IndyCar fans, it’s that time of the year again to head down South and enjoy the blooming magnolias and hopefully some sunshine in Alabama this weekend. After a two-week hiatus, IndyCar roars into Birmingham for the annual Children’s of Alabama Grand Prix at the Barber Motorsports Park. The season’s momentum hasn’t begun to hit a high note at this point, and with three different winners in three races so far in 2026, race predictions for this Sunday are wide open at this point. Can Alex Palou pull off a second consecutive win after his 2025 victory in Alabama? How many other drivers will make their move to stamp success onto their racing resumes this weekend?
Three races and three different winners in 2026 so far.
With the 2026 IndyCar season in its early stages, a recurring theme has developed among drivers and teams that this season is wide open to all takers. With the 2025 IndyCar season winner and Chip Ganassi stalwart Alex Palou taking the checkered flag at St. Petersburg, fans and pundits alike believed that Palou would just extend his winning streak into this year as well. However, a little thing called an oval track in Phoenix, AZ, dispelled that myth as Team Penske’s stalwart Josef Newgarden showed off his NASCAR-like skills by making a lot of left turns to a big win in the desert. Capping off the early IndyCar season was the inaugural Grand Prix of Arlington around the venerable AT&T Stadium, and Andretti’s Kyle Kirkwood nailed down the initial race win with his number 27 Honda. With multiple winners already sitting atop race podiums in 2026, any real predictions for this week’s race seem almost foolhardy.
Is this the week Will Power breaks through and grabs the top of the podium at Barber?
For IndyCar fans used to the iconic Will Power being a dominant force on any racetrack, 2026 has been a bit of a letdown so far. After moving teams from Penske to Andretti, Power hasn’t seemed to be much of a race factor, with a 22nd-place finish in St. Petersburg and a 16th-place spot in Phoenix. However, only foolish or ignorant fans write off a great veteran driver like Power, and with a third-place finish in Arlington and a spot on the podium, the road course at Barber looks to potentially be a season-defining move for the number 26 Honda this Sunday. In reality, Power already has two wins in his career on this course, and a third victory would be a turnaround moment for this season and validate his team move from Penske to Andretti this season.
Fox Sports is making strides with its IndyCar partnership.
Fox Sports is changing up its sports promotion package with a heavy roll of the dice with IndyCar this season. While Fox has been a regular broadcaster of NASCAR, going all the way back to 2001, the network’s recent dive into open-wheeled racing and IndyCar in particular is already paying big dividends this season. The inaugural Java House Grand Prix of Arlington showed a 142 percent viewship increase from the similar time frame race last season (Long Beach), with an overall increase in all three race broadcasts this season.
In fact, there are, of course, rumors swirling around American racing fanbases that FOX is now betting the farm on IndyCar and decreasing its support of its NASCAR broadcasts by moving many races over to FS1, while IndyCar still remains the darling of the main Fox channel. While these are still unsubstantiated rumors at best, many NASCAR fans are starting grumble at the prospect of having to share their network with open-wheeled races (it should be noted of course that NASCAR will be broadcasted on multiple platforms, including NBC, FOX, Prime Video, and TNT this season.)
IndyCar will have a busy weekend down in Birmingham.
Fox Sports will be covering the NTT INDYCAR Series this weekend with the Children’s of Alabama Grand Prix, with first practice on Friday at 3:30 ET and the broadcast on FS2. Fox moves over to Saturday’s broadcast with a morning practice at 11:00 ET on FS1 and qualifying at 2:30pm on FS1, as well. The actual race is scheduled for 1 pm ET this Sunday, March 29th, with the NASCAR Cup race scheduled later this Sunday on FS1.
