Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix Preview

Pato O’Ward won the 2022 Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama. [Joe Skibinski photo]

Race weekend: Friday, April 28 – Sunday, April 30
Track: Barber Motorsports Park, a 2.3-mile, 17-turn road course (clockwise) in Birmingham, Alabama
Race distance: 90 laps / 207 miles (NTT INDYCAR SERIES) | 35 laps / 80.5 miles / 55 minutes (INDY NXT by Firestone)

Pato O’Ward is the defending race winner of the Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix at Barber Motorsports Park and the young Arrow McLaren driver has had a top six start in each of the three races that resulted in two runner up finishes. Put all that together and you should have a favorite for this weekend’s race.

Not so fast. Think about the points leader who, at non-oval races has top four starts, a third place finish and a win in the season opener at St. Petersburg. Chip Ganassi Racing’s Marcus Ericsson needs to be considered as well as his teammate Scott Dixon. Dixon has the most impressive stats at Barber, yet he has been unable to score a victory. Could this be the year, lucky number 13th start? Don’t forget their other teammate, Alex Palou, who won in 2021 and was runner-up last year.

Throw in Rinus VeeKay (strong run at Barber last year), Kyle Kirkwood (most recent series winner), teammates Josef Newgarden and Scott McLaughlin (always a threat anywhere) and young guns looking for their first wins (Christian Lundgaard and David Malukas) and you see that this looks to be an exciting race.

Who is my pick? I’m going with Pato.

NBC Sports race telecast: 3 p.m. ET Sunday, April 30, NBC (live). Leigh Diffey is the play-by-play announcer for NBC’s coverage of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES alongside analysts Townsend Bell and James Hinchcliffe.

Peacock live streaming: All NTT INDYCAR SERIES practice sessions and qualifying will stream live on Peacock, NBC’s direct-to-consumer livestreaming product. NBC’s Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix race telecast will be simulcast on the streaming service. The INDY NXT by Firestone Grand Prix of Alabama will be streamed on Peacock Premium with practice and qualifying shown on INDYCAR LIVE.

INDYCAR Radio Network broadcasts: Mark Jaynes is the anchor alongside driver analyst Davey Hamilton. Jake Query and Nick Yeoman are the turn announcers. Michael Young, Alex Wollf and Georgia Henneberry are the pit reporters. The Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix race (2:30 p.m. ET), INDY NXT by Firestone Grand Prix of Alabama (12:45 p.m. ET) and all NTT INDYCAR SERIES and INDY NXT by Firestone practices and qualifying sessions air live on network affiliates, SiriusXM 160, racecontrol.indycar.com and the INDYCAR App powered by NTT DATA.

At-track schedule (All Times Local/Central Time):
Friday, April 28
1:40-2:25 p.m. – INDY NXT by Firestone practice, INDYCAR LIVE
2:40-3:55 p.m. – NTT INDYCAR SERIES practice (75 minutes), Peacock

Saturday, April 29
10-10:45 a.m. – INDY NXT by Firestone practice, INDYCAR LIVE
11 a.m.-noon – NTT INDYCAR SERIES practice (45 minutes), Peacock
1:20-1:40 p.m. – INDY NXT by Firestone, INDYCAR LIVE
2-3:15 p.m. – Qualifying for the NTT P1 Award (three rounds of knockout qualifying), Peacock

Sunday, April 30
11-11:30 a.m. – NTT INDYCAR SERIES warmup, Peacock
11:55 a.m. – INDY NXT by Firestone Grand Prix of Alabama “Drivers, start your engines”
Noon – INDY NXT by Firestone Grand Prix of Alabama (35 laps/55 minutes), Peacock.
2 p.m. – NBC on air
2:23 p.m. – Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix “Drivers, start your engines”
2:30 p.m. – Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix (90 laps / 207 miles), NBC (Live)

RacingNation Crew

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