The serene views and zany artistry of Barber Motorsports Park move out of the Month of May and into March as the final of four races to the NTT IndyCar Series’ torrent start to the 2026 season.
Sunday (March 29) marks the 15th race for the track and will be the earliest the track has appeared on the schedule in the history of the grand prix, just one season after the latest race in a calendar year on May 4, 2025.
Alex Palou was the last to conquer the 17-turn 2.3-mile course running through the Alabama hills, not too far away from NASCAR’s Talladega Superspeedway. Palou will look to get back to his typical championship ways, looking to be the fifth different driver to win two in a row in the Augusta of motorsports.
Last Year
While Palou had won the first of two races to start 2025, Barber would begin the dominant conquest for him and his No. 10 team, setting himself apart from Kyle Kirkwood and the rest of the field in a league of his own.
Barring six laps led during the pit cycle by David Malukas and three by Scott McLaughlin, Palou simply dominated the field, leading 81 of 90 laps to one of his most commanding wins of the season.
Christian Lundgaard continued to impress in his first season with Arrow McLaren, establishing himself as a formidable driver on the road courses with a runner-up result, finishing ahead of defending back-to-back winner McLaughlin.
The Fight Is On for the Title
Despite showing dominance all of last year, Palou enters Barber even farther from championship leader Kirkwood on the heels of the Andretti Global driver’s win in the inaugural Java House Grand Prix of Arlington, in which Kirkwood made an impressive pass on the Spaniard and didn’t look back at all.
While Kirkwood was strong on the first two street courses and at the return of Phoenix Raceway, the true test is if he can keep pace on the traditional road courses this season, as he finished 11th last season at Barber and only has a career-best result of 10th here in 2024.
If Kirkwood can make that next step, it’s game on for the title. If he can’t, this will be a massive opportunity for Palou to close the gap back down and reassert his dominance on the IndyCar field.
Two Underdog Drivers to Keep an Eye on
It will be interesting to see how two specific drivers do going into this weekend, and those two drivers are Rinus VeeKay and Romain Grosjean.
Let’s start with VeeKay.
The Dutchman shocked early last year with a Dale Coyne Racing team left for dead after their 2024 season by competing for the final spot of the podium all day and finishing fourth, a day that was celebrated like a win for the team that signed their second driver weeks before the start of the season and were at rock bottom for expectations going into 2025.
VeeKay’s performance set a tone for the remainder of the season that eventually carried the team to a podium on the streets of Toronto and to four top 10s following their impressive performance.
Now with Juncos Hollinger Racing, VeeKay looks to bring that same formula to a team whose best finish at Barber came with Grosjean: 12th in 2024.
Speaking of Grosjean, he inherits that same No. 18 Honda that VeeKay piloted to the incredible result last year, and he has a great track record at Barber himself.
His latest IndyCar pole and runner-up finish happened here in 2023 with Andretti, where he was unable to fend off a hard-charging McLaughlin for the win.
With a car that performed well last year, the Frenchman may indeed have a chance to fight for the podium once more on Sunday.
Will’s Warming Up
A much-needed podium result for Will Power could feed well for Andretti’s newest addition going into Barber, a track that the Aussie has a good record at.
Power is one of the four back-to-back winners at Barber, being the first to accomplish the feat in 2011 and 2012. However, what’s interesting is that Power’s average finish is 5.7 in 15 starts, his best among active tracks with at least four starts in his career.
The point is that Power is really good here at Barber and could elevate Andretti’s game back to the level it was on with Grosjean in 2023, potentially bringing himself into title contention after sputtering out the gate.
Papaya Potential
Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward opened the first three races of the season with three top fives, joining only Kirkwood to accomplish the feat. He enters Barber tied with Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden as the top Chevrolet in the standings and will have to improve by one position from last year’s sixth place to continue the trend.
However, of all three of McLaren’s drivers, Lundgaard has the best chance to steal the win.
Sitting seventh in standings, Lundgaard can make a serious move closer to the top of the standings d if he finds the same pace as he did last year, as Barber turned out to be the first of three runner-up finishes and one of six podiums in 2025.
Believe it or not, five his six 2025 podiums all came on traditional road courses, and all three second steps were also on the track type.
Traditional road courses are clearly Lundgaard’s bread and butter, and it will be interesting if Lundgaard can keep up that pace in his sophomore season with the outfit.
The third wheel in the McLaren clubhouse, Nolan Siegel, has a little bit of positive news despite sitting second-to-last in points by one point over rookie Mick Schumacher. He finished ninth last year at Barber and can potentially stop the bleeding in Alabama if all goes well.
A Better Time Slot for Barber
IndyCar’s decision to have a fast-paced beginning to the 2026 season has paid dividends, with awesome television ratings never seen in the post-split era and an average of 1.328 million people tuning into FOX in the first three uninterrupted weeks. While last year’s race at Barber was a Palou stink show, a close championship battle, momentum from the first three races and the history of thrilling racing at Barber are very helpful for IndyCar to keep its fanbase engaged for the entire month.
Moving Barber back into the end of March, quite similar to the early-to-mid-April slot it previously owned, is a smart move that allows no interruption to preparations for the 110th running of the Indianapolis 500 and keeps the focus of May in Indiana.
Additionally, the move helps the fans in attendance tremendously as race day temperatures will climb to a comfortable 70 degrees, a perfect afternoon at the Augusta of motorsport.
What Else?
While McLaughlin is heavily favored in the Penske camp, Malukas will get his first try driving in the same machine that Power wheeled to consistently decent finishes in the past. It will be worth keeping an eye on how Malukas will make the next step.
His Penske teammate, Newgarden, scraped a top 10 last season and will be looking to continue the momentum built from a much better start to this season versus last year.
Chip Ganassi Racing veteran Scott Dixon hasn’t found success in Saturday qualifying to make Sunday’s race easier. The veteran has yet to win at Barber, but in the past has stood on the podium nine times in his career, and as recently as 2021.
The rookies will get their first crack at a true road course in IndyCar, but the true fight looks to be between Dennis Hauger and Caio Collet early for Rookie of the Year. Collet impressed in Arlington, but Hauger still leads by eight points over the driver of AJ Foyt Racing’s No. 4 Chevy.
Frontstretch’s Prediction
Looking back at last year’s prediction, I have to give a special shout-out to Tom Blackburn for nailing the podium on the dot with Palou, Lundgaard and McLaughlin being in the exact order as it was in 2025. I have some pretty big shoes to fill in that department this weekend.
I was on the right track with Kirkwood at Arlington until I read too deeply into the O’Ward narrative going into his home track. This week, it will be strictly business.
To sum it up, any narratives will simply be crushed under the speed and domination of the No. 10 Honda to make a fifth different back-to-back winner at Barber.
- Palou – He gets back on track in the championship battle
- Power – Wake-up call received in Arlington, the No. 26 is a go for takeoff
- Lundgaard – He stays automatic on the road courses. Would not be surprised to see him lead laps in this one.
Tune into FOX for coverage of the Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix on Sunday, March 29 at 1 p.m. ET.
