Josef Newgarden raced on cruise control in today’s completion of the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama presented by America’s First. Even a return of rain late in the race didn’t prevent the Team Penske driver from collecting his third Verizon IndyCar Series win at Barber Motorsports Park in the past four years.
Scott Dixon came home in sixth. “I think I was one of the drivers on the fence in regards to if we should restart or not yesterday. I guess overall, it was the same for everyone. I literally couldn’t see a thing from the PNC Bank car and was just trying to hold it straight.
“Cars were just going by me, and there was nothing you could do because I couldn’t see anything out of my visor. It’s a shame we couldn’t get in the full distance Su
nday because Barber is an amazing track with an incredible crowd. I think the one-stop strategy was the one to have today and it would have put us third, but the rain took care of that, unfortunately.
“The car was fast and really good on fuel mileage, but it is what it is. Hopefully we can get a break to go our way in a few weeks.”
Newgarden drove the No. 1 Hitachi Team Penske Chevrolet to a 9.9607-second victory at the hilly 2.3-mile, 17-turn permanent road course, despite increasingly treacherous track conditions as rain that caused the race to be suspended after 22 laps on Sunday reappeared for the final 15 laps today.
“More hectic than you would want at the end,” Newgarden admitted. “It seemed like it was pretty straightforward all day. We weren’t having yellows, it was dry, then that rain made it very nerve-racking.”
The race picked up today from where it was halted by heavy rain and flooded track conditions on Sunday. Newgarden, who started from the pole position and was still in first place for the restart, quickly pulled away from the field in cloudy but dry conditions. The Tennessee native built a commanding 25-second lead over Sebastien Bourdais when rain began falling around the circuit on Lap 66.
Newgarden was the first driver opting to pit for Firestone rain tires on Lap 71, surrendering the lead to Bourdais.
Hoping to make it to the end on the slick dry-condition tires, Bourdais stayed out as long as possible in the No. 18 Team SealMaster Honda. But the precipitation increased and the Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan driver was forced to stop for rain tires on Lap 76. Bourdais finished fifth.
Once Bourdais pitted, Newgarden reclaimed the lead and drove comfortably to the checkered flag on Lap 82. Andretti Autosport’s Ryan Hunter-Reay finished second in the No. 28 DHL Honda.
James Hinchcliffe finished third – the Canadian’s best Barber finish in eight starts – in the No. 5 Arrow Electronics SPM Honda.
With the win, Newgarden recaptured the championship lead after four of 17 races. He has 158 points, 13 more than Alexander Rossi, who gambled longest on slick tires and finished 11th today in the No. 27 Kerauno / MilitaryToMotorsports.com Honda for Andretti Autosport. Bourdais is third with 119 points, the same number as Graham Rahal, the Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing driver who finished seventh today. Bourdais holds the tiebreaker based on his win in the season opener at St. Petersburg, Florida.
The initial four laps of today’s restart were run under full-course caution behind the pace car, but once the green flag waved on Lap 27, the remainder ran without a yellow flag. The race ended eight laps shy of its originally scheduled 90 laps due to the two-hour time limit split over the two days.
The Verizon IndyCar Series now turns its attention to Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the monumental month of May. Most drivers and teams will participate in testing on the iconic 2.5-mile oval from April 30-May 2 in preparation for the 102nd Indianapolis 500 presented by PennGrade Motor Oil on Sunday, May 27 (11 a.m. ET, ABC)
Race results
1. (1) Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet, 82, Running
2. (4) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Honda, 82, Running
3. (5) James Hinchcliffe, Honda, 82, Running
4. (10) Robert Wickens, Honda, 82, Running
5. (3) Sebastien Bourdais, Honda, 82, Running
6. (6) Scott Dixon, Honda, 82, Running
7. (15) Graham Rahal, Honda, 82, Running
8. (18) Takuma Sato, Honda, 82, Running
9. (9) Simon Pagenaud, Chevrolet, 82, Running
10. (7) Marco Andretti, Honda, 82, Running
11. (8) Alexander Rossi, Honda, 82, Running
12. (21) Matheus Leist, Chevrolet, 82, Running
13. (11) Zach Veach, Honda, 82, Running
14. (19) Jordan King, Chevrolet, 82, Running
15. (17) Spencer Pigot, Chevrolet, 81, Running
16. (22) Rene Binder, Chevrolet, 80, Running
17. (20) Gabby Chaves, Chevrolet, 80, Running
18. (23) Tony Kanaan, Chevrolet, 80, Running
19. (16) Zachary Claman De Melo, Honda, 80, Running
20. (12) Ed Jones, Honda, 64, Mechanical
21. (2) Will Power, Chevrolet, 53, Off Course
22. (13) Max Chilton, Chevrolet, 34, Mechanical
23. (14) Charlie Kimball, Chevrolet, 10, Contact
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