Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama Tag

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer LONG BEACH, California – Fresh off his dominant victory at Barber Motorsports Park, Takuma Sato comes into Long Beach third in the NTT IndyCar Series championship standings, trailing points leader Josef Newgarden by 34 points. Sato won the race from the pole last Sunday, leading 74 of 90 laps to score his fourth career Indy car win. He was congratulated by his Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing teammate Graham Rahal, who started alongside Sato before his day ended early due to a mechanical failure, and his co-ownersRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer BIRMINGHAM, Alabama– An originally-planned two-stop strategy was Sebastien Bourdais’ best chance to win Sunday’s Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama at Barber Motorsports Park for the NTT IndyCar Series. At least, that’s what his race engineer Craig Hampson thought. “We probably aren’t going to win the race just doing the same thing as everybody else so let’s try to do something different and win the race,” said Hampson. Team owner Dale Coyne said to the team that Bourdais was committed to running the strategy and theRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor BIRMINGHAM, Alabama – There are only three constants in life: death, taxes, and Scott Dixon finishing in the top-three at Barber Motorsports Park. For the eighth time in 10 starts at the 2.3-mile, 17-turn road course, the driver of the No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, was in the fight for a podium finish, coming home second in Sunday’s Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama. “All in all, we’ve got to be happy with that,” Dixon said. “It’s always tough competition. We come hereRead More

By INDYCAR BIRMINGHAM, Alabama – Takuma Sato drove flawlessly – almost – to win the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama presented by AmFirst and throw his name firmly into the NTT IndyCar Series championship conversation. The Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing driver made Scott Dixon a Barber Motorsports Park bridesmaid for a record sixth time, beating the reigning series champion to the finish line by 2.3874 seconds. It was the fourth win of Sato’s 10-year NTT IndyCar Series career, with the 42-year-old from Tokyo becoming the third different driver –Read More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Graham Rahal and Colton Herta went from having superb outcomes to ending up out of the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama at Barber Motorsports Park Sunday due to separate reliability issues and ended up 23rd and 24th respectively. Herta, the new youngest winner in the history of the NTT IndyCar Series, who recently turned 19 on March 30, started ninth and was putting on a nice effort, staying in the top-10 until his day drastically changed when Herta reported that his No. 88 Harding-Steinbrenner RacingRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor BIRMINGHAM, Alabama – What a difference a day makes. After struggling throughout the weekend at Barber Motorsports Park, including a dismal 16th place qualifying effort, Josef Newgarden was back to his typical form in Sunday’s Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama, though it took a “creative” effort from the Hendersonville, Tennessee native to make it a reality. “I’m happy about it,” said the driver of the Fitzgerald USA Team Penske Chevrolet. “It’s really good for points. Without the caution, we would have finished eighth, so weRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor BIRMINGHAM, Alabama – “It’s tough out there,” Graham Rahal said after making his second-place qualifying run for Sunday’s running of the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama at Barber Motorsports Park. Those four words can sum up just how treacherous the challenging 2.3-mile, 17-turn natural terrain road course has been this weekend for almost every driver in the field. From drivers making off-track excursions into the gravel traps and tire barriers in nearly every practice session to the major teams stumbling in qualifying on Saturday, theRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer BIRMINGHAM, Alabama– Team Penske broke a nearly five year old streak during Saturday’s qualifying for Sunday’s Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama. The NTT IndyCar Series stalwarts failed to make it to the Firestone Fast Six in qualifying for the first time since the 2014 race at Long Beach as Will Power could only manage seventh fastest while Simon Pagenaud and Josef Newgarden qualified 14th and 16th, respectively. For Power, the weekend has been less than perfect for the defending Indianapolis 500 winner. The highest upRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor BIRMINGHAM, Alabama – Last season was a struggle for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing as both Takuma Sato and Graham Rahal will admit, but after sweeping the front row for Sunday’s Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama at Barber Motorsports Park, the team served notice that they are well into the midst of a comeback. Sato, driver of the No. 30 Mi-Jack / Panasonic Honda for the team, blitzed the Fast Six with a lap of one minute, 8.5934 seconds (120.711 mph) to score his first poleRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor BIRMINGHAM, Alabama – The opening day of NTT IndyCar Series practice for this weekend’s running of the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama at Barber Motorsports Park was a bit treacherous, to say the least. With overcast skies and rain threatening during the first of two scheduled practice sessions, several drivers found themselves making off track excursions on the mix of wet and dry pavement around the 2.3-mile, 17-turn road course, bringing out a number of red flags in the process. When all was said andRead More