CHEVROLET IN NTT INDYCAR SERIES
CHILDREN’S OF ALABAMA INDY GRAND PRIX
LEEDS, ALABAMA
TEAM CHEVY RACE ADVANCE
APRIL 28-30, 2023
DETROIT (April 26, 2023) – Beautiful Barber Motorsports Park in Leeds, Alabama welcomes the NTT INDYCAR Series for the fourth race of the 2023 season, and Team Chevy as the defending winner of both the NTT P1 Pole Award and the race.
Pato O’Ward of Arrow McLaren captured the win in last year’s event on the 2.3-mile permanent road course and comes in with a strong start to the 2023 season. Ed Carpenter Racings’ Rinus VeeKay arrives this weekend for his 50th career INDYCAR start and is determined to compete for the win at one of his favorite tracks after capturing last year’s NTT P1 Pole Award. “First road course race of the season and our best race last year,” exclaimed VeeKay. “Barber is a very good track for us. I got the pole there last year but unfortunately only finished third when we were able to win. Hopefully, we can pick right back up where we left off last year!”
With three wins at Barber, the most of any driver in the field, Josef Newgarden of Team Penske looks to capture a fourth victory this weekend on top of his 2015, 2017 and 2018 wins-all powered by Chevrolet, saying he’s “so excited for Barber. It used to be my home track before the Music City Grand Prix,” noted Newgarden. “It’s right down the road, two-and-a-half hours. It’s a rollercoaster of a racetrack and I’ve had some good luck there, some very good cars. Hoping we can put together another good run this year.”
Scoring seven wins since 2012 in the 2.2L V6 Twin Turbo Direct Injection era at Barber Motorsports Park along with eight P1 awards, 15 podiums, and 560 laps led Chevrolet seeks its 108th victory in the Bowtie brand’s 186th INDYCAR race.
“Barber Motorsports Park has been a successful venue for Team Chevy since the 2012 debut of the 2.2 liter V6 engine,” noted Rob Buckner, IndyCar Program Manager at General Motors. “Our Chevrolet engineers have worked well with our teams to develop the right combination to produce seven wins in 10 races at Barber. But we also recognize the high level of competition in INDYCAR at the moment. Our engineers will continue to work hard to find improvements with our teams to keep Chevrolet at the front each weekend.”
“As to the track itself, it represents a number of challenges,” described Buckner. “It’s the first natural-terrain road course of the year. That means lots of elevation change and punishing runoff areas that always get the attention of drivers. Consistent power application and fuel management across the hills and around all 17 corners will be key. There’s nothing more we’d like than to go into the month of May and Indianapolis with another victory at Barber.”
The Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix kicks off with Practice 1 Friday, April 28 at 3:40 p.m. ET, with Practice 2 starting Saturday, April 29 at noon ET. Qualifications then start at 3 p.m. ET Saturday. A final warm up will start race day Sunday at noon ET. All practice and qualifying will be live on Peacock, INDYCAR Radio and SiriusXM Channel 160. The 90-lap, 207-mile race Sunday, April 30 will take the green flag at 3 p.m. ET live on NBC.
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING
Will Power, No. 12 Chevrolet at Team Penske:
“I really, really enjoy Barber. It’s a very nice facility. It’s a tough track with super high-commitment corners. We were able to test there, and I think we have a pretty good setup. We’ll roll off the truck pretty good, we hope. The series is so tight now; you never know where you’re at.”
Pato O’Ward, No. 5 Chevrolet at Arrow McLaren INDYCAR:
“Barber Motorsports Park is one of the tracks I always look forward to – I’ve loved it ever since I started racing there in junior Formulas. It’s a very fast, very flowy track, and it’s easy to enjoy what a race car has to offer around that place. I’m excited to go back. We’ve had a great package there in the last few years, so let’s see what we can do this year.”
Felix Rosenqvist, No. 6 Chevrolet at Arrow McLaren INDYCAR:
”First road course of the year. Barber Motorsports Park is an amazing track, and it’s probably the biggest physical challenge for us drivers. It’s historically our best road course track, so hopefully we have enough to keep that going.”
Alexander Rossi, No. 7 Chevrolet at Arrow McLaren INDYCAR:
”Barber Motorsports Park is always a thrilling challenge, and I’m eager to take it on this weekend. Our team has shown great performance to start the year, but we need to start getting results. As a driver, you always strive for that perfect balance between precision and aggression, and Barber demands nothing less. I’m excited to see the fan energy as we push ourselves and battle for the top spot on the podium.”
Conor Daly, No. 20 Chevrolet at Ed Carpenter Racing:
“Our team has been successful at Barber Motorsports Park in the past and I’m excited to see what we’ve got this year. Obviously, Rinus (VeeKay) has been really fast there, and I hope to be able to learn from him and improve myself. The No. 20 BITNILE.COM car has been a bit unlucky there in the past couple years, so hopefully we can get things to go our way! The goal is now to kind of restart our season at Barber and get things going in the right direction.”
Rinus VeeKay, No. 21 Chevrolet at Ed Carpenter Racing:
“First road course race of the season and our best race last year! Barber is a very good track for us. I got the pole there last year but unfortunately only finished third when we were able to win. Hopefully we can pick right back up where we left off last year! ECR has won here in the past, so I am excited to go back to such a cool track. It’s a lovely place to race at the end of April. Brings some momentum into May, that’s what we need! We haven’t had a great start to the season, we need to turn it around and Barber is a great track to do that at.”
Santino Ferrucci, No. 14 Chevrolet at AJ Foyt Racing:
“Super excited to head to Barber to carry the momentum off of Long Beach. Haven’t been back for a little while now, so we will see how it goes for the team, but I know that Benjamin’s (Pedersen) rookie test proved successful, so I’m very excited to see what they learned and apply it to this weekend.”
Benjamin Pedersen, No. 55 Chevrolet at AJ Foyt Racing:
“I am really looking forward to being back at Barber this week. This is a track I have experience with and have found success at from F3 to Indy Lights. It will be nice to be back on a track that I am familiar with and it happens to be one of my favorite tracks on the schedule. We had a great test here last month in the No. 55 Sexton Properties Chevrolet, so I am excited to see what we can build on and accomplish as a team when we are on track beginning this Friday.”
CHEVROLET AT BARBER
Wins at Barber (since 2012): 7
2012 – Will Power
2013 – Ryan Hunter-Reay
2015 – Josef Newgarden
2016 – Simon Pagenaud
2017 – Josef Newgarden
2018 – Josef Newgarden
2022 – Pato O’Ward
Chevrolet Driver with the Most Barber Wins (since 2012): Josef Newgarden (3 – 2015, 2017, 2018)
Number of Team Chevy Pole Awards at Barber (since 2012): 9 (2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2021, 2022)
Chevrolet Driver with the Most Barber Pole Awards (since 2012): Helio Castroneves (2012, 2015) and Will Power (2014, 2017) – 2
Number of Team Chevy Podiums at Barber (since 2012): 15
Number of laps led by Team Chevy at Barber (since 2012): 560
2023 CHEVROLET BY THE NUMBERS
185: NTT INDYCAR SERIES races as V6 engine supplier since 2012 return to INDYCAR.
107: Wins in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES since 2012.
121: Earned poles since 2012.
7: Five Chevrolet drivers have won seven events since 2012 on the 2.3-mile permanent 17-turn permanent road course.
7: Manufacturer Championships since 2012.
7: Driver/entrant champions since 2012.
26: Wins by Will Power since 2012 – all with Chevrolet power – most of any driver with same manufacturer.
14: Consecutive seasons with at least one win by Will Power, including past 11 with Chevrolet power.
9: Wins from pole by Will Power with Chevrolet power since 2012, most by any driver.
44: Pole starts by Will Power since 2012 in a Chevrolet-powered car, most of any driver.
*Will Power’s career total of 68 poles makes him the all-time pole winner in INDYCAR.