IndyCar: Will Power tops first Barber practice session
By Asher Fair
Will Power topped the first practice session for the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama, the fourth race of the 2018 IndyCar season.
Will Power topped the speed chart in the first practice session for the fourth race of the 2018 IndyCar season, the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama. He did so by turning a fast lap at 67.5987 seconds (122.488 miles per hour) around the 17-turn, 2.38-mile Barber Motorsports Park natural terrain road course in Birmingham, Alabama.
Power led a top 2 Team Penske sweep of the speed chart in his #12 Chevrolet, with defending IndyCar champion and defending Barber race winner Josef Newgarden finishing the session in 2nd place in his #2 Chevrolet.
Scott Dixon was the fastest Honda driver in the practice session in his #9 Honda for Chip Ganassi Racing in 3rd place, and Max Chilton was the fastest non-Team Penske Chevrolet driver in his #59 Chevrolet for Carlin Motorsport in 4th place.
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Overall, the session’s results showed a pretty even balance between the Chevrolet drivers and the Honda drivers. While Chevrolet drivers took five of the top seven positions on the speed chart, Honda drivers took six of the top 11 and nine of the top 15.
The second practice session is currently going on right now at the track. The third and final pre-qualifying practice session is set to take place tomorrow at 11:50 am ET before qualifying takes place at 4:05 pm ET and is broadcast live on CNBC starting at 4:00 pm ET. An encore of qualifying is also set to air at 6:30 pm ET on NBC Sports Network. The race itself is set to be broadcast live on Sunday, April 22nd starting at 3:00 pm ET on NBC Sports Network.
Here are the full practice results for the first practice session for the 2018 Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama at Barber Motorsports Park.
| Rank | Driver | Car, Team, Engine |
| 1 | Will Power | #12, Team Penske, Chevrolet |
| 2 | Josef Newgarden | #1, Team Penske, Chevrolet |
| 3 | Scott Dixon | #9, Chip Ganassi Racing, Honda |
| 4 | Max Chilton | #59, Carlin Motorsport, Chevrolet |
| 5 | Ed Jones | #10, Chip Ganassi Racing, Honda |
| 6 | Simon Pagenaud | #22, Team Penske, Chevrolet |
| 7 | Jordan King | #20, Ed Carpenter Racing, Chevrolet |
| 8 | Graham Rahal | #15, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, Honda |
| 9 | Sebastien Bourdais | #18, Dale Coyne Racing, Honda |
| 10 | Zach Veach | #26, Andretti Autosport, Honda |
| 11 | Takuma Sato | #30, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, Honda |
| 12 | Charlie Kimball | #23, Carlin Motorsport, Chevrolet |
| 13 | Robert Wickens | #6, Schmidt Peterson Motorsports, Honda |
| 14 | Marco Andretti | #98, Andretti Herta Autosport, Honda |
| 15 | Ryan Hunter-Reay | #28, Andretti Autosport, Honda |
| 16 | Spencer Pigot | #21, Ed Carpenter Racing, Chevrolet |
| 17 | Zachary Claman DeMelo | #19, Dale Coyne Racing, Honda |
| 18 | James Hinchcliffe | #5, Schmidt Peterson Motorsports, Honda |
| 19 | Matheus Leist | #4, A.J. Foyt Enterprises, Chevrolet |
| 20 | Alexander Rossi | #27, Andretti Autosport, Honda |
| 21 | Tony Kanaan | #14, A.J. Foyt Enterprises, Chevrolet |
| 22 | Gabby Chaves | #88, Harding Racing, Chevrolet |
| 23 | Rene Binder | #32, Juncos Racing, Chevrolet |
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Be sure to tune in to NBC Sports Network this Sunday, April 22nd at 3:00 pm ET to watch the live broadcast of the 2018 Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama.