{"id":33324,"date":"2025-05-01T23:19:58","date_gmt":"2025-05-02T03:19:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/?p=33324"},"modified":"2025-05-01T23:26:53","modified_gmt":"2025-05-02T03:26:53","slug":"indycar-grand-prix-of-alabama-schedule-predictions-and-how-to-watch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2025\/05\/01\/indycar-grand-prix-of-alabama-schedule-predictions-and-how-to-watch\/","title":{"rendered":"IndyCar Grand Prix of Alabama: Schedule, Predictions, And How To Watch"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The NTT IndyCar Series is headed to <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.indycar.com\/Schedule\/2025\/Barber\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Alabama<\/a> this weekend for round four of the season at Barber Motorsports Park. Prepare for Sunday\u2019s race with all the important details you need to know before the green flag waves.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>Round 4: The IndyCar Grand Prix of Alabama Preview and Predictions<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Barber\u2019s been a part of the IndyCar schedule since 2010, except for the cancelled 2020 race due to the pandemic.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2024\/04\/28\/scott-mclaughlin-wins-a-chaotic-barber-classic\/\" target=\"_self\">Scott McLaughlin<\/a> has won the past two years at the track and will be looking for a three-peat. The only other driver in the current grid who has three wins under their belt at Barber is <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2025\/01\/01\/reliving-josef-newgardens-first-championship-winning-season\/\" target=\"_self\">Josef Newgarden.\u00a0<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<h3><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/sn4umiSPeNQ?si=8fmn5K9mZvWGNKic\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/h3>\n<h3><b>The Track: Barber Motorsports Park\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Built in 2002 and opened in 2003, Barber Motorsports Park is a 17-turn 2.38-mile (3.83 km) road course. It\u2019s located in Birmingham, Alabama. The track is defined by its elevation changes throughout, tight corners, and limited run-off areas. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The track\u2019s been described as a \u201cself-policing\u201d circuit. At just 45 feet wide, any mistake can cost drivers their entire race.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Barber is a race that relies heavily on a driver\u2019s ability to maintain their lines and easily adapt to anything thrown at them on track, including sudden changes to the weather.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>IndyCar first raced at Barber in 2010, with Helio Castroneves winning the first race. Pato O&#8217;Ward set the track record in 2021 with a 1:06.81-second lap. Josef Newgarden has the most wins with three at Barber.<\/p>\n<h3><b>Race Preview:<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The 90-lap race will force each driver to focus heavily on tire degradation. With the track\u2019s various corners and elevation changes, teams will be tested on how to best manage their pit stops before tires are too worn down.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Last year, most drivers went for a three-stop strategy while others went with a two-stop strategy. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With minimal opportunities for overtaking, drivers have to be hyper-aware of the moves they try to pull off.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Lastly, caution periods have a habit of messing with race strategies, so teams will have to account for the possibility of racing under a yellow flag. In 2-24, there was only one caution period, but it ended up causing some drivers to lose ground.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>Drivers to Watch\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><b>Alex Palou\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Palou currently sits at the top of the driver standings, but his lead isn\u2019t as comfortable as it has been in previous seasons. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2024\/09\/17\/how-alex-palou-became-2024-indycar-champion\/\" target=\"_self\">The battle for the championship<\/a> is far from over, but after failing to make it onto the podium in Long Beach, Palou will be looking to extend his championship lead once again. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A majority of his wins happen on road and street courses as opposed to ovals, so he can find success once again this weekend.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Christian Lundgaard<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Since moving to <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2024\/12\/06\/driver-evolution-how-arrow-mclaren-landed-on-their-teams-newest-addition-for-next-season\/\" target=\"_self\">Arrow McLaren<\/a> at the start of this season, Lundgaard has finished ahead of both of his teammates during all three races.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">He finished P8 during the season opener and snagged P3 in the past two races. Lundgaard is getting closer and closer to snagging the top step of the podium, and it feels like this year could be the year we see him back up there. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Lundgaard\u2019s first and only IndyCar win was in Toronto in 2023.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Jacob Abel\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Although <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2025\/02\/05\/taking-a-look-at-dale-coynes-rookie-driver-jacob-abels-racing-career\/\" target=\"_self\">the rookie<\/a> is still finding his footing in IndyCar. Barber is a promising track for the 24-year-old driver.\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The runner-up in last year\u2019s Indy NXT championship took home three wins last season, including one at Barber.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There\u2019s been a strong display of skill so far from this year&#8217;s rookie class, so it will be interesting to see if Abel can regain some of last year\u2019s momentum.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>How to Watch\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The<\/span><b> First Practice <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">will take place on <\/span><b>Friday, May 2, at 3:30 PM Eastern.<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> The drivers head to the track again for <\/span><b>Practice 2 <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">on <\/span><b>Saturday at 12:15 PM.<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Qualifying is later that same day at <\/span><b>3:30 PM.<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> On Sunday, May 4, warm-up takes place at <\/span><b>10:15 AM<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Finally, the checkered flag waves, and the drivers start their engines at <\/span><b>1:30 PM Eastern <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">for the race.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The coverage will be on Fox. Practice 1 will be available on FS2, while the rest of the weekend, except the race, will be on FS1.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Stay tuned to Last Word on Motorsports for all the news from the IndyCar and the Grand Prix of Alabama.\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Featured Image Credit: <span class=\"field_value metaData-listItemValue\">Penske Entertainment: Chris Jones. 4\/28\/2024<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The NTT IndyCar Series is headed to Alabama this weekend for round four of the season at Barber Motorsports Park. Prepare for Sunday\u2019s race with all the important details you need to know before the green flag waves.\u00a0 Round 4: The IndyCar Grand Prix of Alabama Preview and Predictions Barber\u2019s been a part of the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5230,"featured_media":33328,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6,1663],"tags":[1600,2492,1374,1791,1622,2473,440,237],"class_list":["post-33324","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-indycar","category-ntt-indycar-series","tag-alex-palou","tag-arrow-mclaren","tag-barber-motorsports-park","tag-christian-lundgaard","tag-grand-prix-of-alabama","tag-jacob-abel","tag-josef-newgarden","tag-scott-mclaughlin"],"modified_by":"Hayden Murdock","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33324","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5230"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33324"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33324\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33329,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33324\/revisions\/33329"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33328"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33324"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33324"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33324"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}