar history.
The average starting position for a Barber winner is 3.444 with a median of three.
The pole-sitter has won four times at Barber and the worst starting position for a Barber winner is ninth.
The second place starter has never won at Barber. In fact, all nine Barber winners have come from odd-number starting positions.
The average number of lead changes in a Barber race is 6.111 with a median of seven.
Outside of Will Power's wire-to-wire victory in 2011, every Barber race has had at least four lead changes.
The average number of cautions in a Barber race is 2.555 with a median of two. The average number of caution laps is 9.555 with a median of nine.
There has never been a caution-free race at Barber.
Only two Barber races, 2011 and 2014, had more than two cautions.
Possible Milestones:
Graham Rahal is one top five finishes away from 50 top five finishes.
Ryan Hunter-Reay needs to lead 45 laps to reach the 1,500 laps led milestone.
Simon Pagenaud needs to lead 64 laps to reach the 1,000 laps led milestone.
Alexander Rossi needs to lead 63 laps to reach the 600 laps led milestone.
Graham Rahal needs to lead 21 laps to reach the 400 laps led milestone.
Predictions
Third times the charm and Alexander Rossi wins the Barber race. It kind of feels like you got to stick with him until he wins one. Scott Dixon qualifies ahead of Felix Rosenqvist and finishes ahead of Rosenqvist. Despite this, Rosenqvist will be the top rookie finisher. At least 17 cars finish on the lead lap. At least one driver starting outside the top fifteen makes up at least ten positions in the race. A non-Penske Chevrolet finishes in the top ten. Sleepers: James Hinchcliffe and Marcus Ericsson.
