The race at Barber Motorsports Park turned into an exciting one with a dramatic start to the race and Ryan Hunter-Reay, Scott Dixon and Helio Castroneves running each other hard at the end. However, lost in the race was two rules that had an effect on the outcome of the event.
“I clicked on the link,” Matt said, “and my heart skipped a beat. I knew this could be the chance I have been working towards for the last 10 years since I began chasing my racing dream.
After taking the lead with 14 laps to go from Helio Castroneves, Ryan Hunter-Reay would hold off Scott Dixon in the final laps to score his first victory of the season in the Grand Prix of Alabama.
2012 IndyCar Series Champion Ryan Hunter-Reay found his way back to the top of the charts after winning the pole for the Honda Grand Prix of Alabama. Hunter-Reay laid down a lap of one minute, seven seconds for the third pole of his career, first pole of the season. His last pole came at Edmonton in 2012.
Following his second place finish two weeks ago at St. Petersburg, Helio Castroneves would top the charts with a lap of one minute and eight seconds, 120.781 mph.
Before the rain fell from the skies in the afternoon, the ARCA Racing Series cars got on the track and were able to make some laps in preparation for the race at Talladega Superspeedway later this year. At the end of the shortened session, Venturini Motorsports drivers swept the top four spots.
In hopes to getting the season off to a strong start, Tony Kanaan did that last weekend at IndyCar's season opener at St. Petersburg, finishing fourth.
After finishing 13th or worse in the 14 starts she made last year, Simona de Silvestro made the move to KV Racing Technologies for 2013 in hopes of better results. With one race under her belt, she is off to a good start after finishing sixth in St. Petersburg.