Round 4: Children's of Alabama Indy Grand Prix, April 28 - 30

[bjohnsonsmith]

Round 4: Children's of Alabama Indy Grand Prix, April 28 - 30

This Sunday will be the 13th running of the Indy Grand Prix of Alabama at Barber Motorsports Park.

Barber Motorsports Park is owned by George Barber, a successful businessman and accomplished driver, who raced Porsches in the 1960s and early '70s. He amassed a collection of motorcycles and after establishing a non-profit foundation in 1994, opened a museum displaying 325 motorcycles from around the world, plus some vintage cars. In 1998, he sold the family business and donated $54 million to the foundation in order to build a new museum and a road course on which to run the collection.

In 2002, a 740 acre site east of Birmingham was chosen and a new museum was built, housing an expanded collection of 1,200 motorcycles, with up to 600 on display at any one time. It's been certified by Guinness as the largest museum of its type.

In October 2007, Barber Motorsports Park hosted a testing session for IndyCar, the success of which led to a full-field three-day testing session in March 2009. An open date became available on the 2010 season race calendar, with Barber Motorsports Park making a successful bid to hold the race over Cleveland (Burke Lakefront Airport), Houston, Baltimore, Nashville, Charlotte and Portland. The first IndyCar race was held on April 11, 2010 and was won by Hélio Castroneves driving for Team Penske, in a Dallara IR05-Honda.

The road course was designed by South African race track designer Alan Wilson, with three layouts. The main circuit, which is a 15-turn, 2.370-mile (3.70 km) road course, the short circuit and the club circuit. The venue, opened in 2003 and has hosted Grand-Am, Vintage Racing Series events and AMA Superbikes. It serves as the home of the Porsche Sport Driving School and the Kevin Schwantz Suzuki School. One feature that stands out are the series of metal sculptures around the track. The large spider alongside Turns 5-6 has lead to this section of track being nicknamed 'Charlotte's Web'.

Track layout:


Length: 2.3 Miles (3.7 Km)

Turns: 15

Lap record:
Pato O'Ward, April 17, 2021, 1:05.5019, 126.409 Mph (203.4355657 Km/h),
Arrow McLaren SP, Dallara IR18-Chevrolet Indy V6
NTT IndyCar Series.

Some trivia:
The driver with most wins: 3.
Josef Newgarden, 2015, 2017, 2018.

The team with most wins: 6.
Team Penske, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2016, 2017, 2018.

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Last year's race:
https://www.indycar.com/news/2022/05/05-01-barber-lead

Pole:
Rinus van Kalmthout AKA VeeKay,
Ed Carpenter Racing,
Dallara IR18-Chevrolet Indy V6.

Winner:
Pato O'Ward,
Arrow McLaren SP,
Dallara IR18-Chevrolet Indy V6.

Laps: 90
Distance: 207 Miles (333.134 Km)
Race Time: 1:48:39.4368
Average Speed: 114.304 Mph (183.955 km/h)
Fastest lap: Alex Palou - Chip Ganassi Racing. Lap 62. 66.8182 sec, 121.489 Mph (195.518 Km/h)
Caution periods: 1, Laps: 32 - 34

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Practice and Qualifications:

Practice 1
Friday, Apr 28, 3:40 PM - 4:55 PM ET

Practice 2
Saturday, Apr 29, 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM ET

Qualifications - Round 1 Group 1
Saturday, Apr 29, 3:00 PM - 3:10 PM ET

Qualifications - Round 1 Group 2
Saturday, Apr 29, 3:20 PM - 3:30 PM ET

Qualifications - Round 2
Saturday, Apr 29, 3:40 PM - 3:50 PM ET

Qualifications - Firestone Fast 6
Saturday, Apr 29, 4:00 PM - 4:15 PM ET

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Race Broadcast:
NBC April 30, 3:00pm ET, 7:00pm UTC.
Sky Sports F1: 8:00pm BST