By Dylan Reynolds, The Open Wheel
The INDYCAR season continues this weekend with the NTT IndyCar Series Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama. The Open Wheel will be on-site covering the action all weekend so stay tuned to this site and our Twitter page @openwh33l for all of the latest news.
Photo by Parker Hall/The Open Wheel
Weekend Schedule – Entry List – Spotter Guide – Circuit Map – Tickets
NTT IndyCar Series Preview: Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama – Sunday, April 7, 2019 4:00PM (ET) NBCSN – Rain wreaked havoc last year during INDYCAR’s visit to Barber Motorsports Park and it appears it could be a factor once again this weekend. Previous driver experience at Barber shows four former winners in the field in Josef Newgarden (3), Ryan Hunter-Reay (2), Will Power (2), and Simon Pagenaud (1). Newgarden has won in each of the last two years and three of the last four. Team Penske has won the last three races at Barber and six of the nine races overall. Looking at box scores from 2018 and 2017, Newgarden is the only driver to finish in the Top 5 in each of the last two years. If that’s expanded to the Top 10, Newgarden is joined by James Hinchcliffe, Sebastien Bourdais, Scott Dixon, Takuma Sato, and Pagenaud. My pick to win: Will Power – Power has won the pole at the first two races of the 2019 NTT IndyCar Series season and four times in nine tries at Barber (with eight Top 5 starts). He’s already well past due to win this season after various types of misfortune at St. Pete and COTA and I’m calling for him to finish the deal this weekend.
My fantasy.indycar.com picks: Will Power, Scott Dixon, Sebastien Bourdais, & Patricio O’Ward – You know my thoughts on Power. Dixon has never won at Barber but he has finished in the Top 3 in an absurd seven out of nine starts. Bourdais’ career at Barber isn’t necessarily as impressive as you’d hope as far as Top 5’s, but I’ll take his five Top 10’s in combination with a lineup of these other three drivers. O’Ward should be a good value pick at just $18 after his impressive performance at COTA and weekend sweep at Barber last year in Lights.
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