Musings From the Weekend: Unchartered Waters

Here is a rundown of what got me thinking...

In his 110th race, Lando Norris scored his first career victory at the Miami Grand Prix after a timely safety car gave Norris a free pit stop while leading Max Verstappen, who won the sprint race. Adrian Newey will be leaving Red Bull during 2025. A minor could be receiving a waiver. NASCAR had a long enough of a rain delay to allow you to watch the entire Formula One race uninterrupted, but the Cup Series had its closest finish in series history. There was some sports car racing. The Supercross championship is formality entering the final round of the season. It looks like we can settle on 34 entries for this year's Indianapolis 500, but I think future months of Mays are on our mind. 

Unchartered Waters

The exact timeframe of IndyCar's charter program, essentially a franchise granted for each entry that participates in IndyCar to create value for the organizations that contest the full season, remains unclear. But it is coming. 

What we know so far is IndyCar is hoping to introduce a 25-charter system with a limit of three charters per team. All current entries would get a charter while Chip Ganassi Racing's additional two entries, the #4 Honda and #11 Honda, would not. Those two Ganassi cars would still be eligible to race, as while all 25 chartered cars would be locked into every race and receive additional benefits that would come along with it, two spots on each grid would be open to non-charter entries. Each grid would be capped at 27 entries. 

Of course, this pertains to every race outside the Indianapolis 500, including the locked in entries... for now.

IndyCar's unofficial official proposal is the charter teams would be guaranteed entry into every race except the Indianapolis 500. The Indianapolis 500 would remain open for everyone. Anyone could miss it, from the one-off team showing up with two full-time employees and only getting 12 laps of practice on Fast Friday to the championship leader with a dozen victories in the last 20 races. No one would be locked into IndyCar's biggest race...

For now...

Nothing has been agreed to yet. IndyCar hasn't even officially made this charter proposal public. 

At the start of this season, IndyCar said a lot of things would be decided by the Indianapolis 500. We are less than a month away from that race and almost none of them have achieved. Most we will know in the next 20 days. From the future television partner to when the hybrid system will be introduced to even the charter system, we will know, but the charter system remains the most unknown, frankly because it is all made up anyway. 

The teams are already guaranteed spots in all the races outside of the "500." The teams are already getting the $1 million Leaders Circle money. Nothing has been stated in how a "charter" will differ from what the Leader Circle already offers. There has been no stated difference in benefits, whether that be an increase in prize money, additional test days, additional tires at race weekends or discounts on Penske Truck Rentals. We have no clue what being a chartered team will mean. 

It seems the difference will be in name only. “Charter” takes over for “Leader Circle” and the hope is the new name will increase the value of a spot on the IndyCar grid.  

The bargaining chip was guaranteed spots in the Indianapolis 500. It is the only race that draws a significant audience every season. It is where the value is for the series. Without the Indianapolis 500, IndyCar is nothing. It is the only thing the teams can sell that is worth a damn. 

Whether there has been enough pushback that guaranteed spots become guaranteed spots in the Indianapolis 500 as well is something that remains to be seen, but even if this first round in the charter agreement sees no guaranteed spots for the "500," it will not go away. When it comes time for an update to the charter agreement, guaranteed spots in the Indianapolis 500 will be brought to the table, and it could be more likely they are given out next time around. 

It is difficult to say which is more accurate, "if" or "when" when it comes to guaranteed spots for the Indianapolis 500. At the start of May 2024, it feels 50/50. The one thing that the Indianapolis 500 has over every other great race in the world is any car can fail to make the race. Nobody is locked in and the bumping procedure, though different from 30 years ago, is still a highly dramatic hour that leaves you heartbroken for one team, elated for another, and looking for a pack of cigarettes to calm your nerves. 

However, teams invest millions of dollars to compete full-time in the IndyCar Series, of which, about 70% of that budget is generated thanks to what the Indianapolis 500 does for the teams. Missing the race could kill a program. It can lead to costly conversations, and it isn't easy to find $5 million laying around.

This conversation is not going away anytime soon, even when we know what the inaugural charter proposal will be from IndyCar. Our yearly May discussions will include intense discussions over guaranteed spots in the Indianapolis 500, more so than we have seen over the last 25 years. Once the 25/8 rule went away, it felt like we were in the clear, but the world has a habit of repeating itself. What was once old is new again. 

Would guaranteed spots kill the Indianapolis 500? 

Despite what some might say, it is hard to imagine a race that attracts such an ambivalent crowd to IndyCar race as a whole would all of a sudden decide to stop attending the party over something they know nothing about. About 300,000 people will fill out Indianapolis Motor Speedway in less than three weeks. How many know and care about how the cars make the race and the qualifying procedure? Plenty are there because it is the Indianapolis 500. Whether the field was set via qualifying or hot dog eating contest, they know it is the Indianapolis 500 and it is a great way to spend the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend.

There will be upset people. There will be people who vow to leave and never return. Some will stand by their word. It will hurt a little, but the race would continue onward, and with Doug Boles as track president, he would probably find a way to keep attracting people through the turnstiles. 

For the moment, things are status quo. Nobody is locked into this year's race. Josef Newgarden will have to qualify like everyone else. Graham Rahal does not get a free pass this year after missing last year. Rahal might have to relive his nightmare. Six championships are not saving Scott Dixon. Kyle Larson isn't getting a break because he is Kyle Larson. We will have one car missing the race. The goal is simple. All you must do is beat one car in qualifying. It sounds simple enough, and yet it could be the most monumental task of the year.

Winners From the Weekend

You know about Lando Norris and Max Verstappen, but did you know...

Kyle Larson won the NASCAR Cup race from Kansas by 0.001 seconds over Chris Buescher. Corey Heim won the Truck race, his second victory of the season.

The #43 Inter Europol Competition Oreca-Gibson of Tom Dillmann, Sebastián Álvarez and Valdislav Lomko won the 4 Hours of Le Castellet. The #15 RLR Sport Ligier-Nissan of Michael Jensen, Nick Adcock and Gaël Julien won in the LMP3 class. The #55 Spirit of Race Ferrari of Duncan Cameron, David Perel and Matthew Griffin won in the GT3 class.

The #3 NISMO NDDP Nissan of Mitsunori Takaboshi and Atsushi Miyake won the Super GT race from Fuji. The #88 JLOC Lamborghini of Takashi Kogure and Yuya Motojima won in GT300.

The #85 RS1 Porsche of Spencer Pumpelly and Trent Hindman swept the GT World Challenge America races from Sebring. The #28 RS1 Porsche of John Capestro-Dubets and Eric Filgueras swept the GT4 America. George Kurtz swept the GT America.

The #32 Team WRT BMW of Dries Vanthoor and Charles Weerts and the #48 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG of Maro Engel and Lucas Auer split the GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup races from Brands Hatch.

Jett Lawrence won the Supercross race from Denver, his seventh victory of the season. Jo Shimoda won the 250cc race.

Coming Up This Weekend

The 11th Grand Prix of Indianapolis.

MotoGP will be at Le Mans.

Formula E's has its most notable race, a doubleheader at Berlin Tempelhof Airport.

NASCAR races at Darlington.

The World Endurance Championship is at Spa-Francorchamps.

IMSA has three classes contesting at Laguna Seca.

The World Rally Championship ventures to Portugal. 

The Supercross season concludes in Salt Lake City.

Second Impressions: Barber 2024

1. After getting the chance to watch the IndyCar race from Barber Motorsports Park, a lot more makes sense, but even watching the broadcast, it was a tricky race to track with all the strategies that played out due to the abundance of cautions. Unlike wondering the grounds, the broadcast could at least flash the "laps since last stop" graphic off the pylon to keep you updated, but, oh boy, were there a lot of balls in the air. 

2. This race was going to be lost for Scott McLaughlin and Will Power had it not been for the Sting Ray Robb caution. That was really the difference between it being McLaughlin and Power 1-2 or Álex Palou and Felix Rosenqvist 1-2. When the Alexander Rossi caution came out, it felt like McLaughlin was done, and this was going to be a race falling into Palou's lap, the last gift the Catalan driver needs and the last thing every other driver wanted to see. However, that additional caution put serve back into McLaughlin's hands. He and Power were able to run hard and open the gap while Palou had to conserve fuel on the two-stop strategy. For a race that didn't stay green, it played out where we still got to see two-stoppers vs. three-stoppers and that doesn't happen often.

3. We are not going to cover every driver in the field nor every incident, but we are going to highlight some notable performers that were not the easy to recognize trackside. Christian Lundgaard had a better day than sixth. Lundgaard's pass on Marcus Armstrong into turn eight was breath-taking. Lundgaard was caught in traffic exiting pit lane after his first pit stop. That cost the Dane considerable time and protected McLaughlin and Power early in the race. Good day for Lundgaard.

4. The broadcast more confirmed Santino Ferrucci was as racy as he appeared. Ferrucci got the lead due to pit strategy and cautions, but he was making moves. He could go all-out in the closing laps while plenty around him were saving on the two-stop strategy. Seventh was a representative finish of his day, and now Ferrucci has two top ten finishes through three races this year. I don't think anyone would have predicted that back at the start of March. 

5. Two Andretti Global cars have finished in the top ten of all three races this year. That shouldn't be a surprise, but it is because Andretti has not been the model team for the last six or seven years in IndyCar. It has not been a consistent winner and threat. Even this is a little skewed because Kyle Kirkwood was elevated to tenth after the Penske penalties were handed out. Colton Herta is only leading the championship because Josef Newgarden and Scott McLaughlin lost all their points. It is a good start for Andretti, but it isn't a fully accurate representation. Herta deserves credit because on the road he has finished fifth, second and eighth, and that is a solid start to a season. Andretti is there but it isn't on top. 

6. I knew Jack Harvey was in the lap one accident. It wasn't until I saw it on the broadcast that I realized Harvey overcame that to finish 13th. The cautions bunched up the field and allowed Harvey on a four-stop strategy to make up ground, but considering where the race started, Harvey could have finished 19th or 20th and nobody would have thought twice about it. Harvey was ahead of cost Dixon, Josef Newgarden, Marcus Ericsson, and Tom Blomqvist, who started in the top 12. Harvey is locked in for all but the Indianapolis 500 and Toronto at the moment. If he is the consistent driver at Dale Coyne Racing, I think results will improve and we could see more from Harvey.

7. I didn't realize Rinus VeeKay caused the lap one accident and was penalized for it. I didn't realize Christian Rasmussen had a spin uin turn five not long before his spin in turn 13, and Rasmussen had about four incidents in this race. Rough day for Ed Carpenter Racing.

8. If Ed Carpenter Racing had a rough day, Arrow McLaren's race was not any easier to watch on second viewing over the broadcast. That was bad. Alexander Rossi started in a poor position and an unsecured tire  only wasted any attempt to salvage something from this weekend. Patricio O'Ward made a ton of mistakes. Théo Pourchaire gets a pass because this was race two, last week at Long Beach was his first time in the car, Barber was new to him, and he was doing ok until O'Ward clattered into him. Oh! And to add to it, within 24 hours of the race concluded, David Malukas was dismissed from the team. That is a significant amount of upheaval for less than 24 hours. 

9. Having been at the racetrack, I do not understand why any series would want less practice (*cough* NASCAR *cough*). I loved seeing the cars and snapping photographs and getting to wander around and take in the different corners and viewpoints. I wish there had been one more session. I know Friday has 75 minutes of practice, but I wish there was two one-hour sessions. Not that it would have changed much, but I wish I had a little more time, especially because there are so many viewpoints at Barber that there wasn't enough time to explore before the race. Twenty minutes of practice is a disservice to the fans. There is a right amount that is more than 20 minutes but not four hours over two days. I think at least 90 minutes or two hours of practice is a good middle ground that satisfies the spectators and makes it worth it.

10. The split practice thing where half the grid gets ten minutes and then the other half gets ten minutes was basically unnoticeable. You didn't see certain cars for ten minutes and then they were there. The track was always lively. I think through three race weekends we can say it is fine from the spectator perspective and it can continue. 

11. There was a point during Saturday practice where I had no clue who was quickest, who was having issues and I didn't care. It was nice to just watch the cars absent of the bigger picture of the race weekend. Afterward, I checked the timing sheet and caught up. Next time you go to a track, zone out the meaning of the race weekend and just watch the cars for 45 minutes or an hour or however long the session is. It was rather relaxing. 

12. With Prema Racing entering IndyCar next year, I wish Barber Motorsports Park luck on finding the room to fit another team. The paddock at Barber felt tighter than Belle Isle. I don't know where they are going to fit two more haulers. The IndyCar paddock was already split. Most of the teams was toward pit in, situated in the corner inside the final turn. Then behind the pit building was Andretti Global and Juncos Hollinger Racing and all the Indy Lights teams filled in down toward turn one. That was a drag because Andretti and JHR were separated from the rest of the grid, and it was a walk to get between the two. It would be better if they were all together. 

That will only become tougher when Prema arrives, and Davey Hamilton said on the radio broadcast of the Indy Lights race Abel Motorsports plans on being full-time in IndyCar next year, if you believe that. Other than cutting out a support series or moving the team owner's RVs, I don't know where the space would come from. 

13. In case you are wondering who was in the paddock, Sébastien Bourdais was there in a Chip Ganassi Racing shirt. Ryan Dalziel and Tristan Vautier were there with the Porsche Carrera Cup North America, but Vautier was spending a lot of time in the IndyCar area. Never say never. 

14. Plenty has been made of IndyCar's podium aesthetics this year. Barber Motorsports Park can improve there. Not so much in podium location or how it looks, but the podium had two massive speakers in front of the stage at each corner, blocking out the drivers and obstructing photographs. Put the speakers below or behind so the drivers are lost. That is a really simple thing that could be adjusted. 

15. Speaking of driver presentation, IndyCar should do some kind of driver lap pre-race. I am not saying the old, one car at a time for each driver or one car at a time for each row doing a lap after driver introductions. This is where a page could be taken from Formula One or MotoGP. Get all the drivers on one large vehicle and do a lap after the morning warm-up. If you sat along the backside of the track or in the opening corner section, you never saw a driver. The only people that saw the drivers, got to wave and interact were the ones with paddock passes. Again, really simple. Should be adjusted.

16. This went longer than I expected. We can put Barber to bed. Oh, look! It's the month of May.

Best of the Month: April 2024

It only goes quicker. April is done. A third of 2024 is behind us. No one told you when to run. You missed the starting gun. There is still more that will happen than has happened, but so much is already behind us. Some has been spectacular. Some has been forgettable. Some wish they could forget. Some wish they never will. It is at this point we acknowledge perhaps the best drive we saw all month, if not greater than the 30-day timeframe that was April 2024.

How Did Scott Dixon Win at Long Beach?

We did this last year after Dixon won at Indianapolis Motor Speedway's road course in August on a three-stop strategy from 23rd on lap seven after making his first pit stop on lap four of an 85-lap race. Some are calling what Dixon did at Long Beach less than two weeks ago greater than that.

In the same vein, we will analyze how Dixon won on the streets of Long Beach. 

For starters, Long Beach was not as great of an obstacle compared to the IMS road course race last summer. Last August, Dixon was effectively dead last and had been in an accident on lap one. You could not have asked for a more improbable strategy than the one he pulled off, stopping first on lap four and making it on only two more stops from there. 

At Long Beach, Dixon started eighth. He spent 15 of the first 16 laps in seventh. He made his first pit stop on lap 17; early, but not excessively early considering some considered lap 25 as the earliest for the pit window opening for the first stop. After Dixon stopped, he restarted 13th as most of the field did make a pit stop and the closest car that did not stop was in 11th. There was less in the way to Dixon's march to the front. 

Speaking of Dixon's march to the front, the key thing is lap times. Dixon's overall average lap time over the 85-lap race was 71.92363 seconds. How does that compare to the three drivers that finished directly behind him, all three of which ran long on the first stint to ensure a shorter final stint in the race?

Driver	Average Lap Time
Dixon	71.92363
Newgarden	71.94844
Herta	72.0055
Palou	71.85448

On average, Dixon was 0.02482 seconds faster per lap than Newgarden, and 0.08188 seconds faster per lap than Herta. Extrapolate that out over 85 laps, and Dixon was 2.1097 seconds quicker than Newgarden, and 6.9598 seconds faster than Herta. Palou was actually faster per lap than Dixon by 0.069148, a 5.87758-second advantage in the Catalan driver's favor over 85 laps. 

But that takes into consideration caution laps where everyone is running the same speed. What about green flag laps only?

Driver	Average Green Flag Lap Time
Dixon	71.46266
Newgarden	71.41014
Herta	71.47933
Palou	71.36812

Here, the advantage is again in Palou's favor and even Newgarden's. Newgarden was an average of 0.052525 seconds over those 80 laps, or 4.202 seconds faster than Dixon. Palou's advantage was 0.094544 over 80 green flag laps, or 7.56352 seconds over Dixon. Herta was the only of the three again slower this Dixon. Dixon was an average of 0.01667 seconds faster than Herta over the green flag laps. That adds up to 1.3336 seconds in Dixon favor over 80 laps.

However, the full-race distance is not where the race was won and lost, nor was it in all 80 green flag laps. It was won from lap 19 onward, the lap of the one and only restart through the checkered flag. Here is how it played out...

Driver	Average Lap Time From Lap 19 Onward
Dixon	70.13166
Newgarden	70.28707
Herta	70.3415
Palou	70.34647

This is where the margins open up. Here, Dixon is a full tenth faster than Newgarden per lap, 0.15542 seconds to be exact. Over the final 67 laps, that amounts to 10.41314 seconds for Dixon. For Herta, Dixon's average is 0.21349 seconds per lap quicker, or 14.30383 seconds over the entire green flag run. This is where it swings against Palou. Dixon averaged 0.21481 seconds per faster than his Chip Ganassi Racing teammate, or 14.39227 seconds over the final 67 laps. 

Over every lap and all 80 green flap laps, Palou was a combined 13.4411 seconds faster than Dixon, but in the final 67 laps, all run continuously under green flag conditions, Dixon was 14.39227 seconds quicker. That shakes out to 0.95117 seconds in Dixon's favor. Dixon was 1.7664 seconds ahead of Palou at the checkered flag. 

Newgarden's numbers shake out to Dixon being 8.32084 seconds ahead and Newgarden was fourth, 3.9735 seconds back. As for Herta, Dixon was a combined 22.58863 seconds quicker over those three segments of the laps, yet Herta was 0.9798 seconds behind Dixon in second at the finish.

Like the IMS road course race, Dixon did not have to make two green flag pit stops. He made one. That meant only one in-lap and one out-lap during the race. Newgarden, Herta and Palou all had to make two. A lot can be pointed to that, but Dixon still had to stretch the fuel, and he and his Ganassi crew worked the numbers to get the fastest possible strategy while stretching the final two stints over 34 laps each time. It also helped that Dixon did not have as far to go to get to first. After all, he technically never left the top half of the field over the entire race.

All the credit goes to Dixon for turning another long-shot strategy into a victory. Will Power was on the same strategy, and he finished over 15.7 seconds behind Dixon at the finish. Basically every driver who was on the same strategy as Dixon ended up finishing worse than where they were running when they made their first pit stop on lap 17. Dixon was not only the one driver who finished better, but Dixon went from seventh to first, a six-position leap. On the same strategy, Power, who had a commanding lead through the first 15 laps, went from first to fifth. 

Dixon again got the most out of the car and it ended with another stellar victory.

May Preview

This is going to get plenty of coverage, and you might already be sick of hearing about it, but Kyle Larson will be attempting the Indianapolis 500. The 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion and past winner of the Knoxville Nationals and Chili Bowl will be making his long-anticipated attempt at The Greatest Spectacle in Racing. 

This has felt inevitable for over a decade. Ever since Larson won three of the 4-Crown Nationals races in 2011, we have known he would up to great things. At that time, Bryan Clauson was on the Road to Indy and running oval races in Indy Lights through a scholarship with USAC. Clauson's respectable results led to a "500" attempt in 2012. With a pathway to the Indianapolis 500 for dirt racers, Larson was a possible future participant after many years with no representation from the dirt community. 

Of course, a talent like Larson did not remain unattached for long, and he was soon in NASCAR's development system. The money and opportunity was too great to pass up. He remained active in dirt racing, but his full-time career path was heading to NASCAR and not hoping for a one-off shake at Memorial Day weekend's most famous race. 

Despite the move to stock cars, the clamoring for Larson to run this race never went away. It only grew stronger as he became a full-time Cup driver turned Cup race winner with a 24 Hours of Daytona victory mixed in while he kept being the most sensational thing on dirt.

I know we are only seven years removed from Fernando Alonso's stunning decision to run the Indianapolis 500 over the Monaco Grand Prix, but Larson is arguably the most decorated driver to show up and attempt the Indianapolis 500 since Nigel Mansell 31 years ago. Alonso came when he was in the cellar with a woeful McLaren-Honda, and Indianapolis was a treat to pick up the Spaniard's moral, something to feed his ego. 

Larson is attempting this race while being one of the top drivers in the NASCAR Cup Series, the defending Knoxville Nationals winner, the defending Southern 500 winner and the defending Turkey Night Grand Prix winner. This is bigger than Jimmie Johnson's one attempt two years ago when Johnson dabbled in IndyCar at 46 years old and after his Cup career ended with three consecutive winless season. 

Larson enters on top of the world, already a great driver. He has nothing to prove at Indianapolis, and yet he can further elevate himself in the all-time annals of motorsports. Every driver has a shot at history when they show up to 16th & Georgetown in the month of May. Larson has a chance to place himself somewhere higher than the likes of Foyt and Andretti.

Other May events of note:

IndyCar will be doing plenty from Indianapolis Motor Speedway. 

Formula One bookends this month with Miami and Monaco with Imola squeezed in-between.

MotoGP will be in Le Mans and Barcelona. 

NASCAR has three races in the Carolinas, one of which is not for points.

Formula E has its most notable race weekend in Berlin before its first trip to Shanghai.

The sports car world is on eggshells before Le Mans, but the FIA World Endurance Championship has a round at Spa-Francorchamps and IMSA has a round at Laguna Seca this month.

Musings From the Weekend: Doing Barber a Favor

Here is a rundown of what got me thinking...

Adrian Newey could be on the move from Red Bull. Ferrari will be sporting blue. Formula One has delayed giving points out down to 12th. There were a handful of missing competitors due to injury in a variety of series. Aero blocking was the key to victory in Dover. Formula E has had seven different winners from eight races. There was some racing in Germany. I missed practically all the two-wheel action from this weekend. Romain Grosjean got yelled at for not wearing a helmet. Tristan Vautier was in the paddock. A technical infraction dominated IndyCar's week. But, this is a chance to speak about where the race was, because it does not receive enough recognition. 

Doing Barber a Favor

If you aren’t running to purchase tickets for next year’s IndyCar race at Barber Motorsports Park, you should because it is undoubtedly one of the finest motorsports venues in the United States. 

Barber had been a track I wanted to visit for well over a decade, and things aligned for this weekend to be open for a trip to Birmingham. It is a place that truly needs three days to appreciate. 

For starters, the grounds are immaculate. I have never been to Augusta National Golf Club, and I likely never will, but Barber Motorsports Park is a picturesque parcel of land that has race cars zooming over its undulating hills and allows spectators a much more relaxed dress code. 

Come for the racetrack but stay for the park feel. Bring your own chair or blanket and lounge on the hillside, absorbing some sun and having a refreshing beverage. Once you have had enough sun, there is plenty of shade in the trees on the hillside. 

Don’t worry. There are plenty of locations to view from. If you want the most, the backside of the track covers four straightaways and the action-packed turn five. If you want an amphitheater feel and see a few hair-raising moments, the turns one, two and three section is a good place. Even there you have options. Sit high to see it all or get low and watch the cars slam through turn one and brake into turn two before they fall out of sight going into turn three. Or walk around and downhill to see the cars fall through turn three and then ascend over turn four. 

There is also the turns 13, 14 and 15 section, the final set of corners, a smaller version of the opening corners but still a good view. 

You could explore on your own. Turns 11 and 12 do not have their own dedicated section but there are more trees to hung under and watch in the shade. You can even find a small patch and watch the cars go up through turn 13 before swinging through turn 14. From that location you can also see the cars brake into turn five dead ahead. 

The bridges were only accessible to museum members on race day, but they were open to everyone on Friday and Saturday. It is arguably the best place to watch, worth much more than the $22 price of a museum tickets, but let’s not tell them that. Besides seeing the cars go through turns seven and eight, you can see the cars fully go through turns one, four, five and six, but it is more than the views of the track. With the bridges comes a path along the pond with the straightaway from turn eight to nine in full view. All of this in the comfort of the shade. 

Mixed in all of this is an assortment of statues that only add to the viewing pleasure along with benches to rest your legs. 

Somehow I have gone this far without mentioning the museum, a phenomenal collection of motorcycles that span back to the end of the 19th century with a litter of Lotus race cars and special displays honoring John Surtees and Dan Gurney. The museum in its own right deserves at least two hours. My suggestion would be to arrive first thing on Friday or Saturday and stroll the five floors plus basement and time it so once you have seen it all inside, you can head out to the bridges to watch a practice. 

It really is a park. If you aren’t a motorsports fan, it is a good place to hike around. Maybe it is the statues, perhaps it is the flowers, or it could be a good chance just to sunbathe in the grass, Barber provides something few racetracks can. If Indianapolis wasn’t Indianapolis, I would say it is the best venue on the IndyCar schedule. In terms of park feel, Road America is the only one I imagine being close. A trip to Wisconsin must be in order for a comparison. Laguna Seca is gorgeous, and the weather usually complies, but the dryness takes cannot match the lush location off exit 140 near Leeds, Alabama.

Even better for IndyCar, the race attracts spectators. Reports are 86,000 attendees showed up over the three days. You may note that is over 100,000 fewer than Long Beach got over the weekend prior, but Barber was full. I don’t know the exact breakdown, but let’s say 50,000 showed up on race day, that is more than most Major League Baseball games this past weekend. Unless it is Seattle or Atlanta, no Major League Soccer game would be drawing that. As much as we want mammoth crowds for IndyCar, we must acknowledge what is realistic, what is a good showing and if Barber Motorsports Park can make a weekend with at least 80,000 spectators into a financial success that has kept IndyCar there for 14 years with no signs of the series leaving, we should be happy.

Walking the grounds on Saturday during practice, I thought this should be the venue for the finale. It has a great crowd, great atmosphere, people are happy to be there, and the place is stunning. It is worthy of a finale and would provide IndyCar with the finale it has not had in a long time. Of course, I don’t want Barber to move from April. Move this race to football season in September and you kill it. But it goes to show IndyCar has big events. 

Through three races, you cannot knock any of St. Petersburg, Long Beach or Barber for not drawing people. They all have, and the timing goes with it. These races are in their sweet spots and are allowed to flourish. There will be more races with great crowds to come, Road America, Iowa, Mid-Ohio will be highlights of the summer. The events are there for IndyCar. It is now a matter of building one at the end of the year that matches the strong ones in the opening half of the season and take root as the championship-deciding location. 

I don’t know if I will ever making it back to Barber. I hope I will, but you should go, and don’t wait. It doesn’t have to be IndyCar. MotoAmerica races there in three weeks. GT World Challenge America is there September 6-8. If you want to see IndyCar, go in 2025. You will fall in love and think you have found your yearly spring getaway. 

Winners From the Weekend

You know about Scott McLaughlin, but did you know...

Jacob Abel won the Indy Lights race from Barber. 

Francesco Bagnaia won MotoGP's Spanish Grand Prix. Jorge Martìn won the sprint race. Fermín Aldeguer won the Moto2 race. Off the back of three consecutive runner-up finishes, American Joe Roberts leads the Moto2 championship. Collin Veijer won the Moto3 race.

Mitch Evans won the Monaco ePrix.

Denny Hamlin won the NASCAR Cup race from Dover, his third victory of the season. Ryan Truex won the Grand National Series race.

Jack Aitken and Luca Engstler split the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters races from Oschersleben. 

Jett Lawrence won the Supercross race from Philadelphia, his sixth victory of the season. Max Antsie won the 250cc race.

Coming Up This Weekend

Another Miami Formula One race.

NASCAR will be in Kansas.

Super GT has its Golden Week race on Friday from Fuji. 

European Le Mans Series holds its second round of the season at Circuit Paul Ricard.

GT World Challenge America is at Sebring.

GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup is at Brands Hatch.

It is Supercross' penultimate weekend from Denver.

First Impressions: Barber 2024

1. This will be a quick first impressions because I was at the race today and it was a long one. With that said… 

In a week where Team Penske dominated the headlines for all the wrong reasons, Scott McLaughlin closed the weekend with Penske on top in what was a clinical performance that overcame at least one untimely caution that could have derailed his race. McLaughlin had enough cautions fall that they effectively put him back in front when at first there was a worrisome moment.

McLaughlin was the best driver today. Every time he was out front, no one was close to him. The last caution with under five laps remaining made it closer than it ever was, but all McLaughlin had to do was hit his marks to clinch the victory,

2. Will Power made it a Penske 1-2 after he and McLaughlin swept the front row. Team Penske doesn’t have to cheat to win races. It never has. Whether you believe Team Penske deliberately left the software code for push-to-pass to be enable on the start and restarts at St. Petersburg and everyone knew they were breaking the rules or it was genuinely a mistake, Team Penske is still one of the top teams in IndyCar. Half the time, it will produce at least one car capable of winning at each race, if not two or all three. 

Penske received its penalty. Now, it is already out of the hole. Power is second in the championship, one point out of the championship lead. McLaughlin went from 29th to ninth. Josef Newgarden’s rough day sees him straggling in 15th, but this was a mere setback. Penske is going to be fine.

3. It took six career starts for Linus Lundqvist to get his first career podium finish. This one did not come easy as Lundqvist stretched his fuel 34 laps in the final stint. A year ago, nobody in IndyCar wanted Lundqvist. It took only three races as a substitute for Simon Pagenaud for Chip Ganassi Racing to sign him. How many other drivers just need that chance? It is still early, but Lundqvist keeps tracking upward.

4. Felix Rosenqvist and Álex Palou each stuck to the two-stop strategy and it netted them fourth and fifth respectively. Rosenqvist took fourth late from Palou. Three races, four events total, and Rosenqvist keeps being the most impressive driver of the season. He and Meyer Shank Racing have made great strides.

5. Palou’s top ten finish streak is now up to 21 races. Everyone is in trouble. Palou does not have many bad days. This could have been the day where choosing the wrong strategy could have shuffled him out of the top ten. Nope. There he is again, and in the top five at that. Palou is three points out the championship lead. Don’t be surprised if he is in first again shortly.

6. Christian Lundgaard looked to have the pace to hang with the Penske cars early. Lundgaard got stuck in traffic exiting pit lane after his first stop. That cost him time. He still pulled out a sixth-place finish but he probably wishes he did a little better. 

7. Committing to the three-stop strategy under the first caution elevated Santino Ferrucci into the top ten and it allowed him to lead 14 laps. Strategy aside, Ferrucci was running with the other cars in the top ten. He was 11th on the road at St. Petersburg, but the Penske penalties moved him up to ninth. This result makes it two top ten finishes for Ferrucci through three races, a start he and A.J. Foyt Racing would happily have taken if offered on day one of the season. 

8.  Who is the championship leader after three races? It is Colton Herta! On a day that salvaged a difficult weekend, eighth place has Herta leading the championship by a point over Will Power. This was Andretti Global’s worst weekend by far, but it says a lot that Herta got up to eighth when it appeared he wouldn’t be close to the top ten. He is also leading the championship because two Penske drivers had their points stripped. The team can be pleased of where they are at, but they know they have some work to do. 

9. Marcus Armstrong got bounced down the order throughout the race on the two-stop strategy, but he still finished ninth. If there is anything to hang his head over, Armstrong was the lone Ganassi car in the Fast Six, but he wound up the third best finisher in ninth. It isn’t the end of the world, but this could have been Armstrong’s day to set the tone for a top team. It didn’t work out that way, but the New Zealander is putting himself in the right positions. His day will come.

10. Kyle Kirkwood rounded out the top ten. After qualifying, it didn’t look like Andretti would get a car in the top ten let alone two. I think it is the bare minimum they could ask for and this day could have been much worse. Work to do but nothing to be ashamed over.

11. We are going to breeze through some guys…

Graham Rahal had a good day and could have been in the top ten if a few things went different. 

The same could be said of Romain Grosjean. 

Jack Harvey snuck up to 13th. I know it isn’t spectacular, but Harvey had barely any off-season testing. Dale Coyne Racing operates on a shoestring budget. Harvey has had three different teammates, all making their IndyCar debuts with limited to no testing beforehand. This is not the best scenario for him, but he is making the most of it.

Kyffin Simpson drove smart and finished 14th. That’s a good way to keep a ride,

15. Scott Dixon’s top ten finish streak is over at Barber. In his 14th start, Dixon was 14th. His race was never the same after he was pinched off the road when racing Graham Rahal. I thought Dixon was going for a space that didn’t exist. 

16. This is where I must watch the race back, and we might get a second impressions once the picture is clear, I do not know how Josef Newgarden’s day went. I see he finished 16th and I am pretty sure I heard he didn’t take tires at one point. There is more I need to know. 

17. Let’s crash through the rest of the grid. 

Neither Ed Carpenter Racing car had a good day. Christian Rasmussen’s spin was a disappointing end to his day. 

As good as Rosenqvist has been, Tom Blomqvist still looks like a driver readjusting to an open-wheel car after a decade out of them and spending most of that time in sports cars. That was expected, but boy could Meyer Shank Racing be sitting prettier with a more seasoned driver. 

Agustín Canapino was 20th. Sure. If you say so.

18. Luca Ghiotto was still going over how to start the car with a Honda technician on the grid. Ghiotto was tossed into the deep end. I have so many questions on how he got put in this car. Who called whom? Where did the money come from? Who else is Dale Coyne going to fly over in less than 48 hours notice ahead of practice. Ghiotto did admirable considering the circumstances. 

19. Sting Ray Robb explored a portion of the turn one tire barrier few have ever visited in the 21-year history of Barber Motorsports Park. In 21 starts, Robb has finished outside the top twenty in 14 races. I think we know who he is. 

20. Prior to this weekend, I wrote about how Arrow McLaren wasn’t really trending in the right direction even after Patricio O’Ward was awarded the St. Petersburg victory. Long Beach was not great. Barber was significantly worse. O’Ward lost the car after clipping the curb entering turn five. Then O’Ward clattered Pietro Fittipaldi off course. Definite penalty. Alexander Rossi had a loose tire after a pit stop end his race as he was on an alternate strategy. Théo Pourchaire had an incident on the final lap. These cars ended up 22nd, 23rd and 25th. Oof! McLaren might have received the worst thing in the St. Petersburg victory, because this team is still in the same rut it was prior to IndyCar finding Penske circumvented the rules. 

21. What a weekend from hell for Pietro Fittipaldi. Steering wrack failure in practice. O’Ward drilled him off course. This has not been a kind first three races at Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing for Fittipaldi. 

22. This ended up being longer than I expected. However, I will watch over the race and pick out anything I saw. Great day at the track. Barber Motorsports Park is more brilliant in person than the television shows, and it is stunning on TV. We will talk more about that as well. 

23. After two consecutive weekends with races, we get a breather before the Grand Prix of Indianapolis. 

Morning Warm-Up: Barber 2024

Scott McLaughlin won pole position for the Grand Prix of Alabama with a lap of 65.9490 seconds in the final round of qualifying. It is the sixth pole position of McLaughlin’s career. After his disqualification from St. Petersburg, McLaughlin has been classified outside the top twenty in two consecutive races. It is the second time in his career he has been outside the top twenty in consecutive races. He was 22nd and 23rd between Nashville and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course race held in August 2021. The New Zealander looks to join Will Power, Ryan Hunter-Reay and Josef Newgarden as winner of consecutive races at Barber.

Will Power makes it a Penske sweep of the front row. Power was 0.097 seconds slower than McLaughlin. This is the ninth time in 14 Barber appearances Power has started on the front row. Power has ten top five finishes at Barber Motorsports Park, including three consecutive. Prior to this three-race stretch, Power had failed to finish in the top ten in the prior three Barber races. 

Christian Lundgaard was 0.1328 off pole position and Lundgaard will occupy third on the grid. The Dane was 23rd last week at Long Beach, his worst finish on a road/street course in IndyCar competition. Lundgaard has not finished in the top ten in the first two races. The only time he has gone at least three consecutive starts without a top ten result are the first five races of his career. 

Patricio O'Ward makes his 75th career start this weekend, and O’Ward will do it from fourth. O’Ward started fifth in debut at Sonoma in 2018. He has finished in the podium every time he has started fourth in his career, including his first career victory at Texas in 2021. O'Ward has finished fourth, first and fourth in the last three Barber races.

Felix Rosenqivst starts fifth, and it is Rosneqvist’s third consecutive top five start this season, and his fourth consecutive top five start going back to las season. Prior to this run, his longest top five starting streak was two races. The Swede enters this race ranked sixth in the championship. This is the highest Rosenqvist has been ranked since he was sixth at the conclusion of the 2019 season finale at Laguna Seca. 

Marcus Armstrong takes sixth on the grid. This will be Armstrong’s 15th career start. The most recent driver to have a first career victory come in an 15th career start was Álex Palou at Barber in 2021. Armstrong has finished outside the top ten in his last two starts. The only time he has gone three consecutive races without a top ten result was at Nashville, the August Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course race and Portland last year. 

Graham Rahal missed out on the Fast Six by 0.0524 seconds, but this is Rahal’s best starting position of the season. It is the seventh time in 14 Barber appearances he has qualified in the top ten. Rahal has not had a top ten finish in his last five starts. This is Rahal's longest top ten drought since 2014. He has six top ten finishes in his career at Barber.

Josef Newgarden looks for his 30th career victory from eighth on the grid. Newgarden is back down to 29 career victories after his disqualification from St. Petersburg. The only time he has won from eighth starting position was the 2020 St. Petersburg season finale. Newgarden has also now gone seven races without a podium finishes, his longest stretch without a podium since the final seven races of the 2018 season. 

Kyle Kirkwood qualified ninth, his second consecutive top ten start. Kirkwood had started outside the top ten in five consecutive races prior to this two-week run. The American is credited with top ten finishes in the first two races this season. Kirkwood has never had three consecutive top ten finishes in his IndyCar career.

Álex Palou has car #10 starting in position #10. This is the fourth time Palou has started tenth in his career, all four have come in car #10, and Palou has two top five finishes in the previous three occasions. The Catalan has four consecutive top fives finishes. Last year, Palou had nine consecutive top five finishes from Texas through Toronto. 

Romain Grosjean starts 11th. Grosjean's 57 laps led in last year's Barber race are tied for the third most by a driver that did not win the race. Will Power led 60 laps in 2017 but a late pit stop for a tire puncture knocked Power back to 14th. Marco Andretti led 58 laps in the inaugural Barber race in 2010 only to finish fifth. In 2022, Rinus VeeKay led 57 laps but finished third.

Tom Blomqvist advanced to the second round of qualifying for the first time in his IndyCar career, and Blomqvist will start 12th. This was the first time Meyer Shank Racing has had both cars make the second round of qualifying since the 2022 season finale at Laguna Seca. The team hasn’t had a double top ten finish day since Mid-Ohio 2022, 27 races ago. 

Scott Dixon will look for consecutive victories from 13th starting position after he fell 0.1075 seconds off transferring from group one. This matches Dixon’s worst start at Barber. He went from 13th to fifth in 2022. Dixon's average starting position over his last five victories is 12.8, and his victory from eighth last week at Long Beach is the only of those five races where he started in the top ten. 

Christian Rasmussen fell 0.0284 seconds shy of advancing to the second round of qualifying for the first time in his career. This will be Rasmussen’s best start in IndyCar after he started 21st in the first two races of the season. The Dane won at Barber Motorsports Park last year in Indy Lights. The only driver to win in IndyCar and Indy Lights at Barber is Patricio O'Ward. 

Colton Herta takes 15th on the grid, his worst start position ever at Barber. Herta enters this race with consecutive podium finishes for the first time since he won the final two races of the 2021 season at Laguna Seca and Long Beach. Herta is trying for three consecutive podium finishes for the first time in his IndyCar career. 

Alexander Rossi will start 16th, snapping a streak of five consecutive top ten starts at Barber. This is the fourth consecutive race Rossi has started outside the top ten. He has finished in the top ten in the previous three races. Only twice in Rossi's career has he opened a season with three consecutive top ten finishes. He did it in 2018 and he had four consecutive top ten finishes to start the 2019 season. 

Santino Ferrucci’s average starting position at Barber entering this race was 17.5, and Ferrucci will improve that slightly with a 17th place qualifying effort. After the Team Penske penalties were issued for the infractions at St. Petersburg, Ferrucci was elevated to ninth in the season opener. This is his first top ten result since he was third in last year's Indianapolis 500. It is his first top ten in a road or street course race since he was ninth at Mid-Ohio in 2021. 

For the fourth time in five Barber appearances, Marcus Ericsson starts outside the top ten, and he will be 18th at the green flag today. Ericsson's fifth place finish at Long Beach was his first top five finish on a road/street course since he was third at Long Beach last year. One twice has Ericsson had consecutive top five finishes in his career. He was second and first at Mid-Ohio and Nashville in 2021, and he was fourth and first between the Grand Prix of Indianapolis and the Indianapolis 500 in 2022. 

Linus Lundqvist makes it two consecutive Swedes on the grid in 19th. Lundqvist won on his Indy Lights debut at Barber Motorsports Park in 2021 and he also won here in 2022. Lundqvist is one of three drivers with multiple Barber victories in Indy Lights. Spencer Pigot and Patricio O'Ward are the others. Lundqvist is the only driver to win in multiple years in Indy Lights at Barber.

Agustín Canapino rounds out the top twenty. Canapino has opened the season with consecutive top twenty finishes, and he has three consecutive top twenty finishes dating back to last season. The Argentine driver had a pair of 12th place finishes to open the 2023 season. He was 26th at Barber last yea, which remains tied for his worst finish in IndyCar.

Luca Ghiotto makes his IndyCar debut in the #51 Honda for Dale Coyne Racing in 21st starting position. Ghiotto won seven races over his GP2/Formula Two career. He was also second to Esteban Ocon in the 2015 GP3 Series championship. Ghiotto becomes the first Italian to enter an IndyCar race since Luca Filippi raced for Dale Coyne Racing at Toronto in 2016. Ghiotto is the third debutant driver for Coyne in three rounds. 

Jack Harvey sweeps row 11 for Dale Coyne Racing. In the first two races of the season, Dale Coyne Racing did not have a car start better than 23rd, and a DCR driver had started last in each of the first two races. Harvey has gone 18 starts without a top ten finish. His best finish at barber was 11th in 2021. 

Kyffin Simpson takes 23rd on the grid. Simpson will be credited with fastest lap for the St. Petersburg race after the Team Penske penalties. Simpson becomes the seventh driver since 1993 to be credited with fastest lap on debut joining Nigel Mansell, Buzz Calkins, Greg Moore, Sébastien Bourdais, Hideki Mutoh and Linus Lundqvist.

Théo Pourchaire will make his second IndyCar start from 24th on the grid, two positions worse than last week. At Long Beach, Pourchaire made up the most positions from the start of the race, going from 22nd to 11th. Last year, Marcus Armstrong made up the most positions at Barber as Armstrong went from 26th to 11th. 

For the 20th consecutive race, Sting Ray Robb is starting outside the top twenty, as Robb wound up 25th in qualifying for the Grand Prix of Alabama. Robb retired from last year's Barber race with a mechanical issue after completing 36 laps. He has three lead lap finishes in his IndyCar career. 

Pietro Fittipaldi lost his fastest two laps in qualifying and the Brazilian will start 26th. Fittipaldi also had an accident in the Saturday morning practice after a steering rack failure. This is the second time he has started 26th this season. This is the fourth time in 12 starts Fittipaldi has started outside the top twenty. 

Rinus VeeKay had an engine issue prevent him from posting a respectable lap in qualifying, and VeeKay will start 27th due to that issue. The Dutchman was fastest in the Saturday morning practice session before this issue emerged. VeeKay has never finished in the top ten in the third race of the season. His best result was 13th in 2020 at Road America and in 2022 at Long Beach.

NBC's coverage of the Children's of Alabama Indy Grand Prix begins at 1:00 p.m. ET with green flag scheduled for 1:40 p.m. ET. The race is scheduled for 90 laps.

Track Walk: Barber 2024

The third round of the 2024 NTT IndyCar Series will be at Barber Motorsports Park for the 14th edition of the Grand Prix of Alabama. After 42 days between championship races, IndyCar will have five races over 43 days from Long Beach through Detroit, and there will be seven races over 64 days between Long Beach and IndyCar's second trip to California, Laguna Seca in June. Last year's Barber race was the fastest in the event's history. Scott McLaughlin won with an average speed of 115.019 mph. The previous record was the year prior when Patricio O'Ward won with an average speed of 114.304 mph.

Coverage

Time: Coverage begins at 1:00 p.m. ET on Sunday April 28 with green flag scheduled for 1:40 p.m. ET.
Channel: NBC
Announcers: Leigh Diffey, Townsend Bell and James Hinchcliffe will be in the booth. Marty Snider, Kevin Lee and Dillon Welch will work pit lane.

IndyCar Weekend Schedule

Friday:

First Practice: 3:40 p.m. ET (75 minutes)

Saturday:

Second Practice: 12:15 p.m. ET (60 minutes)
Qualifying: 3:00 p.m. ET 
Sunday:
Warm-up: 10:15 a.m. ET (30 minutes)
Race: 1:40 p.m. ET (90 laps)

* - All sessions will be available live on Peacock

Penske Penalized, Stripped of St. Petersburg Victory

On Wednesday morning, IndyCar announced Team Penske had been penalized for push-to-pass manipulation at the St. Petersburg weekend. It was found all three Penske cars had illegal availability to push-to-pass at the start and on restarts at St. Petersburg, a direct violation of the IndyCar rulebook, which states push-to-pass would not be available during such times of the race. Josef Newgarden and Scott McLaughlin had used the push-to-pass system when neither driver was supposed to. Though Will Power had push-to-pass illegally available to him, Power did not use it at an improper time. 

IndyCar disqualified Newgarden and McLaughlin from the St. Petersburg race, stripping each driver of their respective first and third place finishes and all their points earned during the race. Newgarden does keep the point he earned for pole position that weekend. Patricio O'Ward inherited the St. Petersburg victory after the penalty to Newgarden. Power moves up from fourth to second, but Power had a ten-point penalty applied due to the push-to-pass system being illegally enabled though Power did not use it. 

All three Team Penske entries have been fined $25,000 and all prize money from St. Petersburg has been forfeited.  

With the forfeited victory, Josef Newgarden returns to 29 career victories, tied for 13th all-time with Rick Mears. O'Ward has five career victories, and his winless steak ended at 22 races. 

After the points penalties, Scott Dixon is the new championship leader on 79 points. Colton Herta moves up to second in the championship, two points behind Dixon, and Herta will be credited with two podium finishes this season, as he moves up to third in the St. Petersburg results. Álex Palou is now third in the championship, 12 points behind Dixon, and Palou moves up to fourth in the St. Petersburg results. 

O'Ward jumps to fourth in the championship on 64 points while Power settles into fifth on 59 points after his two-position promotion combined with the ten-point penalty. Felix Rosenqvist now has credit for fifth at St. Petersburg and he has 54 points, six points clear of Alexander Rossi and seven points ahead of Kyle Kirkwood. Rinus VeeKay and Marcus Ericsson round out the top ten on 40 points and 37 points respectively.

Newgarden drops from the championship lead on 87 points to 11th on 34 points, two points clear of Romain Grosjean and three points ahead of Santino Ferrucci. McLaughlin plummets down to 29th, dead last in the championship, on five points. The New Zealander had been tenth in the championship on 40 points prior to the penalty. 

Where Does This Leave McLaren

With one midweek decision, Arrow McLaren goes from entering Barber Motorsports Park having not won in the last 24 races to having only one race between now and its most recent victory. This decision still does not remove the fact that none of the Arrow McLaren drivers have led a lap this season, and the team has led only 50 combined laps in the last 12 races. McLaren led 203 combined laps over the first seven races of the 2023 season.

The penalty does not change that in the two years since O'Ward won the Grand Prix of Alabama after leap-frogging ahead of Rinus VeeKay through pit strategy, the team's only victories are the second race of the 2022 Iowa doubleheader when O'Ward won after Newgarden suffered a right rear suspension failure while leading as the race entered its closing stage, and last month's St. Petersburg race after Newgarden was disqualified. 

The revised St. Petersburg results may give McLaren a victory, but it does not cover up an inglorious weekend at Long Beach. None of the team's three entries made it out of the first round of qualifying. O'Ward hasn't started on a pole position since Mid-Ohio in 2022. Rossi has qualified in the top five only three times in 19 races with the team. O'Ward drove into the back of Rossi in the opening stint, puncturing Rossi's left rear tire and drawing O'Ward a penalty. For a moment, Rossi and O'Ward were running 26th and 27th. 

There was a slight recovery though. The timing of the Christian Rasmussen caution allowed Rossi to get on a favorable strategy and not attempt to run 33-35 laps on his final stint. With this, Rossi pulled out a top ten finish. Théo Pourchaire made up 11 spots after starting 22nd to finish 11th on debut. Even O'Ward got up to 16th after his penalty, but this result ended a streak of 11 consecutive top ten finishes for the Mexican driver. One top ten finisher isn't what McLaren is looking for, and it is a team that has been a funk even if the results say otherwise. 

Any McLaren success has likely come from O'Ward. Since joining the team in 2020, O'Ward accounts for 21 of McLaren's 26 podium finishes, including all five of the team's victories after Team Penske's penalty for St. Petersburg. The last time an Arrow McLaren driver who wasn't named Patricio O'Ward has led the most laps in a race was Robert Wickens in the 2018 St. Petersburg season opener when the team was still Schmidt Peterson Motorsports. 

If there are any reasons for optimism, it is O'Ward is now ranked fourth in the championship and Rossi is seventh through two races. Pourchaire will be back for his second race with the team in the #6 Chevrolet, and the Frenchman was the best finishing rookie last week at Long Beach despite having no test days prior to the weekend. Also, O'Ward has finished in the top five in three consecutive Barber races, and McLaren put all three cars in the top ten here last year.

Is This Dixon's Year?

After a stunning victory in Long Beach, new championship leader Scott Dixon heads to one of his best tracks, and yet probably the track that haunts him the most. 

With an average finish of 3.7692, Barber Motorsports Park ranks as Dixon's fourth best track with a minimum of three starts. It is the second best average finish among drivers with at least three starts here. However, Dixon has yet to win at Barber. 

In 13 starts, he has 13 top ten finishes. He has stood on the podium nine times, including six runner-up finishes. The only other track where Dixon has at least five runner-up finishes is Chicagoland. The only tracks where he has made more starts without a victory are St. Petersburg (20) and Iowa (19). Dixon has won at every other circuit where he has made at least ten starts, and Milwaukee is the only of that group where he has only won once. 

In 12 Barber races, he has made it to the final round of qualifying. Coincidentally, like a victory, a pole position has eluded Dixon at Barber as well. Pole positions have been eluding Dixon everywhere but Indianapolis lately. His most recent pole position on a road course was at Watkins Glen in 2016. 

Dixon hasn't started on the front row in 17 consecutive races and he has never started on a front row at Barber either. He hasn't started on the front row for a road/street course since Toronto 2022. His qualifying form has been spotty lately. In five of his last seven starts, Dixon has started outside the top ten, and he has only one top five start in that stretch. Yet, he has won four times, stood on the podium five times and finished no worse than ninth. 

Six times has Dixon entered Barber coming off a result outside the top ten. This will only be the second time he enters Barber fresh off a victory. The other time was after his first Long Beach victory in 2015. He ended up finishing third at Barber that year. But this is more than just one victory. Dixon has won four of the last six races. The only other time he has had four victories in a six-race stretch was in 2007 when he won three consecutive races between Watkins Glen, Nashville and Mid-Ohio and then won at Sonoma three races later. The only time Dixon has won multiple times in the first three races of the season was in 2020 when he won three consecutive races to open the season. 

Dixon also carries a top ten finish streak of 16 races into Alabama. This matches the longest top ten streak of his career. He went 16 consecutive from Kansas 2009 through the 2010 São Paulo season opener. 

Dixon already has the record for most different circuits with a victory. Laguna Seca became his 27th different track conquered last September. Barber would only extend that streak. The next closest driver is Will Power with 22 circuits. No other driver has won races at 15 different tracks. 

The Other Tortured Souls

Scott Dixon gets the attention for being the eternal bridesmaid of Barber Motorsports Park, but he isn't the only one who has been trying for years to win at this track and has left the Yellowhammer State empty-handed each time. 

Along with Dixon and two-time Barber winner Will Power, Graham Rahal has started all 13 Barber races. However, Rahal is 0-for-13. This place hasn't been as kind to Rahal as the other two, but he has had his moments. Rahal was runner-up in consecutive years in 2015 and 2016. In the latter year, Rahal was in a tight battle with Simon Pagenaud before suffering front wing damage in the closing laps while battling Pagenaud for the lead. The Ohioan limped home to second. However, he has not finished in the top five here since that 2016 race. Only once has he made it to the final round of qualifying. That was in 2019 when he and Takuma Sato swept the front row for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. Sato won the race from pole position. Rahal retired due to an electrical issue. 

Alexander Rossi has been in just over half the Barber races. Never professed as one of Rossi's favorite tracks, his results are more pleasing than for most. He has five top ten finishes in seven appearances. This includes a streak of four consecutive races. He has started in the top ten in five consecutive Barber races. However, his best finish is only fifth, and that was in 2017 and 2019. Rossi has only led three laps out of 622 circuits around the 2.38-mile course. 

It has been a decade since Andretti Global has won at Barber Motorsports Park. Both Colton Herta and Marcus Ericsson have made four starts here. Herta has one top ten finish and an average finish of 17.5. Twice has Herta retired from this race. He has never led a lap and he has never started better than ninth. Ericsson has three top ten finishes at this place, but the Swede has never finished better than seventh, and he has only one top ten start. Andretti Global has only five top five finishes over the eight Barber races since it won in 2014 with Ryan Hunter-Reay.

The only other drivers entered this weekend with no victories and at least four Barber starts are Jack Harvey and Felix Rosenqvist. Harvey has never finished in the top ten in this race. He has never started in the top ten either. Last year, Harvey started and finished 24th. Rosenqvist has seen mixed results. He was tenth in 2019 and ninth last year, but he retired due to an accident in 2021, and he wasted a sixth place starting position with a 16th place finish in 2022.

If there is any hope for these drivers it is Barber is going through a spell of new winners. There have been five different winners in the last five Barber races. In the first eight Barber races, there were only five different winners. Prior to this streak, there had never been more than three consecutive different winners here.

Palou's Place to Pounce

The bad news for everyone is if they think Scott Dixon is great at Barber Motorsports Park, his Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Álex Palou is better. 

In three starts, Palou has finished first, second and fifth. His average finish of 2.667 is the best at Barber Motorsports Park among drivers with at least three starts. The Catalan driver has started third, third and second. His average starting position of 2.667 is the best among drivers with at least three Barber starts. 

Palou led 56 laps in the 2021 race. His 60 laps led ranks Palou seventh all-time at the track. Everyone ahead of him has made at least ten Barber starts. He has led more laps at this track than Dixon and Rahal, two of the three drivers to have started every Barber race, and he has led more laps than Sébastien Bourdais, James Hinchcliffe and Tony Kanaan combined, three drivers that all started the Grand Prix of Alabama ten times. 

Considering Palou has 20 consecutive top ten finishes, this is not the place the competition was hoping to see if they were looking for Palou to cool off, especially when they will likely need Palou to come back down to Earth to have a shot at the championship. Palou received an extra bit of help after the Penske penalties lifted him to a fourth place classification at St. Petersburg. He went from sixth to third at Long Beach. If you are wondering if Palou can go from third to first at Barber, well that is what he did when he won in 2021. 

It is more than top ten finishes though. During this stretch, Palou has six victories, 12 podium finishes and 16 top five finishes. He has not gone more than two consecutive races without a top five result since a four-race stretch in 2022 that covered Toronto, the Iowa doubleheader and the summer Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course race. He has led laps in 12 of his last 20 starts, and Palou has led ten laps or more in ten of those races. 

He isn't leading the championship but 12 points is nothing after only two races with 15 remaining in the 2024 calendar. The competition does pose a threat to keep Palou down. Besides Dixon's track record, championship leader Josef Newgarden has the most Barber victories with three, but Newgarden is on a bit of a Barber slump. The American has finished 14th or worse in the last three Barber races after having five consecutive top five finishes and seven consecutive top ten finishes prior to this dip.

Over the last three Barber races, Palou has scored 124 points, the most during that span, while Newgarden has scored 40 points, 15th most, and fewer than Christian Lundgaard, who has only raced in two of those three races. 

Sixteen drivers competed in all three Barber races from 2021 to 2023. Only Jack Harvey (37 points) and Conor Daly (30 points) scored fewer points than Newgarden and started all three races. The only other drivers to have scored at least 100 points during this period are Patricio O'Ward (117 points) and Will Power (109 points).

Indy Lights

After 49 days off, Indy Lights returns to competition for its second round of the 2024 season. 

Over a month and a half ago, Nolan Siegel won the St. Petersburg race, leading all 45 laps from pole position. One week after making his IndyCar debut in Long Beach, Siegel looks to extend his Indy Lights championship lead. He was second last year at Barber. 

Fourteen points off Siegel is Jacob Abel, who now has five podium finishes in his Indy Lights career but that first career victory remains missing from Abel's résumé. Louis Foster opened the 2024 season with a third place finish, and Foster looks to continue the good start. Last year, Foster was 14th in the opening two races of the season, one of which was at Barber.

Michael d'Orlando opened the season with a fourth place finish while Reece Gold rounded out the top five and took fastest lap in the process at St. Petersburg. Jonathan Browne was a mover at St. Petersburg, going from 11th to sixth. Caio Collet took home seventh while Myles Rowe slipped down to eighth. 

Salvador de Alba and Christian Bogle rounded out the top ten. 

A few drivers are hoping to bounce back after rough season openers. Josh Pierson suffered a setback after avoidable contact with Jamie Chadwick earned him a penalty. Pierson ended up 13th while Chadwick's team fixed the car, but she was 24 laps down in 20th. Chadwick's Andretti Global teammate Bryce Aron had contact that dropped him to a 19th place finish as well. 

Siegel and Gold each have won at Barber in USF Pro 2000 Championship competition in 2022. Rowe and Yuven Sundaramoorthy each won at Barber in U.S. F2000. Rowe won the first race in 2022 while Sundaramoorthy won the first race in 2021. In four U.S. F2000 starts at Barber, d'Orlando has two podium finishes and a finish of fifth. 

Besides Siegel, the next best returning driver from last year's Barber race is James Roe, Jr., who finished fifth. The only top ten finisher from last year's race back for 2024 is Bogle, who was seventh. 

The Indy Lights race will take place at 11:15 a.m. ET on Sunday April 28, and the race is scheduled for 35 laps.

Fast Facts

This will be only the third IndyCar race to take place on April 28. The first was on April 28, 1996 when Michael Andretti won at Nazareth. The second was on April 28, 2001 when Greg Ray won at Atlanta. 

Only three times has the Barber race winner gone on to win the championship that season (Simon Pagenaud 2016, Josef Newgarden 2017, Álex Palou 2021). 

Chevrolet has won eight of 11 Barber races since returning to IndyCar in 2012.

The average starting position for a Barber winner is 3.1538 with a median of third.

The worst starting position for a Barber winner is ninth (Will Power 2012).

After having the first 12 Barber races won from an odd-numbered starting position, the last two Barber races have been won from an even-numbered starting position.

The pole-sitter has won five of 13 Barber races.

The average starting position of the last eight IndyCar races, acknowledging O'Ward won from third at St. Petersburg, is 9.125 with a median of eighth. 

Only two of the last eight races have been won from a top five starting position. 

Ten of the first 11 races of the 2023 season were won from a top five starting position.

Despite the average starting position of the last eight winners, the driver that has led the most laps has won five of the last eight races. 

The average number of lead changes in a Barber race is 6.769 with a median of seven. 

Nine of 12 Barber races have had six lead changes or more. 

Eight of 13 Barber winners have led at least half the laps in the race. 

The average number of cautions in a Barber race is 2.153 with a median of two. The average number of caution laps is 8.23 with a median of seven. 

There has never been a caution-free Barber race, but 11 of 13 races have had two cautions or fewer. The 2016 race had only one caution for one lap when the initial start was waved off.

The most cautions in a Barber race was six in 2011, which was also the only Barber race not to feature a lead change.

Predictions

Scott Dixon takes the Barber victory ahead of an angry Josef Newgarden while Álex Palou gets another podium finish. One of those drivers will not make the final round of qualifying. At least one Penske car will retire and it will draw an onslaught of "karma" messages on social media. Patricio O'Ward's top five streak at Barber ends. Théo Pourchaire will again be the top finishing rookie. Kyle Kirkwood will get his first top five finish that isn't a victory. Marcus Armstrong will make up fewer than 15 spots from his starting position. At least two cars retire. Sleeper: Christian Lundgaard.