Postcards from the Paddock - Barber

The view from the IndyCar Radio booth at Barber Motorsports Park.

Welcome back, IndyCar! The offseason seemed to drag on forever but the past few weeks have provided the long-awaited opportunity to get back in the NTT IndyCar Series paddock and kick-off what I expect will be a highly entertaining season.

Barber Motorsports park will always be special to me because it was there in 2017 I got my first chance to work the pits for IndyCar Radio. It is also one of the best pit lanes to work in as a pit reporter. The gap between the inside pit wall and the fence that separates the paddock from the pits is very wide which is extremely helpful. During a race the pits are a hive of activity and some of the more narrow pit areas are difficult to maneuver. It is also long enough to accommodate all 24 cars which creates convenient gaps between pit stands that I can work my way into to get the best possible view of a pit stop. Unlike the NBC's pit reporters, we do not have a small television monitor to call stops from for our radio broadcast and finding a position with an unobstructed view that also is out of the way of the crew is rarely easy, especially on a short pit lane where everyone is compacted together.

If my praise of Barber's pit lane has you wondering which is the most difficult of those on the IndyCar schedule, I can tell you that Long Beach is far and away the hardest pit lane to work on. It is tight, narrow, and shared by multiple series throughout the weekend which negates its length. The surface is at different heights at various parts of the pit lane due the sidewalks that run alongside the street that they use for the pits, and I've tripped and stumbled several times there when the sidewalk suddenly drops away under me while I'm looking elsewhere. Additionally, the pit lane is curved, which means the view is extremely limited no matter where one may be standing. I love Long Beach but that pit lane is diabolical!

As for the race this past weekend, how impressive was Alex Palou? All throughout the weekend he confirmed that much of the promise we saw from him in his rookie season with Dale Coyne Racing was no fluke. His first event with Chip Ganassi Racing could hardly have gone better and when the strategy fell into his lap during the race he was more than ready to take advantage of it. I was most impressed by his ability to stay cool while trying to lap backmarkers, save fuel, and hold off Will Power all at once!

The sheer joy he displayed in victory lane made for one of the most memorable celebrations in recent years. There was never a single wealthy benefactor bankrolling Alex's motorsports career and at various times it looked like his dream of racing in IndyCar might be over. The happiness we saw in the winner's circle was born of years of stress and toil chasing a dream and it was very cool to see him slowly realizing he had accomplished one of his lifelong goals.

Other noteworthy performances came from Rinus VeeKay who overcame a fractured finger and the opening lap crash to finish sixth, as well as Sebastien Bourdais who delivered a second-consecutive top five finish for AJ Foyt Racing dating back to the 2020 finale at St. Pete. Also of note, Will Power's second place finish was his best in a season opener since 2015 and should help jumpstart his championship bid.

While Pato O'Ward couldn't convert his second career pole into a race win, I think a fourth place finish and impressive pace all weekend in only his second IndyCar start at Barber only confirms that he is ready to be a championship contender in 2021. I'd be very surprised if the season runs its course and Pato doesn't win at least one race and earn himself that F1 test that Zak Brown promised him if he can notch that first win!

On the other end of the spectrum, it was a forgettable season opener for Ryan Hunter-Reay who was the victim of Josef Newgarden's opening lap crash. For Newgarden, he leaves Barber having failed to complete a single lap. That comes after completing all 1900 laps in the 2020 season, making him one of just five drivers in IndyCar history to run every mile on the schedule. The DNF was the first for Newgarden since the 2019 round at Mid-Ohio, and just his second in the past five seasons!

My last takeaway from the weekend came from the unique rookie class. Jimmie Johnson's struggles were to be expected but he does seem to be creeping closer to being on the pace. His first street course start next weekend, however, will be a whole new challenge. Scott McLaughlin showed impressive pace in practice and made it out of Round 1 of qualifying only to fade in the race. While his talent is unquestionable, I do think it will take him the better part of a season to come to grips with everything an Indy car has to offer. Barber showed that he has progressed from a mixed debut at St. Pete last October but also that there is still work to be done.

That leaves Romain Grosjean who had the best weekend of the three rookies. Seventh in qualifying surpassed even his expectations, and a fighting tenth in his first race for the smallest team on the grid was a noteworthy result. He struggled with the rolling start, something he was largely unfamiliar with coming from F1, and admitted there is more to learn about how to manage an IndyCar race from the cockpit, but nevertheless displayed the talent that took him to ten F1 podiums. Leaving Barber, I there is every reason to believe that Grosjean can play spoiler to the big teams a time or two this season.

Stepping away from the main attraction, it was wonderful to see Indy Lights return after a year's hiatus. A healthy grid of 13 cars started both races which were dominated, somewhat surprisingly, by the HMD Motorsports/Global Racing Group consortium whose drivers Linus Lundqvist and David Malukas split the pair of races. Kyle Kirkwood, tabbed by many to be the favorite for the championship, had a weekend to forget with a crash in Race 1 and a distant fifth in Race 2 on what was a disappointing weekend all around for his Andretti Autosport team. Nevertheless, I believe Andretti will be back fighting for wins as soon as next weekend and I expect that there will be a fierce battle for the championship with at least half of the field having the capability to win a race in my estimation.

All in all, it was an enjoyable, if abbreviated, weekend in Alabama. Compacting the IndyCar schedule into just two days provided plenty of activity for the hefty crowd that was on site but zoomed past far too quickly for my taste. I'll be happy to return to the more traditional rhythms of a three day weekend for the upcoming round at St. Pete.

While last weekend was the curtain opener for the 2021 campaign, we had gotten a taste of what we can look forward to this year when 32 cars tested on the oval at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway earlier this month. It was incredibly refreshing at that time to see and hear the cars in the flesh once again. And as I will be posted at the South end of pit lane for this year's broadcast of the Indianapolis 500, I made sure to spend some time getting the lay of the land down there but I'm never in a great hurry to leave IMS anyway.

Take a walk down pit lane during the NTT IndyCar Series preseason test at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

It's an imperfect science trying to judge who looks strong around IMS simply with the eye test but Josef Newgarden and Graham Rahal both appeared very strong in traffic as I watched them run in large groups. The speed chart seemed to back up my observations, however, with Newgarden checking in with the fastest speed of the two-day test and Rahal posting the fifth fastest speed.

The two days of oval testing have me all the more eager for the 105th Indy 500 on May 30th but there's still a lot of work to do between now and then! I'm back on the road this Thursday for the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg! I'm excited to get back to one of my favorite events on the calendar and one more weekend in the IndyCar paddock before switching back into sports car mode to close out April with SRO America at Circuit of The Americas.

IndyCar Radio will have live coverage of every NTT IndyCar Series session at St. Pete along with the two Indy Lights races, so I hope you join us for all of the fun!

--Ryan