Round 4: Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama

[fieldodreams79]

Originally Posted by JHamilton

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

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

Originally Posted by canamman

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

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

[10TENTHS]

Originally Posted by fieldodreams79

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

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

[JacobP]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

That was a cracking race and more than made up for the disappointing season opener at St. Petes and the damp squib that was NOLA. Definitely the race of the season so far and much better than any of the F1 GPs this year.

Year after year the Alabama GP at Barber is delivering solid IndyCar races. Last year, it was a great race too. After watching the Sunday race, I am starting to think that Barber Motorsports Park should be regarded as one of the finest road courses in North America. It's just off the radar of many racing fans because it opened only in 2003. I'd love to see some NASCAR or V8 Supercars action on this race track. Even without wheel to wheel rubbing and bumping, it's still fascinating to see cars fly through fast corners and frequent elevation changes. I kind of regret I didn't take time to travel to the IndyCar GP at Barber so far.

[fieldodreams79]

Originally Posted by 10TENTHS

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

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

[fieldodreams79]

Originally Posted by JacobP

Year after year the Alabama GP at Barber is delivering solid IndyCar races. Last year, it was a great race too. After watching the Sunday race, I am starting to think that Barber Motorsports Park should be regarded as one of the finest road courses in North America. It's just off the radar of many racing fans because it opened only in 2003. I'd love to see some NASCAR or V8 Supercars action on this race track. Even without wheel to wheel rubbing and bumping, it's still fascinating to see cars fly through fast corners and frequent elevation changes. I kind of regret I didn't take time to travel to the IndyCar GP at Barber so far.

After watching the recorded race, I kind of wish I had made the journey, too. I just may do it next year, but the quickness and handling of the open wheelers show this track well and there seemed to be more passing than in past races, based on commentators comments.

Aside from giving them one of the most pristine backdrops in motorracing, Sportscars, V8s and NASCAR would be a slow, painful affair. I am a big fan of the elevation changes and of the back side of the circuit, with the first high speed "S" reminding me of the last part of VIR's esses;T1 is pretty nice too. Finest road course in America? To each their own, but this one is not even close to my top 5.

[rwintle]

Originally Posted by canamman

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

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

[gomick]

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

[GTRMagic]

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

[10TENTHS]

Originally Posted by GTRMagic

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

Century 21 is sponsoring that car for both Indy races. It had primary sponsorship for about half of the 2014 season.