Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama
 | |
| IndyCar Series | |
|---|---|
| Venue | Barber Motorsports Park |
| Location | Birmingham, Alabama |
| Corporate sponsor | Honda |
| First race | 2010 |
| Distance | 214.2 miles (344.7 km) |
| Laps | 90 |
| Most wins (driver) |
Will Power Ryan Hunter-Reay Josef Newgarden (2) |
| Most wins (team) | Team Penske (5) |
| Most wins (manufacturer) |
Dallara (8) Chevrolet (5) |
The Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama is an IndyCar Series race held at Barber Motorsports Park, a 16-turn 2.3-mile (3.7 km) road course, in Birmingham, Alabama, United States. Officially announced on July 27, 2009, the inaugural event was on the weekend of April 9–11, 2010.[1][2] The event is under contract through the 2016 season and under the management of the local group Zoom Motorsports. The venue is designed to allow for nearly 100,000 spectators and will have an estimated economic impact on Greater Birmingham of $30 million.[1]
History
Having an IRL race at Barber became a possibility in 2007 when the league had testing session at the facility on October 12, 2007.[3] The test would also serve in evaluating the track as a potential site for a race beginning in the 2009 season. By July 2008, IRL revealed its 2009 schedule with new races being held at Long Beach and Toronto, but not at Barber.[4] However local officials indicated that Barber was under strong consideration for a 2010 date.[4]
Due to the success of the testing session in 2007, Barber was selected for a full-field, three-day testing session in March 2009.[5] Officials remained confident that the track would gain a race in the future due to the desire of the IRL to expand into The South in addition to the location of Honda Manufacturing of Alabama at plant in nearby Lincoln, the official engine of IRL.[5]
The opportunity to pursue the event came after the Detroit Indy Grand Prix was discontinued.[1][6] Initially, Zoom Motorsports looked to have the Detroit race moved to Alabama for the 2009 season; however, the league decided in February 2009 to not replace the event on its schedule.[7] With an open date available for 2010, Birmingham made its pitch to IRL officials and was selected to hold the event over Cleveland (Burke Lakefront Airport), Houston, Baltimore, Nashville, Charlotte and Portland.[1] IRL cited both strong support from both local and state government in addition to the large crowd that attended an IRL training session in March 2009 as factors in Birmingham being selected for the race.[1]
Past winners
| Season | Date | Driver | Team | Chassis | Engine | Race Distance | Race Time | Average Speed (mph) |
Report | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Laps | Miles (km) | |||||||||
| 2010 | April 11 |  Hélio Castroneves |
Team Penske | Dallara | Honda | 90 | 214.2 (344.721) | 1:56:41 | 106.436 | Report |
| 2011 | April 10 |  Will Power |
Team Penske | Dallara | Honda | 90 | 214.2 (344.721) | 2:14:43 | 92.194 | Report |
| 2012 | April 1 | Will Power |
Team Penske | Dallara | Chevrolet | 90 | 214.2 (344.721) | 2:01:40 | 102.081 | Report |
| 2013 | April 7 |  Ryan Hunter-Reay |
Andretti Autosport | Dallara | Chevrolet | 90 | 214.2 (344.721) | 1:52:05 | 110.818 | Report |
| 2014 | April 27 | Ryan Hunter-Reay |
Andretti Autosport | Dallara | Honda | 69* | 164.22 (264.286) | 1:40:43 | 94.537 | Report |
| 2015 | April 26 | Josef Newgarden |
CFH Racing | Dallara | Chevrolet | 90 | 214.2 (344.721) | 1:55:53 | 107.176 | Report |
| 2016 | April 24 |  Simon Pagenaud |
Team Penske | Dallara | Chevrolet | 90 | 214.2 (344.721) | 1:48:42 | 114.254 | Report |
| 2017 | April 23 | Josef Newgarden |
Team Penske | Dallara | Chevrolet | 90 | 214.2 (344.721) | 1:54:09 | 108.809 | Report |
- 2014: Heavy rain and lightning forced the race to be delayed, and eventually shortened to a 1:40 timed race.
Indy Lights winners
| Season | Date | Winning Driver | Winning Team |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | April 11 | Jean-Karl Vernay |
Sam Schmidt Motorsports |
| 2011 | April 10 |  Víctor García |
Team Moore Racing |
| 2012 | April 1 |  Sebastián Saavedra |
Conquest Racing |
| 2013 | April 7 | Carlos Muñoz |
Andretti Autosport |
| 2014 | April 26 | Zach Veach |
Andretti Autosport |
| April 27 | Gabby Chaves |
Belardi Auto Racing | |
| 2015 | April 25 | Spencer Pigot |
Juncos Racing |
| April 26 | Spencer Pigot |
Juncos Racing | |
| 2016 | April 25 |  Ed Jones |
Carlin |
| April 26 |  Santiago Urrutia |
Schmidt Peterson Motorsports | |
| 2017 | April 22 | Nico Jamin |
Andretti Autosport |
| April 23 | Colton Herta |
Andretti Steinbrenner Racing |
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 Tomberlin, Michael (July 26, 2009). "Indy Car race coming to Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama". The Birmingham News.
- ↑ Tomberlin, Michael (July 27, 2009). "It's official: 3 Indy car races coming to Barber Motorsports Park". The Birmingham News.
- ↑ Bolton, Mike (October 2, 2007). "Star drivers to test at Barber Course is potential 2009 series event". The Birmingham News.
- 1 2 Demmons, Doug (July 31, 2008). "Barber misses cut for 2009 Indy race". The Birmingham News.
- 1 2 Bolton, Mike (December 7, 2008). "IndyCar Series drivers to conduct test session at Barber: Preseason testing bodes well for possible race at Barber in 2010". The Birmingham News.
- ↑ "INDYCAR: Detroit Canceled for 2009, Vision Racing Trims Staff". speedtv.com. 2008-12-18. Archived from the original on 2008-12-19. Retrieved 2009-07-26.
- ↑ Demmons, Doug (February 6, 2009). "Barber Motorsports Park won't get '09 IRL race". The Birmingham News.
External links
| Preceded by Grand Prix of Long Beach |
IndyCar Series Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama |
Succeeded by Desert Diamond West Valley Phoenix Grand Prix |