Three races into the Verizon IndyCar Series schedule, and the focal point has been the speed shown by both Team Penske and Chip Ganassi Racing - along with a touch of strategy leading James Hinchcliffe and Schmidt Peterson Motorsports to victory at NOLA Motorsports Park. Based on that fact, it'd mark no surprise if that trend continued this weekend.
The 2015 Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama will mark the fourth IndyCar Series race for the team at Barber Motorsports Park (BMP). A recent two-day test at BMP in March went well and Rahal was the fastest Honda-powered driver at seventh fastest over two days. Last year, Rahal started 18th on a wet track, ran as high as 10th, dropped four places after being hit by two cars and ultimately finished 17th.
After leading both practices and being the quickest at St. Petersburg and NOLA Motorsports Park, Will Power was expected to be a front running contender all race long in the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. However, he wouldn't get the qualifying effort that he wanted, qualifying deep in the field.
“What we thought was an issue with the rear end of the car this morning in warm-up, we thought would go away in the race and unfortunately it didn’t and we struggled with keeping the rear of the car underneath us. It was a major struggle to balance and maintain it which is unfortunate because I was hoping today would be a day where we could make up some points and we squandered the opportunity.”
After taking the lead on the first round of pit stops, Scott Dixon didn't look back as he led the rest of the way, scoring the victory in the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. It marks the first victory of the season for the Chip Ganassi Racing driver.
Team Penske would continue their dominance in Verizon IndyCar Series qualifying for the Grand Prix of Long Beach with Helio Castroneves topping the charts to score the Verizon P1 Award. It marks the 42nd career pole for the driver who is coming off a solid runner-up finish at NOLA Motorsports Park.
“I thought the crowd today was great but with this weather, why wouldn’t it be? We had a mechanical issue this morning and only got to run a handful of laps. The second practice was more of what I expected. Our car was good this morning but we just didn’t get to see it through before we had the issue. We are the fastest Honda but we have a little work to do to catch the Penske’s."
In a continuing trend for the Verizon IndyCar Series this year, Team Penske swept the top-three, and four of the top-five spots in practice for the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. Will Power would top the charts with a lap of one minute and 7.5485 seconds.
