Round 4: Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama

[FLGTFAN]

Rahal in with a shot.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Power just ploughed into Sato, as Power came out of the pits. He's already got a warning because of his start, that'll be a penalty.

[FLGTFAN]

Montoya is LAST. If only 1st, 3rd, and 4th can defeat Helio, this is a great race!

[BudLightJaguar]

Time for the second yellow.

[bjohnsonsmith]

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

[BudLightJaguar]

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

[bjohnsonsmith]

Great overtake by Rahall on Castroneves.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Congrats to Newgarden on his debut win.

[BudLightJaguar]

That was a great final lap. And 1-2 to USA.

[Marcus666]

Brilliant Race! And happy for Newgarden!

Still, a little bit painful to see Montoya doing such a race. Lets hope he fights back at Indy GP and lets hope he does not get hit by his teammate, stalling on the grid and running to the pitlane for spare car and finally, hitting your teammate and then leave the sport.

[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.

Despite the aero-kits and drivers running into dirty air, there was still very close racing and overtaking, particularly Graham Rahall ovetaking on the outside of Turn 5, more than once and with no push to pass left.

As for Barber itself, it's a good track and reminds me of Brands Hatch in places but I do agree with BudLightJaguar about the pit exit.

[rwintle]

I haven't been more entertained by an IndyCar race in a long time. Not too many yellows, some great passing (Rahal on the outside of T5... again and again and again!), a little bit of silliness. Not sure why Montoya didn't get a penalty for blatantly hip checking Kimball there, but whatever.

And... I hadn't appreciated before what a beautiful setting Barber is. Looks like only two major spectator areas (?) but a gorgeous, flowing track with lots of elevation changes.

What a heck of a drive by Rahal at the end. Congrats to Newgarden on his debut win, nicely deserved by driver and team.

Surprised Castroneves got his fuel strategy so messed up...

Ok, enough random thoughts for now. For me, an afternoon well spent watching that race.

[rwintle]

Oh, one more... perhaps IndyCar could consider black-flagging Dracone next time he impedes the leaders. That should send a message. Yes, I know the mantra about there not being a lot of places to "hide" around the track, but honestly now.

[ptclaus98]

Originally Posted by rwintle

I haven't been more entertained by an IndyCar race in a long time. Not too many yellows, some great passing (Rahal on the outside of T5... again and again and again!), a little bit of silliness. Not sure why Montoya didn't get a penalty for blatantly hip checking Kimball there, but whatever.

And... I hadn't appreciated before what a beautiful setting Barber is. Looks like only two major spectator areas (?) but a gorgeous, flowing track with lots of elevation changes.

What a heck of a drive by Rahal at the end. Congrats to Newgarden on his debut win, nicely deserved by driver and team.

Surprised Castroneves got his fuel strategy so messed up...

Ok, enough random thoughts for now. For me, an afternoon well spent watching that race.

There's three. The hill behind the final curves is the absolute best spot, because you get the hairpin view, the final corners, and the huge screen that shows the race broadcast.

[ptclaus98]

Originally Posted by rwintle

Oh, one more... perhaps IndyCar could consider black-flagging Dracone next time he impedes the leaders. That should send a message. Yes, I know the mantra about there not being a lot of places to "hide" around the track, but honestly now.

When he was a lap down, he got out of the way, that train he caused was when he was fighting those guys for position. You can't blue flag that.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Result:

1. Josef Newgarden, CFH Racing. Dallara/Chevrolet. 1h55m53.0630s
2. Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan. Dallara/Honda. 2.2061s
3. Scott Dixon., Chip Ganassi Racing, Dallara/Chevrolet. 4.8371s
4. Will Power, Team Penske. Dallara/Chevrolet. 19.4903s
5. Ryan Hunter-Reay, Andretti Autosport, Dallara/Honda, 22.0663s
6. Carlos Munoz, Andretti Autosport, Dallara/Honda. 24.0595s
7. James Hinchcliffe, Schmidt Peterson Motorsports. Dallara/Honda. 24.6529s
8. Sebastien Bourdais, KVSH Racing. Dallara/Chevrolet. 25.4534s
9. Simon Pagenaud, Team Penske. Dallara/Chevrolet. 30.6139s
10. Marco Andretti, Andretti Autosport. Dallara/Honda. 33.4777s
11. Luca Filippi, CFH Racing. Dallara/Chevrolet. 34.1607s
12. Charlie Kimball, Chip Ganassi Racing. Dallara/Chevrolet. 34.6792s
13. Tony Kanaan, Chip Ganassi Racing. Dallara/Chevrolet. 35.3334s
14. Juan Pablo Montoya, Team Penske. Dallara/Chevrolet. 36.6361s
15. Helio Castroneves, Team Penske. Dallara/Chevrolet. 39.4194s
16. Gabby Chaves, Bryan Herta Autosport. Dallara/Honda. 45.8965s
17. Takuma Sato, AJ Foyt Enterprises. Dallara/Honda. 50.8442s
18. Sage Karam, Chip Ganassi Racing. Dallara/Chevrolet. 55.1372s
19. Stefano Coletti, KV Racing Technology. Dallara/Chevrolet. 55.4160s
20. Rodolfo Gonzalez, Dale Coyne Racing. Dallara/Honda. 1m07.9855s
21. Jack Hawksworth, AJ Foyt Enterprises. Dallara/Honda. 1m13.1828s
22. James Jakes, Schmidt, Peterson Motorsports. Dallara/Honda. 1 Lap
23. Francesco Dracone, Dale Coyne Racing. Dallara/Honda. 1 Lap

[D.R.T.]

Excellent race and a great advertisement for Indycar. Even better with 2 homegrowns on the podium.

Gonzalez did a very honourable job there and more than deserves his place on the grid.

NBC did seem to miss quite a few important passes or incidents but overall a pretty telecast.

[RWill2073]

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

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

[JHamilton]

Congrats to Newgarden! I forgot to record the race, how was the crowd?

Originally Posted by rwintle

And... I hadn't appreciated before what a beautiful setting Barber is. Looks like only two major spectator areas (?) but a gorgeous, flowing track with lots of elevation changes.

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.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by JHamilton

Congrats to Newgarden! I forgot to record the race, how was the crowd?



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.

It's always hard to tell how fast a track is when watching on TV but the elevation changes and the variety of corners more than make up for any lack of speed. Parts of the track do remind me of Brands Hatch and Brands wasn't noted for its speed but for its corners and elevation changes and this was why F1 drivers of yesteryear liked it, as it was in complete contrast to Silverstone.

[rwintle]

Originally Posted by ptclaus98

There's three. The hill behind the final curves is the absolute best spot, because you get the hairpin view, the final corners, and the huge screen that shows the race broadcast.

Ah, thanks. Must look at the track map properly I guess.

[Burp]

Now THAT was hell of a race.

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

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

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

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

[canamman]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[mikuni]

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

Hopefully a sign of things to come for Indy.

[fieldodreams79]

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

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

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

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

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