(Photo: Joe Skibinski / INDYCAR)
By Aaron Bearden

After each NTT IndyCar Series race, Motorsports Beat will share a piece breaking down the stories and takeaways from the weekend. This is a report on the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama from Barber Motorsports Park

NTT IndyCar Series 

Who Won? 

Alex Palou. He surged ahead on a two-stop strategy and fended off Will Power for a breakthrough first IndyCar win.

Top Stories

A strong early statement

In a time when the icons of yesteryear are beginning to age out, one of the NTT IndyCar Series’ brightest young stars made a key step into the spotlight Sunday at Barber Motorsports Park. 

Alex Palou was among the prospects to watch this year, arriving at the powerful Chip Ganassi Racing after showing promise in his rookie year with Dale Coyne Racing. The Super Formula graduate had reached the podium in 2020, leading keen observers in the paddock to question whether he could stand at the top step of the podium with the No. 10 team in 2021. 

The answer came quickly – it was a resounding yes. 

Palou showed off his improved form in dramatic style over the weekend in Alabama, not putting a wheel wrong over 90 laps and withstanding a late charge from 2014 champ Will Power to score his first IndyCar victory. 

“It was possible, because we had the best team and the best cars,” Palou said of his run. “We did it. It’s amazing. It was one of those days where everything went well. Come on, what else can I ask for?”

Palou was the star attraction, but he was just one part of a triumphant day for Ganassi. 

Defending champion Scott Dixon held true to form in the first race of his quest for a seventh title. The New Zealander put together his typical strong, quiet performance to round out the podium in third. Marcus Ericsson also finished a strong eighth at day’s end – disappointing given that he had ran in the top-five, but still promising for the year.

Crossover rookie Jimmie Johnson understandably struggled in 19th, but Ganassi otherwise placed all of its teams in the top-eight on pace in a race where no other organization had more than one car in the top-10. 

Palou emerged as an early breakout contender. Dixon looked true to his usual championship form. Ericsson even showed glimpses of potential future success. 

Consider it a statement of intent for a team eager to dominate the new IndyCar season. 

Lost opportunity

Before Palou’s breakthrough at race’s end, Sunday appeared set up to be the crowning moment for another young IndyCar star. 

Fresh off of his second pole run on Saturday, Pato O’Ward led the field to green for Arrow McLaren SP at a track where three of the prior four pole sitters had won. 

He led early on and showed arguably the strongest pace on the day, but O’Ward found himself challenged after teams around him gambled on a two-stop strategy while he pitted three times. 

The stops shifted O’Ward back to fifth for the final run to the checkered flag, and O’Ward’s march forward was exacerbated by contact with Sebastien Bourdais during an attempted overtake. 

He still fought his way back to within sight of the leaders, but O’Ward had to settle for fourth at race’s end after running out of time to pass the top trio running just ahead of him. 

Not a bad result for sure, but three places short of the mark O’Ward seemed destined to reach just hours earlier. 

 

A big crash and a close call

Josef Newgarden’s 2021 got off to as inauspicious a start as possible in Alabama. 

Keen to compete for his third championship after falling just short of catching Dixon in 2020, Newgarden arrived at Barber among the favorites to bring home a race win at weekend’s end. But he instead failed to complete a single lap. 

The Team Penske ace was maneuvering through the opening circuit when he lost control of his No. 2 Chevrolet at the exit of Turn 4. Newgarden then put a wheel off into the grass and spun back up in front of the pack, leaving the field behind him with nowhere to go. 

Numerous contenders piled into what became a sizable crash, including Colton Herta, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Felix Rosenqvist and Max Chilton. Newgarden and Hunter-Reay were eliminated from the race, while the others were all left with damaged cars that either required rebuilding during the race or were simply slowed with damage. 

Newgarden wound up 23rd in the first race of 2021, his worst result to date with Penske. The Tennessean quickly apologized for his accident after being released from the infield care center. 

“I just got loose coming over the hill,” Newgarden said of the shunt. “I had a good start, we were lining in pretty nicely, but I just got loose in the wake. I felt I had (control of) the car and touched the grass, and once I touched the grass it pitched me sideways.

“I feel really bad for everyone involved. My mess created a bigger mess behind, so I’m really sorry as it was obviously us who tipped it off. It was a shame, I felt like we had a really good car. We just have to bounce back at the next one.” 

While he was forced to join Newgarden with an early elimination, Hunter-Reay was left with a feeling of gratefulness after reviewing the crash. A look at the cockpit footage from his No. 28 Honda showed that the aeroscreen cockpit safety device implemented in 2020 may have saved his life. 

The replay footage from Hunter-Reay’s onboard showed that Newgarden’s right-front wheel was on a path toward the cockpit when it struck the aeroscreen, diverting the tire away from Hunter-Reay’s helmet. 

“Well that was a weekend to forget,” Hunter-Reay shared on social media. “We struggled w/ drivetrain (straightline speed) issues through practice and qualifying. Then our race ended before it really started, taken out in first lap pile-up. Extremely grateful for the (IndyCar) Aeroscreen. Likely saved my life.”

 

(Mostly) clean and green for the rookie trio

IndyCar’s immensely popular rookie trio all arrived at Barber Motorsports Park with one basic goal – keep their cars clean and reach the checkered flag. 

Their end results on the stat sheets varied, but all three drivers made it to the end of Sunday’s 90-lap affair with their cars intact.

Romain Grosjean was the leader of the trio, seemingly making the transition from Formula 1 to IndyCar with ease. The Frenchman narrowly missed the Fast 6 in qualifying and didn’t falter in the race, coming home 10th after an impressive first run.

“It was my first race and my first top 10 finish, so we can be very happy with that,” Grosjean said. “We fought at the front for some time, and we did our best. We learned a lot today, and overall, we can be very proud of our weekend.” 

Three-time Supercars champion Scott McLaughlin was comparatively quiet in 14th, but found himself within range of teammate Simon Pagenaud in 12th after what a difficult day for the entirety of Team Penske outside of runner-up Power. His second start wasn’t a thriller, but accomplished the end goal of gaining experience. 

“I got held up a little bit mid-race, which is a little disappointing,” McLaughlin said. “I just didn’t know the capacity of the car, and I was a bit nervous. I just wanted to get one race under my belt. I ended up reasonable, but it just took too long. I can’t wait for St. Pete.”

Johnson was given easily the biggest challenge of the trio, with the 45-year-old tasked with a late career adaptation from the heavy stock cars of NASCAR to the lighter indy cars. 

The seven-time Cup champion dodged the opening lap crash but caused the day’s other yellow when he spun on his own. Thankfully he was able to keep his car from hitting anything and gaining damage, allowing him to continue on to a 19th-place run at race’s end. 

“Just a ton of learning experiences throughout the day,” Johnson said of his debut. “I’m very thankful for this opportunity that Chip (Ganassi) has given me, everybody at CGR and the great support from Carvana and the American Legion. These laps are so important to me … I just can’t say too many times how different this is and how specialized this craft is and how good these drivers are in the series.”

All three rookies will get another chance to learn and adapt to IndyCar next weekend when the series returns to action at St. Petersburg. 

 

Questions for power teams

It was a good day for Chip Ganassi Racing, but the team’s two biggest rivals were left with more questions than answers after the first race of 2021. 

An annual championship favorite, Team Penske didn’t look up to its usual form overall.

The team did see a bright spot from Power, who looked every bit of his potential world-beating self in a strong runner-up run. Looking to start the year on the right foot, the Australian thought he might be capable of bringing home a win. But the impressive pace of Palou proved to be too much in the end. 

“It just blew my mind how fast Alex was in that first stint,” Power said. “I had absolutely nothing for him; he just pulled away, so I figured he was doing a three-stop race, because I was getting the best lap time I could for the fuel number (target).” 

Power’s success was the lone bright point overall for Penske, who placed no one else in the top-10. Pagenaud was the next best performer in 12th, with McLaughlin 14th and Newgarden crashed out in 23rd. 

Andretti Autosport didn’t fair much better. On a day when Alexander Rossi started second and seemed capable of a key victory to kick off 2021, he instead faded to ninth in a run symbolic for the entire organization. 

Of the team’s other three drivers, two were impacted by the opening crash in Herta and Hunter-Reay, while James Hinchcliffe struggled home in 17th. 

In an IndyCar Series stacked with talent, there’s little margin for error. Both Penske and Andretti will have to minimize mistakes moving forward to bounce back from some of the difficult results seen at Barber. 

Notes

  • How about Sebastien Bourdais? The veteran pick up from A.J. Foyt Racing paid immediate dividends to kick off 2021, with Bourdais giving the team a strong fifth-place run. 
  • Rinus Veekay finished a quiet sixth at Barber, which may not seem that impressive until you realize how close his race came to disaster. 
  • Takuma Sato was the defending winner at Barber, with his triumph coming in 2019 given that the track was scrubbed from the COVID-altered 2020 schedule. But Sato was a nonfactor on Sunday, quietly coming home in 13th. 
  • It didn’t ultimately amount to anything, but being trapped in the dirty air behind Conor Daly led Palou to let Power and Dixon close up to him over the final five laps. Lapped traffic can be a real difference maker in IndyCar events that stay green for long stretches. 
  • Barber was a weekend to forget for Felix Rosenqvist. He accidentally caught the barrier while entering the pits in practice, spun into a gravel trap in qualifying and then got caught up in the Lap 1 crash during the race. Things can only go up from here for the newcomer at Arrow McLaren SP. 

 

Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama Results

  1. Alex Palou
  2. Will Power
  3. Scott Dixon
  4. Pato O’Ward
  5. Sebastien Bourdais
  6. Rinus Veekay
  7. Graham Rahal
  8. Marcus Ericsson
  9. Alexander Rossi
  10. Romain Grosjean
  11. Jack Harvey
  12. Simon Pagenaud
  13. Takuma Sato
  14. Scott McLaughlin
  15. Ed Jones
  16. Conor Daly
  17. James Hinchcliffe
  18. Dalton Kellett
  19. Jimmie Johnson
  20. Max Chilton
  21. Felix Rosenqvist
  22. Colton Herta
  23. Josef Newgarden
  24. Ryan Hunter-Reay
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Aaron Bearden Barber Motorsports Park Featured NTT IndyCar Series