Today’s question: What are you watching most closely this weekend at Barber during the first road course race of the season?
Curt Cavin: Seems like it’s time for Alex Palou (photo, top, front) to flex his muscle. Fifteen of his 20 race wins in this series have come on permanent road courses, including two at Barber Motorsports Park (2021, 2025). Last year, the Spaniard was a machine on such circuits, winning five of the seven races – The Thermal Club, Barber, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, Road America and WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca – while finishing second at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course and third at Portland International Raceway. That’s an average finish of 1.4 in those races, and he led 49.7 percent of the laps (293 of 590) with an average margin of victory approaching eight seconds. Now, it would be a disservice to this competitive field to think Palou will run roughshod again this year, but it could happen. And if it does, well, you can chalk up a fourth consecutive series championship and fifth in six years.
Eric Smith: My eyes are on Andretti Global this weekend. As I mentioned in Tuesday's Will Power feature, Barber Motorsports Park hasn’t been a strong track for the team, with just two career victories -- the most recent in 2014. Natural road courses, in general, have become an area needing improvement. Since 2023, all eight of the team’s victories have come on ovals or street circuits. The last natural road course win came July 30, 2022, on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, when Alexander Rossi led a seasonal sweep at that circuit that also included Colton Herta’s victory May 14. The last road course win away from IMS was Herta in September 2021 at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. Current drivers Kyle Kirkwood and Marcus Ericsson have yet to win on a natural road course. Ericsson’s best finish at Barber is seventh (2019), while Kirkwood’s is 10th (2024, photo, above). Power is a two-time Barber winner with 12 top-five finishes in 15 starts, though all of that success came with Team Penske. Kirkwood enters the weekend leading the championship, with Ericsson eighth and Power 12th. With natural road courses making up six of the 18 races this season, including the finale at Laguna Seca, performance on this discipline will go a long way in determining whether Andretti Global is a true title contender.
Arni Sribhen: Barber Motorsports Park isn’t that far away from Team Penske’s home base in Charlotte, North Carolina, so it makes sense that the 2.3-mile road course has traditionally been sweet home Alabama for the team. The team has seven wins in the previous 15 races at the picturesque road course with drivers Josef Newgarden (photo, above) and Scott McLaughlin each winning two of those races. Even newcomer David Malukas has visited victory lane at Barber, winning twice there in INDY NXT by Firestone competition. With a win and two poles from the first three races, it could be a chance for the team to show that there is a Chevrolet team ready to fight with Honda’s pair at the top. So, let’s see if Penske’s 2026 momentum continues in The Magic City and if Barber remains the team’s home not too far away from home.
Paul Kelly: I’m watching Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. The team has boosted its technical and management staff in the last year with the arrival of Jay Frye, Gavin Ward, Brian Barnhart and Kyle Sagan. But the start of the season probably isn’t what RLL envisioned, as Graham Rahal (photo, above) is 16th, Louis Foster 19th and rookie Mick Schumacher 25th in the standings after three races. Rahal and Schumacher qualified a strong third and fourth on the short oval at Phoenix, recently a weak track type for RLL, but the team’s best finish remains Rahal’s ninth at that same race. RLL’s best tracks in recent years have been fast, flowing road courses like Barber Motorsports Park, so this weekend appears to be fertile ground for the team and its drivers to correct course, especially heading into the vital Month of May that includes arguably the team’s best current track, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course. Schumacher, especially, should feel more at home with the European-like circuit at Barber than the street circuits at St. Pete and Arlington and his first-ever oval race at Phoenix.
