Will Power. [John Wiedemann Photo]
Will Power has been the most consistent Verizon IndyCar Series driver when it comes to racing at Barber Motorsports Park.
But when the series returns to Barber for the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama on April 27, he plans to shed that mind-set and think about being more aggressive.
Power has won here twice and led 133 laps in the four previous events. He has finished 5th, 1st, 1st and 4th here, and leads the 2014 series’ standings by 27 points over road-course specialist Mike Conway. But the Australian vet sees that all of that success has failed to win him a championship or a victory at Indianapolis.
“Last year, not being in the points chase really opened my eyes that I was being way too conservative,” the Team Penske driver said. “(Now) I can race hard all the time; it doesn’t matter where I am in the points.
“In fact, the results came better when I did that. I think that’s the only way you’re going to win a championship.”
And with Power comfortably in the points lead after two events, the other drivers in Sunday’s 23-car field are hungry to make a dent into that lead; and in some cases get their early season struggles turned around.
Conway, who has won at Long Beach for owner Ed Carpenter, Simon Pagenaud (-33), Helio Castroneves (-38) and Ryan Hunter-Reay (-39) are behind Power in the point standings. Helio and RHR have each won here since the track’s first Indy Car race in 2010, and these five seem to have found the key to good finishes in the early-season stretch of road/street events.
Several drivers have, however, struggled in the season’s first two events at St. Petersburg and Long Beach, and they need to improve here and at the Grand Prix of Indianapolis before attention turns to the 98th Indianapolis 500 next month.
Sebastien Bourdais (16th), Graham Rahal (17th), Marco Andretti (18th), James Hinchcliffe (22nd) and Charlie Kimball (23rd) trail in points, and need to make significant progress on the tight Barber course before they move on to Indianapolis.
Juan Pablo Montoya, the 2000 500 champion and former Formula One winner, finished fourth at Long Beach after a disappointing fifteenth-place at St. Petersburg in his return from several years in NASCAR. He’s still working hard to get used to the Dallara/Chevrolet combination that his PPG Team Penske ride has to offer, and it’s likely that JPM will get the rust shaken off and be challenging for the lead sooner rather than later in the season.
So what about the 2.38-mile, 17-turn road course that will challenge the teams for 90 laps on Sunday?
It is believed to be the fastest cornering road course on the 2014 Verizon series schedule. With some of the corner speeds hovering around 160+ MPH, and with almost 20 percent of the circuit run under heavy braking, the challenge is to keep those brakes cool while saving your Firestone tires between pit stops. The team that can balance high-speed cornering with cool brakes and fresh tires will likely win.
Power will have to fight off Conway for the top step on the podium. Montoya likes anything high-speed and could break through with his first win since returning to the series.
NOTES:
- Ryan Hunter-Reay’s 2013 win at Barber also saw him capture the pole and lead 53 laps for Andretti Autosport. He took the lead from Castroneves and held off Scott Dixon for the victory. Will Power slid off the track at the start, but recovered to finish fifth.
- Castroneves has been put on probation until June 30 for violating the series’ social media policy.
- French driver Frank Montagny will rejoin the Andretti team in time for the Grand Prix of Indianapolis on May 10. The #26 entry will be turned over to NASCAR’s Kurt Busch for the 500. The car will be the fifth AA entry.
- Two dates have been set aside for Rookie Orientation runs at Indianapolis. On April29 and May 5, the 2.5-mile rectangle will be open for runs by rookies such as Busch, Jacques Villeneuve, Jack Hawksworth, Martin Plowman and Mikhail Aleshin.
- Tony Kanaan will attempt to make his 218th consecutive start, which would extend his all-time record.
- Nine drivers entered for Sunday’s Barber event have raced in all four previous races held there.
- An open test session at the Indianapolis Speedway has been scheduled on the reconfigured road course on April 30th in preparation for the inaugural Indianapolis Grand Prix.
- Former New York Jets quarterback and U. of Alabama star Joe Namath will be the Grand Marshal for the Honda Indy race.
- The Barber race will be televised on NBC Sports Network at 2:30 p.m. (ET). The radio broadcast, on the IMS Radio Network will be on Sirius/XM Ch. 211.
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