IndyCar visited the ever-beautiful Barber Motorsports Park this weekend, with drivers cruising through the hillsides of central Alabama.
The race started off ominously as polesitter Alex Palou kept the lead and immediately began pulling a gap on the field.
He reported that his car balance was spot on, so his Chip Ganassi Racing crew kept him on the standard three stop strategy. And it worked wonderfully.
READ MORE: IndyCar Barber – Full Race Results
Palou led 81 of the 90 laps, and crossed the line over 16 seconds ahead of his nearest competitor.
The Spaniards win now gives him three wins in the first four races of the season, resembling his record of three championships in the past four seasons.
He is now 60 points ahead heading into the Month of May and looks as dominant as ever.
Crossing the line second was Christian Lundgaard, who may well have put in the performance of the day.
He started on the harder compound tire and came into the pits early to get rid of them as soon as possible. That strategy worked well, and he also helped matters by making a few passes on track himself.
Lundgaard started in seventh but ended the day in second, boosting him into second in the points standings as well.
Scott McLaughlin crossed the line in third, not quite able to make it three wins in a row at one of his favorite tracks on the calendar.
No cautions, no problem
Rinus VeeKay had a standout drive of his own, powering his Dale Coyne Racing Honda to a fourth place result.
Late in the race his crew had an issue with the wheel nut on the front right, but they got the wheel reattached without too much delay.
He battled back and held off Will Power in the closing laps to earn his best result in over two years.
Power finished in fifth, only slightly ahead of Pato O’Ward in sixth who gained three positions on the day.
Colton Herta finished seventh, but he will be ruing what could have been. He started in third and was running in second place for a good portion of the race, but a stall during one of his pit stops cost him some time.
He rejoined six positions behind where he was before and was able to hold station until the end of the race.
Herta suffered from the same issue than many drivers had, which was the fact that it was difficult to pass around the flowing course.
There were 88 passes for position during the day, which is less than a third of last year’s total. That race in 2024 had four caution periods which helped matters, but the sentiment remains that passing was very difficult this year.
Speaking of green flag races, this was the third consecutive IndyCar race that ran entirely caution free. The last time that happened was 1986.
Drivers continue to relate that there is no particular reason for the current streak, but it has some in the paddock wondering what has changed to allow the uninterrupted running.
Drivers will be back on track in just a few days’ time when they set up shop at Indianapolis Motor Speedway next weekend.
First on the schedule is a race around the infield road course, followed by two weeks of action on the oval for the 109th Indianapolis 500.
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