IndyCars - Barber: The season begins!

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Usually, the IndyCar season begins in March and the venue is St. Petersburg, Florida, but due to COVID-19, we are a month late and about 625 miles north and west near Birmingham, Alabama for…
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The Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama

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BarberMotorsportsPark350

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The place is the beautiful natural road course at Barber Motorsports Park. Built for motorcycle racing, Barber should be too curvy and too narrow for great IndyCar racing but the track has consistently delivered great races from the first time IndyCars showed up in 2010. With a brand new re-pave, the recent tests for both IndyCars and the Road to Indy series have shown the track to be faster than anytime in the past. Records will likely fall, this weekend.

The 2.38-mile course has 17 turns and features a roller-coaster-like 80 feet of elevation change that challenge drivers and engineers alike. In fact, some of the early turns are known as the “Alabama Roller Coaster.”

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The king of Barber among current drivers is Josef Newgarden for Team Penske who has WON here 3 times, including his very first IndyCar WIN in 2015, but teammate Will Power has 2 WINS here as does Andretti Autosport’s Ryan Hunter-Reay.

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The great news is there will be fans in attendance at Barber this weekend and they are in for a GREAT slate of racing, with no less than 12 races to watch. They include:

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  • The Radical Cup - 3 races on Friday and Saturday
  • Porsche Sprint Challenge - 2 races on Saturday and Sunday
  • USF2000 - 2 races on Saturday
  • Indy Pro 2000 - 2 races on Saturday and Sunday
  • Indy Lights - 2 races on Saturday and Sunday

…and of course, the IndyCars will race on Sunday.

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Let’s look at all that support racing -

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  • The Radical Cup features purpose-built SportsCars that are fast, reliable and cheap enough to be accessible and that’s the whole idea: Bring real racing to as many speed freaks as possible. Radicals come in three main types and all three will be racing here at the same time. However, no IndyCar guys will be among them so we will wish the Radicals safe and happy racing and not follow them.

  • Porsche Sprint Challenge is a stepping stone on the Porsche Motorsport pyramid between the Clubsport/club racing entry stage and the Carrera Cup North America. Broken into three classes of GT3 and GT4 cars, the better drivers at the end of the season will be looking for rides in the top Carrera Cup the next year. However, no IndyCar guys will be among them so we will wish the Porsches safe and happy racing and not follow them.

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continued…

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Support racing…(part 2)…

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The Road to Indy is the ladder system that trains drivers to be ready to drive IndyCars. It is made up of three series - USF2000, Indy Pro 2000 and Indy Lights. What makes it special is that the champion of USF2000 is awarded a scholarship that is applied to a full season of Indy Pro 2000. The champion of Indy Pro 2000 likewise is awarded a scholarship that is applied to a full season of Indy Lights. The champion of Indy Lights is awarded a scholarship that is applied to three IndyCar races, including the Indy 500. In other words, a young driver can actually end up in an Indy 500 without spending a dime of his or her own money!
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  • USF2000 is the bottom rung on the ladder - the starting point for most drivers. Most rookies here are coming from karting or from wingless formula cars like formula 1600s. This car will be the first one they drive to have wings and slick tires on it, as they begin to learn what aero downforce and mechanical grip mean to a race car. The carbon-composite / aluminum honeycomb Tatuus USF-17 has a 2.0 liter 4-cylinder engine with 175 hp built by Elite Engines and a Sadev SL75 six-speed sequential transmission with steering-wheel paddle shifters. Unlike other F4-spec race cars, it is built for the rigors of oval racing, with extra protection for the driver. The drivers in USF2000 come from all over the world to compete and the level of talent can range from extremely high to hopelessly outclassed but willing to learn. The fields are always large.

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2020 Champion Christian Rasmussen in his Tatuus USF-17
ChristianRasmussenJHDD300-2

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  • Indy Pro 2000 is the middle rung of the ladder. The car is the Tatuus PM-18 which is essentially a stouter version of the USF-17. The chassis is the same, so teams who compete in USF2000 can easily convert their car to run in Indy Pro 2000 without a huge upcharge for a new car. The MZR-PM18A engine is also 2.0 liters but it puts out more power - 275 hp and almost 200 pounds of torque. The wings and the tires are all bigger, so the downforce, braking and grip is better. The drivers in “IP2K” are usually experienced junior formula drivers from all over the world. As a result, the level of competition is very high, with many drivers capable of podiums and WINS. It is rare for a driver to run away with the title. The fields are smaller than USF2000 but the commitment is higher.

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2020 Champion Sting Ray Robb in his Tatuus PM-18
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  • Indy Lights is the top rung of the ladder and a fitting series to prepare to drive an IndyCar in battle. The car is the all-carbon composite Dallara IL-15. It has a 2.0 liter 4 cylinder engine, like the other 2 cars, but it is turbo-charged, like the big cars, and produces 450 hp with additional power available with Push-to-Pass, again, just like the big cars. It has more wing and tires than the other two cars and so more downforce, braking and grip. It also has much more downloadable information available for engineers to use, and as such is an important training tool for them, too. The drivers come from all over the world to compete and are usually among the highest level of junior formula drivers anywhere. The field will be the smallest of the three series, but the value of Indy Lights is evident when looking at the roster in IndyCars, where so many of the drivers are former Lights pilots, including former champions.

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2019 Champion Oliver Askew in his Dallara IL-15
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USF2000 and Indy Pro 2000 will start the weekend off for us with two test session each, starting early Thursday morning, followed by their one practice session of the weekend in the afternoon. LET’S GO!!

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Thursday morning at Barber - USF2000 come out for testing…

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The first guys on track for this weekend were the kids from USF2000 who came out for two scheduled test sessions, which were followed by a practice session in the afternoon. (The difference between a TEST and a PRACTICE is simply and only that the series has to pay the track for test time while the practice is already included in the race weekend.)

About a week ago the Road to Indy held Spring Training at Barber and everyone learned a great deal at that time about their set-ups. As a result MANY of the teams opted today to save their precious Cooper tires and NOT run in some of the testing or the practice. The first test session only saw 15 of the 26 cars entered this weekend come out. Similarly, the practice session only saw 11 cars come out. The 2nd test session, however, was full of cars so we are presenting that session here for your perusal.

Here was the order of speed for the USF2000 Test # 2, with times for the TOP FIVE: [R] denotes rookie

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1 - Kiko Porto, DEForce Racing - time of 1:21.6006s for a speed of 101.470mph
KikoPortoDEForceRacing300-1

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2 - Nolan Siegel, DEForce Racing - time of 01:21.6504s for a speed of 101.408mph
NolanSiegel150-

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3 - Christian Brooks, Exclusive Autosport - time of 01:21.6722s for a speed of 101.381mph
ChristianBrooks150-4

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4 - Jace Denmark [R], Pabst Racing - time of 01:21.8556s for a speed of 101.154mph
JaceDenmark150-2

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5 - Prescott Campbell, DEForce Racing - time of 01:21.8733s for a speed of 101.132mph
PrescottCampbell150-3

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6 - Josh Pierson, Pabst Racing
7 - Josh Green, Turn 3 Motorsports
8 - Yuven Sundaramoorthy, Pabst Racing
9 - Billy Frazer [R], Exclusive Autosport
10 - Michael D’Orlando, Cape Motorsports

11 - Dylan Christie [R], Turn 3 Motorsports
12 - Spike KohlBecker [R], Ignite Autosport w/ Cape Motorsports
13 - Myles Rowe [R], Force Indy
14 - Elysiah Navarro [R], DEForce Racing
15 - Thomas Nepveu [R], Cape Motorsports
16 - Erik Evans [R], Velocity Racing Development
17 - Andre Castro [R], Marotti Autosport / Legacy Autosport
18 - Jackson Lee [R], Jay Howard Driver Development
19 - Peter Vodanovich [R], Jay Howard Driver Development
20 - Simon Sikes, Marotti Autosport / Legacy Autosport

21 - Bijoy Garg, Jay Howard Driver Development
22 - Evan Stamer [R], Ignite Autosport w/ Cape Motorsports
23 - Trey Burke [R], Joe Dooling Autosports
24 - Grant Palmer [R], Exclusive Autosport
25 - Kent Vaccaro [R], Miller Vinatieri Motorsports
26 - Matt Round-Garrido, Exclusive Autosport

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Notable:

  • It’s no surprise to us that the TOP TEN was dominated by veterans and these particular drivers were also TOPS at Spring Training, with variations in their order of speed. The TOP TEN were all within a half-second of each other and the TOP TWENTY were all within a second of each other. We are in for a great season, as these kids are good.

  • DEForce Racing takes the top two spots while the “speed boys” at Pabst Racing get all three of their drivers in the TOP TEN, including phenomenal rookie Jace Denmark in P4. Denmark has almost no experience in formula cars but is outclassing many veterans of the discipline. His best work to date has been driving the small Legend Cars, and very successfully.

  • The other rookie in the TOP TEN is Billy Frazer who was the Formula Ford Champion of New Zealand in 2020.

  • We are also blown away by Nolan Siegel, a third year driver, and Josh Pierson, a sophomore. Both have suddenly blossomed into serious contenders at the age of 16 and 15 respectively, when they were barely on the radar last year.

  • Matt Round-Garrido for Exclusive Autosport did not have a working transponder, so we have no idea how fast he really was.

  • Both Andre Castro and Simon Sikes were NOT at Spring Training, as last minute additions to the weekend of racing. These are their first few laps in a Tatuus USF-17 in many months for Sikes and a few years for Castro.

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Francisco “Kiko” Porto
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On Friday USF2000 will qualify for Race 1 of the weekend in the morning and Race 2 in the afternoon. Next up, Indy Pro 2000 test and practice…

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Thursday morning at Barber - Indy Pro 2000 holds testing…

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Like the kids of USF2000, the Indy Pro 2000 gang held two test session, followed by their one practice. The IP2K gang populated both test sessions fully but only 3 cars came out for the practice session in the afternoon, for the same reason as in USF2000 - With Spring Training a very recent memory, the teams are saving their Cooper tires for the racing here and at St. Pete. We have COMBINED the two test sessions here to give you a snapshot of the order of speed.

Here was the order of speed for the Indy Pro 2000 tests 1 and 2 COMBINED, with times for the TOP FIVE: [R] denotes rookie; drivers best session is in ( )

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1 - Artem Petrov, Exclusive Autosport - time of 01:17.2613s for a speed of 107.169mph (2)
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2 - Hunter McElrea, Pabst Racing - time of 01:17.2636s for a speed of 107.166mph (2)
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3 - Manuel Sulaiman, Juncos Racing - time of 01:17.2680s for a speed of 107.159mph (1)
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4 - Braden Eves, Exclusive Autosport - time of 01:17.2828s for a speed of 107.139mph (1)
BradenEves150-5

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5 - Enzo Fittipaldi [R], RP Motorsport USA - time of 01:17.3766s for a speed of 107.009mph (2)
EnzoFittipaldi150-1

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6 - Kyffin Simpson [R], Juncos Racing (1)
7 - Reece Gold [R], Juncos Racing (2)
8 - Christian Rasmussen [R], Jay Howard Driver Development (2)
9 - Cameron Shields, DEForce Racing (1)
10 - Enaam Ahmed [R], RP Motorsport USA (2)

11 - Hunter Yeany [R], Velocity Racing Development (2)
12 - Wyatt Brichacek [R], Jay Howard Driver Development (2)
13 - Colin Kaminsky, Pabst Racing (2)
14 - Jack William Miller [R], Miller Vinatieri Motorsports (2)
15 - Jacob Abel, Abel Motorsports (2)
16 - James Roe [R], Turn 3 Motorsport (2)
17 - Flinn Lazier [R], Legacy Autosport (1)

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Notable:

  • We said that there is great parity of talent in this series and we weren’t kidding. All 17 drivers were within 1 second of each other, and the TOP FIVE were separated by a mere 0.11 seconds. The racing in IP2K is going to be decided by fractions of a second for most of the season. Stand by!

  • Those TOP FIVE veterans are there for a reason. Artem had 2 WINS in 2020 as did Manuel. Hunter got a WIN as did Braden, who was injured and didn’t complete the season.

  • Best rookie here is young Enzo Fittipaldi who is coming from the FIA Formula 3 Championship. Rookies are usually dangerous contenders in IP2K as they are rookies in this series only and very experienced in their racecraft.

  • The veterans have an advantage only over drivers from overseas, as those guys will not know the tracks. Graduates of USF2000 will know the tracks as well as anyone. They will just have to learn the full capabilities of the Tatuus PM-18.

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Artem Petrov
ArtemPetrov

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On Friday Indy Pro 2000 will hold qualifying for Race 1 in the morning and for Race 2 in the afternoon. Next up, the Indy Lights hold their practice…

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Thursday at Barber - The Indy Lights hold their practice session…

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In the afternoon the Lights held their one and only practice session and we have those results here.

Here was the order of speed for the Indy Lights P-1 practice session, with times for the TOP FIVE: [R] denotes rookie

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1 - Linus Lundqvist [R], GRG w/HMD Motorsports - time of 01:12.7378s for a speed of 113.834mph
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2 - David Malukas, HMD Motorsports - time of 01:12.9320s for a speed of 113.530mph
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3 - Toby Sowery, Juncos Racing - time of 01:13.0816s for a speed of 113.298mph
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4 - Benjamin Pedersen [R], GRG w/HMD Motorsports - time of 01:13.1323s for a speed of 113.219mph
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5 - Devlin DeFrancesco [R], Andretti Steinbrenner Racing - time of 01:13.4101s for a speed of 112.791mph
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6 - Robert Megennis, Andretti Autosport
7 - Alex Pironi [R], Carlin / Jay Howard Driver Development
8 - Kyle Kirkwood [R], Andrtetti Autosport
9 - Danial Frost [R], Andretti Autosport
10 - Sting Ray Robb [R], Juncos Racing

11 - Antonio Serravalle [R], Pserra Racing
12 - Nikita Lastochkin [R], HMD Motorsports
13 - Christian Bogle [R], Carlin / Jay Howard Driver Development

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Notable:

  • The TOP TEN cars were all within a second of each other. Christian Bogle was 1.7 seconds off Lundqvist’s pace. Linus was the run-away Champion of Formula Regional Americas last year, with 15 WINS in 17 races. Dave Malukas WON the other two.

  • HMD Motorsport put 3 guys in the TOP FIVE. Andretti Autosport has dominated the Indy Lights for the last few years but between this practice and Spring Training it is clear their supremacy will be challenged by HMD this season.

  • It’s gratifying to see Toby Sowery doing well. In 2019 he was able to run the full season only by a continuous series of great showings which attracted sponsors on the fly. The Englishman well-earned this spot at Juncos Racing.

  • We have to be impressed with Antonio Serravalle and the little family team Pserra Racing for their showing. Antonio was only 1.2 seconds off Linus. Not too shabby for this, their first Indy Lights effort.

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Linus Lunqvist
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On Friday the Indy Lights will qualify for Race 1 in the morning and for Race 2 in the afternoon. This was the last on-track activity of the day.

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Friday at Barber - A day of qualifying for the Road to Indy…

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Today all three series that make up the Road to Indy will qualify for both of their weekend races - 6 sessions in all. On double-header weekends such as this, the Road to Indy’s policy is to hold a qually session for each race, rather than use the 2nd fastest lap of a single session to grid the second race. This takes more time and effort, but it also allow teams to adjust their cars between sessions to improve a qualifying attempt. Today the first series on track to qualify for Race 1 of the weekend were the kids from USF2000.

Here is the way that USF2000 will grid for Season Round 1, with times for the TOP SIX: [R] denotes rookie

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Row 1

Pole - Yuven Sundaramoorthy, Pabst Racing - time of 1:21.1201s
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P2 - Prescott Campbell, DEForce Racing - time of 1:21.1341s
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Row 2

P3 - Josh Pierson, Pabst Racing - time of 1:21.1447s
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P4 - Michael D’Orlando, Cape Motorsports - time of 1:21.1550s
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Row 3

P5 - Jace Denmark [R], Pabst Racing - time of 1:21.2462s
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P6 - Spike Kohlbecker [R], Ignite Autosport w/ Cape Motorsports - time of 1:21.2561s
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Row 4

P7 - Christian Brooks, Exclusive Autosport
P8 - Josh Green, Turn 3 Motorsports

Row 5

P9 - Myles Rowe [R], Force Indy
P10 - Nolan Siegel, DEForce Racing

Row 6

P11 - Kiko Porto, DEForce Racing
P12 - Billy Frazer [R], Exclusive Autosport

Row 7

P13 - Elysiah Navarro [R], DEForce Racing
P14 - Jackson Lee [R], Jay Howard Driver Development

Row 8

P15 - Peter Vodanovich [R], Jay Howard Driver Development
P16 - Thomas Nepveu [R], Cape Motorsports

Row 9

P17 - Simon Sikes, Marotti Autosport / Legacy Autosport
P18 - Bijoy Garg, Jay Howard Driver Development

Row 10

P19 - Dylan Christie [R], Turn 3 Motorsports
P20 - Grant Palmer [R], Exclusive Autosport

Row 11

P21 - Andre Castro [R], Marotti Autosport / Legacy Autosport
P22 - Erik Evans [R], Velocity Racing Development

Row 12

P23 - Evan Stamer [R], Ignite Autosport w/ Cape Motorsports
P24 - Kent Vaccaro [R], Miller Vinatieri Motorsports

Row 13

P25 - Matt Round-Garrido, Exclusive Autosport
P26 - Trey Burke [R], Joe Dooling Autosports

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Notable:

  • The young American from Oconomowoc, Wisconsin has poled in other series, but this is Yuven’s first Road to Indy pole and he set a new track record in the doing, earning Pabst Racing’s nickname for their drivers and team, the Speed Boys.

  • Based on pre-season testing and testing yesterday we were mostly not surprised with the TOP SIX, but Spike Kohlbecker pulled something up and out today that he hasn’t shown previously.

  • We were also not surprised with Michael d’Orlando making the grade either, despite his lack of showing yesterday and a week ago. d’Orlando is one of the veterans we expect to WIN races this season, based on his 2020 season. The Mike we like finally showed up.

  • The TOP SIX were separated by a mere 0.14 seconds and the TOP EIGHTEEN were all within a second of each other.

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Yuven Sundaramoorthy - Speed Boy
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This will be the first race of the day on Saturday morning. USF2000 will qualify for Round 2 later today. Next, Indy Pro 2000 qualify for Race 1…

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Friday at Barber - Indy Pro 2000 qualify for Race 1 of the season…

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Following the USF2000 kids the gang from Indy Pro 2000 had their first qualifying of the new season.

Here is the way Indy Pro 2000 will grid for Season Round 1, with times for the TOP SIX: [R] denotes rookie

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Row 1

Pole - Braden Eves, Exclusive Autosport - time of 1:16.1542s
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P2 - Artem Petrov, Exclusive Autosport - time of 1:16.2289s
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Row 2

P3 - Hunter McElrea, Pabst Racing - time of 1:16.2623s
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P4 - Wyatt Brichacek [R], Jay Howard Driver Development - time of 1:16.3044s
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Row 3

P5 - Manuel Sulaiman, Juncos Racing - time of 1:16.3947s
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P6 - Cameron Shields, DEForce Racing - time of 1:16.4683s
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Row 4

P7 - Christian Rasmussen [R], Jay Howard Driver Development
P8 - Reece Gold [R], Juncos Racing

Row 5

P9 - Kyffin Simpson [R], Juncos Racing
P10 - Jacob Abel, Abel Motorsports

Row 6

P11 - Enzo Fittipaldi [R], RP Motorsport USA
P12 - Jack William Miller [R], Miller Vinatieri Motorsports

Row 7

P13 - Colin Kaminsky, Pabst Racing
P14 - Enaam Ahmed [R], RP Motorsport USA

Row 8

P15 - Hunter Yeany [R], Velocity Racing Development
P16 - James Roe [R], Turn 3 Motorsport

Row 9

P17 - Flinn Lazier [R], Legacy Autosport

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Notable:

  • Braden flipped his car completely onto the roll hoop at Indianapolis on the Road Course, Race 1 of 3 in 2020, fracturing a vertebrae in his neck and putting him out of the rest of the season. Fully rehabilitated, he is once again ready to be the bad-ass that he has always been. He broke the track record, here.

  • The “eh team”, Exclusive Autosport puts both drivers on the front row with Russian sophomore Artem Petrov in P2.

  • The TOP SIX are separated by 0.3141 seconds and the TOP FIFTEEN are all within a second of each other.

  • We are gratified to see Jacob Abel in the TOP TEN. Jacob is an accomplished open-wheeler but his family team, Abel Motorsports, is a modest effort, so this is good stuff for them.

Jacob Abel
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Braden Eves - back in the saddle, again
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This race will follow the IndyCar first practice session on Saturday. IP2K will qualify for Season Round 2 later today. Next, the Indy Lights qualify…

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Friday at Barber - The Indy Lights qualify for Race 1 of the weekend…

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The third guys to take to the track today were the boys from Indy Lights, following the previous 2 examples by setting a new track record.

Here is the way Indy Lights will grid for Season Round 1, with times for the TOP SIX: [R] denotes rookie

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Row 1

Pole - Linus Lundqvist [R], GRG w/HMD Motorsports - time of 1:11.5149s
LinusCar

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P2 - David Malukas, HMD Motorsports - time of 1:11.6815s
DavidMalukas150-5

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Row 2

P3 - Kyle Kirkwood [R], Andrtetti Autosport - time of 1:11.8064s
KyleKirkwood150-5

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P4 - Benjamin Pedersen [R], GRG w/HMD Motorsports - time of 1:11.8348s
benjamin150-2_zpst74jlls9

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Row 3

P5 - Toby Sowery, Juncos Racing - time of 1:12.0785s
toby300_zps8sfxbfwg

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P6 - Devlin DeFrancesco [R], Andretti Steinbrenner Racing - time of 1:12.0929s
DevlinDefrancesco150-4

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Row 4

P7 - Alex Pironi [R], Carlin / Jay Howard Driver Development
P8 - Robert Megennis, Andretti Autosport

Row 5

P9 - Sting Ray Robb [R], Juncos Racing
P10 - Danial Frost [R], Andretti Autosport

Row 6

P11 - Nikita Lastochkin [R], HMD Motorsports
P12 - Christian Bogle [R], Carlin / Jay Howard Driver Development

Row 7

P13 - Antonio Serravalle [R], Pserra Racing

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Notable:

  • No surprises, here. HMD Motorsports put three guys in the TOP FOUR and Linus sets a new track record. What a way to start a season! At least Andretti got two guys in the TOP SIX.

  • The TOP SIX are separated by 0.5780 seconds and the TOP TEN are all within a second of each other.

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Linus Lundqvist - first pole of a new series for him
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This race is set for midday on Friday, just after the first Indy Pro 2000 race. Next up, USF2000 qualifies for their Race 2 of the weekend…

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Friday at Barber - USF2000 qualifies for Race 2 and another record falls…

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In the second qually session of the day for USF2000 the TOP SPOT flipped several times in the last few minutes and the end result was yet another record, as Nolan Siegel eclipsed Yuven Sundaramoorthy’s morning record run.

Here is the way that USF2000 will grid for Season Round 2, with times for the TOP SIX: [R] denotes rookie

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Row 1

Pole - Nolan Siegel, DEForce Racing - time of 1:20.9794s
NolanSiegelDEForceRacing300

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P2 - Prescott Campbell, DEForce Racing - time of 1:20.9868s
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Row 2

P3 - Kiko Porto, DEForce Racing - time of 1:20.9888s
KikoPorto150-2

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P4 - Myles Rowe [R], Force Indy - time of 1:21.0748s
MylesRowe150-3

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Row 3

P5 - Dylan Christie [R], Turn 3 Motorsports - time of 1:21.1864s
DylanChristie150-1

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P6 - Josh Pierson, Pabst Racing - time of 1:21.2368s
JoshPierson150-3

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Row 4

P7 - Michael D’Orlando, Cape Motorsports
P8 - Josh Green, Turn 3 Motorsports

Row 5

P9 - Christian Brooks, Exclusive Autosport
P10 - Jace Denmark [R], Pabst Racing

Row 6

P11 - Spike Kohlbecker [R], Ignite Autosport w/ Cape Motorsports
P12 - Thomas Nepveu [R], Cape Motorsports

Row 7

P13 - Billy Frazer [R], Exclusive Autosport
P14 - Andre Castro [R], Marotti Autosport / Legacy Autosport

Row 8

P15 - Yuven Sundaramoorthy, Pabst Racing
P16 - Peter Vodanovich [R], Jay Howard Driver Development

Row 9

P17 - Simon Sikes, Marotti Autosport / Legacy Autosport
P18 - Elysiah Navarro [R], DEForce Racing

Row 10

P19 - Bijoy Garg, Jay Howard Driver Development
P20 - Grant Palmer [R], Exclusive Autosport

Row 11

P21 - Evan Stamer [R], Ignite Autosport w/ Cape Motorsports
P22 - Erik Evans [R], Velocity Racing Development

Row 12

P23 - Jackson Lee [R], Jay Howard Driver Development
P24 - Matt Round-Garrido, Exclusive Autosport

Row 13

P25 - Kent Vaccaro [R], Miller Vinatieri Motorsports
P26 - Trey Burke [R], Joe Dooling Autosports

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Notable:

  • DEForce Racing takes spots P1, P2 and P3 - Wow! Team principals David and Ernesto Martinez - nephew and uncle - have to be thrilled. David was an IndyCar driver while Ernesto was a chief mechanic.

  • This is Nolan Siegel’s 2nd Road to Indy pole, having captured his first near the end of last season, when he decided to turn it on. He beat Yuven Sundaramoorthy’s new track qualifying record by 0.14 seconds, and will own the new record for at least a year.

  • The TOP SIX are separated by only 0.25 seconds and the TOP TWENTY ONE are within a second of each other. What a remarkable field of young drivers.

  • This is the 2nd P2 in 2 qually sessions for Prescott Campbell.

  • Rookie Myles Rowe held the TOP SPOT with 5 minutes to go, but dropped all the way to P8 and then recovered to P4 within those five minutes. It was hectic, to say the least.

  • This is rookie Dylan Christie’s best effort since he started driving these cars. This is rookie Jace Denmark’s worst effort and he STILL made the TOP TEN. The rookies are starting to have fun.

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Nolan Siegel - new track record
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This race is scheduled for late in the day on Saturday, just before the IndyCars qualify. Next up, Indy Pro 2000 qualifies for Race 2 of the weekend…

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Friday at Barber - Indy Pro 2000 holds their 2nd qually of the day…

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A red flag in the last four minutes of qualifying for Race 2 of Indy Pro 2000 ended the session prematurely, with no chance for everyone to put in a last-second flier and steal the pole. The beneficiary was Danish rookie Christian Rasmussen, the 2020 Champion of USF2000, who was on top when the session ended.

Here is the way Indy Pro 2000 will grid for Season Round 2, with times for the TOP SIX: [R] denotes rookie

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Row 1

Pole - Christian Rasmussen [R], Jay Howard Driver Development - time of 1:16.5270s
ChristianRasmussenJHDD300-1

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P2 - Hunter McElrea, Pabst Racing - time of 1:16.6996s
Hunter_zpsh0pw0hud

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Row 2

P3 - Reece Gold [R], Juncos Racing - time of 1:16.7478s
ReeceGold150-6

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P4 - Braden Eves, Exclusive Autosport - time of 1:16.8631s
Braden2_zpsrbhubyl5

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Row 3

P5 - Jacob Abel, Abel Motorsports - time of 1:16.9705s
Jacob_zpsz5p3s8fi

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P6 - Wyatt Brichacek [R], Jay Howard Driver Development - time of 1:17.0194s
Wyatt2_zpsnjmlqysu

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Row 4

P7 - Artem Petrov, Exclusive Autosport
P8 - Jack William Miller [R], Miller Vinatieri Motorsports

Row 5

P9 - Kyffin Simpson [R], Juncos Racing
P10 - Manuel Sulaiman, Juncos Racing

Row 6

P11 - Colin Kaminsky, Pabst Racing
P12 - Enzo Fittipaldi [R], RP Motorsport USA

Row 7

P13 - Enaam Ahmed [R], RP Motorsport USA
P14 - Cameron Shields, DEForce Racing

Row 8

P15 - James Roe [R], Turn 3 Motorsport
P16 - Hunter Yeany [R], Velocity Racing Development

Row 9

P17 - Flinn Lazier [R], Legacy Autosport

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Notable:

  • This is the “Great Dane’s” 11th Road to Indy pole.

  • There is only 0.49 seconds separating the TOP SIX and the TOP FIFTEEN are all within a second of each other.

  • Hunter McElrea, Wyatt Brichacek and Braden Eves all make the TOP SIX twice in one day.

  • Reece Gold and Jacob Abel both improve from this morning, as both crack the TOP SIX. We were expecting it from Reece but Jacob is a welcome surprise.

  • We’re also happy to see rookie Jack William Miller crack the TOP TEN. JWM was much improved as the 2020 season of USF2000 was closing out.

Jack William Miller
JackWilliamMiller150-

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Christian Rasmussen - 1st pole of a new series
christan_zpskm4i3dgr

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This race is scheduled to run first race of the day, Sunday. Next up, the Indy Lights hold their 2nd qually session…

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Friday at Barber - the Indy Lights hold qually for Race 2 of the weekend…

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It is still an HMD Motorsports show at the top, but this time it was sophomore David Malukas who took the TOP SPOT, as the Andretti guys start to get their legs under them.

Here is the way Indy Lights will grid for Season Round 2, with times for the TOP SIX: [R] denotes rookie

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Row 1

Pole - David Malukas, HMD Motorsports - time of 1:11.7021s
DavidMalukasHMDMotorsports300-1

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P2 - Linus Lundqvist [R], GRG w/HMD Motorsports - time of 1:11.7242s
LinusLundqvist150-2

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Row 2

P3 - Robert Megennis, Andretti Autosport - time of 1:11.8120s
edited-image_zpszqeslled

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P4 - Devlin DeFrancesco [R], Andretti Steinbrenner Racing - time of 1:11.8932s
DevlinDeFrancesco150-3

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Row 3

P5 - Toby Sowery, Juncos Racing - time of 1:11.9482s
MABA-finalist-Toby-Sowery-graduates-to-BRDC-F4-with-Lanan-Racing_zps9dv8xmic

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P6 - Benjamin Pedersen [R], GRG w/HMD Motorsports - time of 1:11.9896s
BenjaminPedersen150-2

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Row 4

P7 - Kyle Kirkwood [R], Andrtetti Autosport
P8 - Alex Pironi [R], Carlin / Jay Howard Driver Development

Row 5

P9 - Sting Ray Robb [R], Juncos Racing
P10 - Danial Frost [R], Andretti Autosport

Row 6

P11 - Nikita Lastochkin [R], HMD Motorsports
P12 - Antonio Serravalle [R], Pserra Racing

Row 7

P13 - Christian Bogle [R], Carlin / Jay Howard Driver Development

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Notable:

  • Once again the HMD group gets 3 guys in the TOP SIX. If they were running away on times we would worry, but in fact they are mere fractions of a second in the lead, and a sneeze at speed can cost a lot at this pace.

  • The TOP SIX are covered by only 0.28 seconds - ridiculously close! The TOP ELEVEN are covered by a second.

  • David and Linus exchanged the lead four times in the last few minutes with David on top as the checkers fell. These guys will battle each other all year.

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David Malukas
DavidMalukas300-2

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This race is scheduled to run on Sunday, right before the IndyCar race. This was the last track activity of the busy day. Tomorrow we start racing!!

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Saturday morning at Barber - USF2000 holds their first race of the season…

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…and we have a first time Road to Indy WINNER in 18-year-old Yuven Sundaramoorthy for Pabst Racing who drove P1 from green flag to checkers. P2 went to DEForce Racing’s 20-year-old sophomore Prescott Campbell while P3 went to 15-year-old Josh Pierson for Pabst Racing.

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Yuven Sundaramoorthy goes from pole to checkers for Pabst
YuvenWIN

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The race started well for Yuven as at the drop of the green he was able to get away from the field a bit, leaving P2 Campbell and P3 Pierson behind. At the start of the 2nd lap Myles Rowe for Force Indy, Dylan Christie for Turn 3 Motorsports and Matt Round-Garrido for Exclusive Autosport all came together in the Alabama Roller Coaster - Turns 1, 2 and 3 - taking each other out and bringing out a yellow flag. Rowe and Garrido were towed away but Christie was able to re-fire and get back into the race, several laps down.

At the lap 6 restart Campbell stayed with Yuven and was right on him for the next several laps, while Christian Brooks for Exclusive got by Spike Kohlbecker for Ignite Autosport for P6 and Billy Frazer for Exclusive Autosport gained four spots to go from his P12 start to P8. On lap 8 Jace Denmark for Pabst Racing drifted fully off track at Turn 13, losing two spots, falling from fifth to eighth. In an effort to keep Campbell behind him, Yuven posted the Fastest Lap, but was still only 0.6 seconds to the better after five more laps, but Josh Pierson was now right on Prescott’s rear wing, as well.

Billy Frazer made up two more spots to find himself in P6 with Kohlbecker, Denmark, Josh Green and Kiko Porto rounding out the top ten. With six laps remaining, the battle between Campbell and Pierson allowed Sundaramoorthy to pull a 1.5-second gap upfront, while behind the podium positions, d’Orlando, Brooks, and Frazer were nose-to-tail in P5, P6 and P7. All the close racing allowed Yuven to pull into a 2.1 second lead as he crossed the checkers.

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Notable:

  • Yuven has WON races in other series but after three years in the Road to Indy this was his first victory here.

  • The race featured 102 on-track passes, with Miller Vinatieri Motorsports rookie Kent Vaccaro leading the way, with nine overtakes during the race. He would start at P24 and end the day P18.

  • Late in the race Nolan Siegel for DEForce Racing set the ultimate Fastest Lap of the race, and set a new Barber course record in the process. Nolan will start from pole in Race 2 this afternoon.

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WINNER Yuven Sundaramoorthy (left), P2 Prescott Campbell and P3 Josh Pierson (right)
YuvenSundaramoorthy150-5Prescott Campbell150-1JoshPierson150-3

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USF2000 will hold their final race of the weekend late today. Next, the IndyCars hold their first practice of the day…

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Saturday morning at Barber - The big cars finally get their shot at the track…

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…as they do the P-1 practice session. Despite being only practice, four cars unofficially eclipsed Sebastien Bourdais’ qualifying track record, with sophomore Alex Palou taking the TOP SPOT.

Here was the order of speed for the IndyCars P-1 practice session, with times for the TOP FIVE: [R] denotes rookie

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1 - Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing - time of 01:06.4721s for a speed of 124.564mph
AlexPalouChipGanassi300-1

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2 - Colton Herta, Andretti Autosport - time of 01:06.4897s for a speed of 124.531mph
ColtonHerta150-1

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3 - Josef Newgarden, Team Penske - time of 01:06.4957s for a speed of 124.519mph
JosefNewgarden150-7

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4 - Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing - time of 01:06.5524s for a speed of 124.413mph
ScottDixon150-7

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5 - Pato O’Ward, Arrow McLaren SP - time of 01:06.6281s for a speed of 124.272mph
PatoOward150-10

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6 - Alexander Rossi, Andretti Autosport
7 - Will Power, Team Penske
8 - Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing
9 - Marcus Ericsson, Chip Ganassi Racing
10 - Felix Rosenqvist, Arrow McLaren SP

11 - Conor Daly, Ed Carpenter Racing
12 - Ryan Hunter-Reay, Andretti Autosport
13 - Ed Jones, Dale Coyne Racing w/ Vasser Sullivan
14 - James Hinchcliffe, Andretti Autosport
15 - Sebastien Bourdais, AJ Foyt Enterprises
16 - Simon Pagenaud, Team Penske
17 - Jack Harvey, Meyer Shank Racing
18 - Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan
19 - Rinus VeeKay, Ed Carpenter Racing
20 - Takuma Sato, Rahal Letterman Lanigan

21 - Romain Grosjean [R], Dale Coyne Racing w/ Rick Ware Racing
22 - Dalton Kellett, AJ Foyt Enterprises
23 - Max Chilton, Carlin
24 - Jimmie Johnson [R], Chip Ganassi Racing

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Notable:

  • The TOP FIVE were separated by 0.156 seconds and the TOP NINETEEN were within a second of each other.

  • A nice mix of Hondas and Chevys in the TOP TEN, with 6 Hondas, including Palou’s car.

  • Best rookie was Romain Grosjean in P21, but he has never driven on red alternate tires before, so he is still learning

  • Felix Rosenqvist for Arrow McLaren SP was involved in the only incident of the session when he lost control of his # 7 Chevrolet entering pit lane and nudged into the outside barrier, damaging the right front wing and right front suspension. The damage was minimal and will be repaired in time for this afternoon’s P-2 session.

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Alex Palou
AlexPalou300-5

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The IndyCars will hold a 2nd practice following two Road to Indy races, with Indy Pro 2000 being the next thing up with Race 1 of the weekend. The grid for this race is in post # 7…

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Saturday morning at Barber - Indy Pro 2000 comes out for Race 1 of the weekend…

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…and at the end the easy WINNER was Exclusive Autosport’s returning sophomore, Braden Eves - a fitting tribute to his effort to fully recover from his debilitating accident in 2020 at IMS. P2 went to teammate Artem Petrov while P3 went to Manuel Sulaiman for Juncos Racing.

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Braden Eves - comeback with a vengeance
BradenWIN

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Prior to the start of the race Wyatt Brichacek for Jay Howard Driver Development failed tech by being slightly underweight and was moved from his P4 start to P-17. The race started with 21-year-old Eves on pole with Petrov in P2. By the time the cars got around to Turn 8 Petrov was already looking for a quick way past Braden, but thought better of it. Christian Rasmussen for JHDD got by Cameron Shields for DEForce Racing to take over P5. Shields then fell to Reece Gold for Juncos Racing. Behind the leaders Kyffin Simpson for Juncos, Enzo Fittipaldi for RP Motorsport USA and Jack William Miller for Miller Vinatieri all attempted to occupy the Turn 8 corner at the same time. All three ended up losing track position, falling to the rear of the field.

At the end of Lap 2 P3 Hunter McElrea for Pabst Racing, P4 Manuel Sulaiman for Juncos, P5 Rasmussen and P6 Reece Gold all fought through the last four corners for essentially the P3 spot. McElrea dropped from third to fifth and eventually P6 but the big loser was Rasmussen who dropped to P16 with a cut rear tire. After ten laps Eves had a 1 second gap to Pretov, Sulaiman, Gold and Shields, with McElrea nose-to-tail on Shields. Five laps later the gap was almost 2 seconds, with Artem getting a little room from Sulaiman, as well.

With five laps left to run Braden was now a comfortable 3.2 seconds clear of Artem and the TOP SIX had stretch out from each other, but Hunter, damaged from the earlier incident, was getting pressure from RP Motorsport USA’s Enaam Ahmad, who had gone from a P13 start to P 7 behind Hunter. On lap 21 Ahmad made the move and took P6. Four laps later Braden crossed the finish line a very stout 4.2 seconds to the good.

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Notable:

  • The WIN is Braden’s second in Indy Pro 2000 and 8th WIN in the Road to Indy. This is also his 2nd WIN in the opening race of a season, as he did the same thing at St. Pete in USF2000 in 2019 - also from pole.

  • Enaam Ahmad collected 10 on-track passes during the race to end up in P6 form his P13 start - best mover of the race.

  • Reece Gold was the highest-finishing rookie with a P4.

  • Christian Rasmussen ended up a lap down in P14 but was at least awarded 1 point for Fastest Lap in his attempt to get back on the lead lap.

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WINNER Braden Eves (left), P2 Artem Petrov and P3 Manuel Sulaiman (right)
BradenEves150-2ArtemPetrov150-5ManuelSulaiman150-1

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Race 2 for Indy Pro 2000 will be on Sunday morning - first race of the day. Next, the Indy Lights hold their first race of the weekend. The grid for this is in post # 8…

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UPDATE!!

In post-race tech it was discovered that Manny Sulaiman’s PM-18 was slightly underweight and he was disqualified as a result. That elevated Reece Gold for Juncos Racing to the P3 position on the podium.

Reece Gold
ReeceGold150-5

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Saturday Morning at Barber - The Indy Lights hold Race 1 of their weekend…

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…and the WINNER in his first Indy Lights race was Sweden’s Linus Lunqvist for GRG w/ HMD Motorsports, from pole. P2 went to his teammate, Benjamin Pedersen, who holds dual Danish and American citizenship, while P3 went to Andretti Steinbrenner’s Canadian driver Devlin DeFrancesco. All are series rookies.

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Linus Lundqvist for the WIN on his debut
LinusWIN

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At the start of the race Lundqvist’s biggest worry was teammate David Malukas for HMD Motorsport sitting next to him in P2, but he didn’t worry long, as at the drop of the green flag Andretti Autosport’s Kyle Kirkwood in P3 behind Linus jumped to the right as the cars entered Turn 1 and speared Malukas in the left rear tire, sending David hard into the tire barriers, out of the race and bringing out a caution. Kirkwood was able to continue but needed to pit for a new front wing. Race control deemed Kyle responsible for the incident, penalizing him for avoidable contact.

On the lap 5 restart Linus was now ahead of Pedersen, Toby Sowery for Juncos, Devlin and Alex Pironi for Carlin / Jay Howard Driver Development with Kirkwood relegated to P13. On lap 8 Sowery got wide at the exit of Turn 6 and DeFrancesco took advantage and moved into P3. By lap 15 Kyle had passed Antonio Serravalle for Pserra Racing, Nikita Lastochkin for HMD Motorsport and Christian Bogle for Carlin / JHDD to take over P9 and was putting pressure on Sting Ray Robb for Juncos in P8.

Battling hard for the P6 spot were Rob Megennis for Andretti, who had it, and teammate Danail Frost, who wanted it. Linus was at that time some 4 seconds to the good over Benjamin, who was only a fraction of a second ahead of Devlin. In the last three laps of the race a big battle developed over the P6 spot, with Megennis, Frost, Robb and Kirkwood all vying for it. The four cars finished the race separated by only 1.5 seconds total, but the order didn’t change. Linus crossed the line 5.3 seconds ahead of Benjamin, who finished only 0.6 seconds ahead of a charging DeFrancesco.

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Notable:

  • Linus now has 15 Formula Regional Americas WINS and 1 Indy Lights WIN in 18 races total for his American racing career.

  • Toby Sowery ended the day in P4, setting the Fastest Lap of the race, which eclipsed Sean Rayhall’s track race record by over a second.

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WINNER Linus Lundqvist (left), P2 Benjamin Pedersen and P3 Devlin DeFrancesco (right)
LinusLundqvist150-benjamin150_zpsz86roqglDevlinDeFrancesco150-5

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The Indy Lights will hold Race 2 of the weekend on Sunday, directly following the Indy Car Warm-up and preceding the IndyCar race. Next up, the IndyCars have their P-2 practice session…

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Midday at Barber - The IndyCars hold their final practice before qualifying…

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The session was somewhat marred by some off-track excursions by Dalton Kellet for AJ Foyt in Turn 5 and Colton Herta for Andretti Herta in Turn 14. Josef Newgarden for Team Penske almost lost it in Turn 17, but he managed to prevent going off at the last second.

Here was the order of speed for the IndyCars P-2 practice, with times for the TOP FIVE: [R] Denotes rookie

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1 - Alexander Rossi, Andretti Autosport - time of 01:06.0797s for a speed of 125.303mph
AlexanderRossiAndrettiAutosport300-

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2 - Marcus Ericsson, Chip Ganassi Racing - time of 01:06.2190s for a speed of 125.040mph
MarcusEricsson150-6

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3 - Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing - time of 01:06.3018s for a speed of 124.883mph
scott_zpsncwaq3y5

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4 - Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing - time of 01:06.3204s for speed of 124.848mph
AlexPalou150-4

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5 - Felix Rosenqvist, Arrow McLaren SP - time of 01:06.3948s for a speed of 124.709mph
FelixRosenkvist2_zpsexq2bvh0

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6 - Ed Jones, Dale Coyne Racing w/ Vasser Sullivan
7 - Pato O’Ward, Arrow McLaren SP
8 - Will Power, Team Penske
9 - Conor Daly, Ed Carpenter Racing
10 - Jack Harvey, Meyer Shank Racing

11 - Sebastien Bourdais, AJ Foyt Enterprises
12 - Scott McLaughlin [R], Team Penske
13 - James Hinchcliffe, Andretti Autosport
14 - Josef Newgarden, Team Penske
15 - Colton Herta, Andretti Autosport
16 - Ryan Hunter-Reay, Andretti Autosport
17 - Romain Grosjean [R], Dale Coyne Racing w/ Rick Ware Racing
18 - Simon Pagenaud, Team Penske
19 - Rinus VeeKay, Ed Carpenter Racing
20 - Takuma Sato, Rahal Letterman Lanigan

21 - Max Chilton, Carlin
22 - Dalton Kellett, AJ Foyt Enterprises
23 - Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan
24 - Jimmie Johnson [R], Chip Ganassi Racing

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Notable:

  • Colton Herta’s car sustained quite a lot of damage but should be repaired in time for qualifying.

  • Chip Ganassi has to be gratified to have three drivers in the TOP FIVE. Two of them, Ericcson and Palou are his F-1 recruits, both happy to be in IndyCars. Rossi is another former F-1 driver happy to be in IndyCars.

  • While Ganassi is happy Rahal Letterman Lanigan has to be perplexed, given how good Graham Rahal was and how dominating Takuma Sato was here at Barber in 2019 - the last time IndyCars raced here. The track re-pave has helped eveyone else and hurt RLL.

  • Scott McLaughlin beats veteran teammates Josef Newgarden and Simon Pagenaud. The Supercars phenom is getting better and better with each outing as his confidence grows.

  • It has been the case for a while now that Conor Daly has been better than his young Ed Carpenter Racing teammate Rinus VeeKay, who was considered the better road course driver of the two. No longer. Daly has been leading the team recently on both ovals and road courses, so he ain’t cutting the mullet haircut anytime soon.

Daly - it’s the mullet??
ConorDaly150-

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Alexander Rossi
AlexanderRossi300-3

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The weekend schedule called for USF2000 to run their 2nd race at this time, but a power outage at the track caused a delay in getting that race going, so, due to television demands, the IndyCar qualifying for Sunday’s race was put on instead, once the power was restored. That is next, while the USF2000 race will follow…

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Saturday afternoon at Barber - the IndyCars qualify for the Alabama Grand Prix…

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On the pole for the first race of the season will be Pato O’Ward for Arrow McLaren SP. Pato TOPPED the Fast 12, breaking the track record on the way to the Fast Six. HYe then TOPPED the Fast Six at the end of the session.

Here is the way the IndyCars will grid for Season Round 1, with times for the TOP SIX: [R] denotes rookie

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Row 1

Pole - Pato O’Ward, Arrow McLaren SP - time of 01:05.8479s for a speed of 125.744mph
PatoPole

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P2 - Alexander Rossi, Andretti Autosport - time of 01:05.9177s for a speed of 125.611mph
Alexander_zpsopyojkkf

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Row 2

P3 - Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing - time of 01:06.0538s for a speed of 125.352mph
AlexPalou150

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P4 - Will Power, Team Penske - time of 01:06.1186s for a speed of 125.230mph
WillPower150-10

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Row 3

P5 - Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing - time of 01:06.3976s for a speed of 124.703mph
Scott3_zpslgjllqwp

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P6 - Marcus Ericsson, Chip Ganassi Racing - time of 01:06.4102s for a speed of 124.680mph
Marcus_zpsqocx5qun

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Row 4

P7 - Romain Grosjean [R], Dale Coyne Racing w/ Rick Ware Racing
P8 - Josef Newgarden, Team Penske

Row 5

P9 - Colton Herta, Andretti Autosport
P10 - Conor Daly, Ed Carpenter Racing

Row 6

P11 - Jack Harvey, Meyer Shank Racing
P12 - Scott McLaughlin [R], Team Penske

Row 7

P13 - Ed Jones, Dale Coyne Racing w/ Vasser Sullivan
P14 - Rinus VeeKay, Ed Carpenter Racing

Row 8

P15 - Simon Pagenaud, Team Penske
P16 - Sebastien Bourdais, AJ Foyt Enterprises

Row 9

P17 - Ryan Hunter-Reay, Andretti Autosport
P18 - Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan

Row 10

P19 - Takuma Sato, Rahal Letterman Lanigan
P20 - Max Chilton, Carlin

Row 11

P21 - Jimmie Johnson [R], Chip Ganassi Racing
P22 - Felix Rosenqvist, Arrow McLaren SP

Row 12

P23 - Dalton Kellett, AJ Foyt Enterprises
P24 - James Hinchcliffe, Andretti Autosport

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Notable:

  • This is Pato’s second IndyCar pole, the first being at Road America Race 2 last season, where he almost WON the race, just getting nipped by Felix Rosenqvist in the last lap.

  • Pato’s fastest lap in the Fast 12 was 01:05.5019 seconds, which broke Sebastien Bourdais’ 2016 track qualifying record.

  • During his record-breaking lap in the Fast 12 O’Ward put a wheel off but collected it up in a fantastic display of car control. Not so lucky was teammate Felix Rosenqvist who also slid luridly during the Q1 session, but was unable to gather it up and caused a red flag, losing his best lap and failing to transfer.

  • Alex Palou was the fastest of three Ganassi drivers to make it all the way to the Fast Six. The Spaniard also TOPPED the first practice session. Alexander Rossi TOPPED the 2nd practice. Rossi famously hates Barber as he never qualifies well here, but the re-pave obviously favored his driving style.

  • Formula One convert Romain Grosjean led the Fast 12 at one time but within the last minute was dropped all the way to P7 and failed to transfer. Nevertheless, the rookie was ecstatic at grabbing a P7 starting position and gauged his effort against Josef Newgarden, who will start P8.

  • James Hinchcliffe failed to negotiate Turn 5 on his first lap in the Q1 session and went off through the gravel trap, nosing into the tire barriers. His car sustained wing damage only but the Safety Team refused to restart him, deciding instead to pull him behind a wall for the rest of qualifying, probably in an effort to keep him from shedding gravel on the track all the way back to the pits.

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Pato O’Ward - pole man, again
PatoO'Ward300-1

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The IndyCars will hold a Sunday morning warm-up after the final Indy Pro 2000 race, first thing in the morning. The IndyCar race is schedule for broadcast on Sunday at 3:00 pm LIVE on NBC. Next up, USF2000 finishes their race weekend with Season Round 2. The grid for this is in post # 9…

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Saturday afternoon at Barber - USF2000 closes out their weekend with Race 2…

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…and we ended up with another first-time WINNER in sophomore Prescott Campbell for DEForce Racing. Coming home P2 was 16-year-old pole-sitter Nolan Siegel, also for DEForce, while P3 went to 15-year-old sophomore Josh Pierson for Pabst Racing - his 2nd P3 of the day.

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First WIN for Prescott Campbell
PrescottCampbellDEForceRacing300-1

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The race started with a wave-off as the field was strung out. On lap 2 the race got underway, with Josh Pierson quickly jumping from a P6 start to P4, past Dylan Christie for Turn 3 Motorsports and Myles Rowe for Force Indy. As the field got to Turn 5 all hell broke loose with the spin of Bijoy Garg for Jay Howard Driver Development - probably helped with a push from behind. Bijoy was then hit by Kent Vaccaro for Miller Vinatieri Motorsports, who climbed over the front of Garg, bringing out a yellow flag. When the race restarted on lap 5 it was Siegel leading with Campbell second and Pierson was now in P3, having passed Kiko Porto for DEForce.

Campbell took the lead near the end of Lap 5 but was just as quickly under retaliatory pressure from Nolan, with Pierson and P4 Kiko Porto jumping in, too. When the top four crossed the line to start lap 7, they were all covered by under one second. At the half-way mark at lap 10 Campbell had a mere 0.4 second lead over Siegel, Pierson, Porto, and Christian Brooks for Exclusive Autosport, who had just passed Josh Green for Turn 3.

Campbell’s lead over Siegel with five laps remaining was still only a half-second and the TOP ELEVEN were nose-to-tail and running within five seconds of Prescott. With two laps to go Nolan was now within 0.3 seconds of the leader, but that was the closest he got, as Prescott was able to eke out another few fractions of a second and WIN by 0.5 seconds with Pierson and Porto less than a second behind the WINNER. Don’t blink - It doesn’t get much tighter for that much of a race.

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Notable:

  • While most of the leaders were nose-to-tail for most of the race, there was a lot of passing in the mid-pack, led by Jackson Lee for Jay Howard collecting 12 on-track passes, gaining nine spots from a P23 start to a P14 finish.

  • Prescott Campbell is the second Lucas Oil Formula Car Series Champion to win a Road to Indy race, joining Reece Gold, who WON races in 2020.

  • We expected veterans to dominate the early racing in USF2000 but not the veterans who have, so far. We would have picked Christian Brooks, Michael d’Orlando or Kiko Porto to be our first podium finishers, so Campbell, Sundaramoorthy, Pierson and to a lesser extent Siegel are a bit of a sweet surprise. Pierson just blows our mind.

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WINNER Prescott Campbell (left), P2 Nolan Siegel and P3 Josh Pierson (right)
PrescottCampbell150-2NolanSiegel150-2JoshPierson150-2

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With these results, here are the TOP FIVE in points leaving Barber:

1 - Prescott Campbell, 56
2 - Josh Pierson, 44
3 - Yuven Sundaramoorthy, 43
4 - Nolan Siegel, 37
5 - Christian Brooks, 34

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Next up for USF2000 will be Season Rounds 3 and 4 at St. Petersburg, Florida in support of the IndyCars, April 23-25.

This was the last on-track activity of the day. Tomorrow the day starts with Race 2 for Indy Pro 2000. The grid for that race is in post # 10.

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Sunday morning at Barber - Indy Pro 2000 closes out their race weekend…

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…and the eventual WINNER of Season Round 2 was Hunter McElrea for Pabst Racing - his 2nd WIN in three series races. Coming in P2 after a post-race penalty was pole-sitter Christian Rasmussen for Jay Howard Driver Development while P3 went to Artem Petrov for Exclusive Autosport - his 2nd podium of the weekend.

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Hunter McElrea takes the dingus
HunterWIN

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At the start Rasmussen got a good jump on P2 starter McElrea but Reece Gold for Juncos Racing had trouble in Turn 1 and dropped from P3 to P14. P7 starter Artem Petrov went the opposite way, passing Wyatt Brichacek for Jay Howard, Jacob Abel for Abel Motorsports and his own teammate Braden Eves by the time everyone was in Charlotte’s Web at Turn 5. For a number of laps the front pack circulated without change but Christian was very slowly gapping Hunter.

Close to midway, Rasmussen’s lead was up to 2.3 seconds over McElrea while Petrov had his mirrors full of Braden Eves in P4. At the halfway point of the race, Rasmussen’s lead over McElrea was 3.3 seconds, while Jacob Abel held onto P5, facing pressure from Brichacek and Colin Kaminsky for Pabst Racing. Enaam Ahmad RP Motorsport USA made his 3rd pass of the race, going to P9 past James Roe for Turn 3 Motorsport on lap 19. On lap 20 Christian set Fastest Lap in his attempts to escape McElrea and was now just over 6 seconds out front alone.

On lap 23, Rasmussen made an unusual error and spun in Turn 5. He quickly gathered it up and kept the lead but lost all his advantage and found McElrea right on his tail. As Christian again started to gap Hunter, Race Control announced that Rasmussen would receive a 5 second penalty for moving in reaction to McElrea - blocking. Christian was able to gap Hunter by 3.5 seconds by the time they passed the checkered flag on lap 30, but that was short of the 5 seconds he needed to overcome the penalty.

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Notable:

  • Hunter was the WINNER of last season’s final race at St. Pete, so he has picked up his WINNING ways right where he left off. The New Zealander could be having a championship season, but Rasmussen will make it tough for him the whole way.

  • Artem Petrov has also picked up where he left off in 2020, as has Braden Eves. The teammates will find each other among their stiffest competition this season.

  • Jacob Abel’s P5 finish is among his best Road to Indy results, only bettered by his P3 at Mid-Ohio last season.

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Hunter McElrea
HunterMcElrea300-4

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With these results, here are the TOP FIVE in points as we leave Barber:

1 - Braden Eves, 51
2 - Artem Petrov, 47
3 - Hunter McElrea, 45
4 - Christian Rasmussen, 37
5 - Reece Gold, 30

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Next up for Indy Pro 2000 will be Season Rounds 3 and 4 at St. Petersburg, Florida in support of the IndyCars, April 23-25.

Next, the IndyCars hold their race-day Warm-Up…

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Sunday morning at Barber - the IndyCars hold Warm-Up…

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Warm-Up on a race day doesn’t tell the fans much, because it is impossible to know what program each team and each driver is on. Are they looking for outright speed on a new set-up?, Are they testing different tire types for handling and wear? Are they looking to see how a car handles alone versus in traffic? Are they simply looking to make sure all is well - as well as it was yesterday? These are all last-minute “tests” that can be accomplished in a half-hour window, so a great car can be well down the order of speed in Warm-Up. Nevertheless, the TOP guys usually are looking for speed.

Here was the order of speed for the IndyCars at morning Warm-Up: [R] denotes rookie

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1 - Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan
GrahamRahalRLL300-1

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2 - Romain Grosjean [R], Dale Coyne Racing w/ Rick Ware Racing
RomainGrosjean150-

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3 - Sebastien Bourdais, AJ Foyt Enterprises
Seb_zpsprf4gzph

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4 - Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing
AlexPalou150

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5 - Conor Daly, Ed Carpenter Racing
ConorDaly150-1

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6 - Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing
7 - Colton Herta, Andretti Autosport
8 - Rinus VeeKay, Ed Carpenter Racing
9 - Ryan Hunter-Reay, Andretti Autosport
10 - Pato O’Ward, Arrow McLaren SP

11 - Josef Newgarden, Team Penske
12 - Alexander Rossi, Andretti Autosport
13 - Scott McLaughlin [R], Team Penske
14 - Felix Rosenqvist, Arrow McLaren SP
15 - Dalton Kellett, AJ Foyt Enterprises
16 - Will Power, Team Penske
17 - Simon Pagenaud, Team Penske
18 - Jack Harvey, Meyer Shank Racing
19 - Takuma Sato, Rahal Letterman Lanigan
20 - Marcus Ericsson, Chip Ganassi Racing

21 - James Hinchcliffe, Andretti Autosport
22 - Max Chilton, Carlin
23 - Ed Jones, Dale Coyne Racing w/ Vasser Sullivan
24 - Jimmie Johnson [R], Chip Ganassi Racing

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Notable:

  • Graham Rahal said that they were looking for speed and found something. Starting at P18 will make for a tough day, but having a speedy car can only help.

  • Everyone was testing alternate red tires to see how well they would last and the conclusion was they will fall off quickly and won’t be as useful as the primaries, which are holding up fairly well on the repaved track.

  • Conor Daly continues to have one of his best season starts, and was at the top of the charts for much of the session.

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Graham Rahal
GrahamRahal2_zps8f801d9b

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Next up, the Indy Lights hold their final race of the weekend. The grid for that is in post # 11…

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