With permanent road courses comprising the bulk of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES’ spring schedule, most of the teams will test Tuesday at Barber Motorsports Park.
Nineteen of the 27 car-and-driver combinations are set to participate at the 17-turn, 2.3-mile track, the site of the Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix powered by AmFirst on Sunday, May 4. Between now and then, the second race of the season, The Thermal Club INDYCAR Grand Prix, will be held Sunday, March 23. The Sonsio Grand Prix on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course will take place Saturday, May 10.
Eight of the 11 teams will be in Birmingham, Alabama, for Tuesday’s test. The three other teams are choosing to use their allotted test days at another venue. There will be five Chevrolet teams and three Honda teams at Barber Motorsports Park.
As this is a private test, timing and scoring information will not be provided to the public. However, INDYCAR.com will provide an overview of the session.
Tuesday’s test includes an example of how teams manage their technical alliances and share resources. Meyer Shank Racing will test with its two drivers, Felix Rosenqvist and Marcus Armstrong, and it is expected to share the information it gathers with its partner, Chip Ganassi Racing, which will use its test on the IMS road course later this month.
Each of Tuesday’s eight participating teams will bring its full allotment of drivers, highlighted by Team Penske and drivers Josef Newgarden, Scott McLaughlin and Will Power. Those drivers have combined to win seven of the 14 races held at the track.
McLaughin won last year’s race at Barber Motorsports Park from the pole with Power finishing second. McLaughlin also won the 2023 race. Power won there in 2011 and 2012. Newgarden is the track’s career leader with three wins (2015, 2017 and 2018).
The NTT INDYCAR SERIES staged its first race at Barber Motorsports Park in 2010. Other race winners in this year’s field include Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou, who won in 2021, and Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward, the winner in 2022.
Palou is the series leader by virtue of winning the season-opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg presented by RP Funding on March 2.