IndyCar: Team Penske drivers sandbagging at Barber Motorsports Park?

By Asher Fair | Apr 6, 2019

SONOMA, CA - SEPTEMBER 15: Simon Pagenaud, driver of the #22 Team Penske Chevrolet, on track during pracrtice for the Verizon IndyCar Series Sonoma Grand Prix at Sonoma Raceway on September 15, 2018 in Sonoma, California. (Photo by Jonathan Moore/Getty Images) /

After a lackluster first day of practice for this Sunday’s IndyCar race at Barber Motorsports Park, the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama, are the Team Penske drivers sandbagging?

Barber Motorsports Park has been one of Team Penske’s best IndyCar tracks since it was added to the schedule for the 2010 season, but the start to Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama race weekend at the track has not gone according to plan for the Chevrolet-powered three-car powerhouse team.

Or has it?

The 17-turn, 2.38-mile (3.830-kilometer) Barber Motorsports Park natural terrain road course in Birmingham, Alabama has played host to nine IndyCar races since it was added to the schedule, and it has played host to six victories for Team Penske, including three consecutive victories for the team heading into the 2019 season.

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One of the three victories that was not earned by a Team Penske driver at Barber Motorsports Park was earned by Josef Newgarden, who now drives for the team. He earned his first career IndyCar victory in the race back in 2015 when he drove for CFH Racing.

Newgarden won the races at the track in the 2017 and 2018 seasons as a Team Penske driver as well after Team Penske’s Simon Pagenaud won the race there in the 2016 season. Meanwhile, Helio Castroneves won the inaugural race at the track driving for Team Penske in the 2010 season before Team Penske’s Will Power went on to win the race in the 2011 and 2012 seasons.

Andretti Autosport’s Ryan Hunter-Reay is responsible for winning the two races at Barber Motorsports Park that were not won by a current or former Team Penske driver, as he won the races at the track in the 2013 and 2014 seasons.

Pagenaud’s average finish at the track in eight starts is 5.63 while Newgarden’s average finish at the track in seven starts is 5.71 and Power’s average finish at the track in nine starts is 6.56.

But through the first two practice sessions for this year’s 90-lap race at the track, which is the third of 17 races on the 2019 schedule, the three Team Penske drivers have essentially been nowhere to be found.

Honda drivers swept the top six positions in both of these practice sessions for this race. In the first session, Pagenaud was the only Team Penske driver who finished in the top 10, as he finished in 10th place in his #22 Chevrolet while Power finished in 12th in his #12 Chevrolet and Newgarden finished in 14th in his #2 Chevrolet.

In the second practice session for this race, none of the three Team Penske drivers finished in the top 10. Power finished in 11th place while Pagenaud finished in 15th and Newgarden finished in 18th.

Are they simply sandbagging and preparing to show their true pace in qualifying for the race?

This would not be all that surprising, especially not after what they did in the practice sessions leading up to the season opener on the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida.

In the first practice session for this race, Honda drivers swept the top six and took eight of the top nine positions. Meanwhile, Newgarden, Power and Pagenaud finished in seventh, 10th and 12th place, respectively.

In the second practice session for this race, Honda drivers took three of the top four and five of the top seven positions. Meanwhile, Newgarden, Power and Pagenaud finished in ninth, 10th and 17th place, respectively. In the third and final practice session for this race, Newgarden rose to second with Pagenaud and Power in fourth and fifth, respectively.

Power went on to take the pole position for the race while Newgarden qualified beside him in second place. Pagenaud got caught out by a red flag period during the qualifying session and was only able to qualify in 13th.

Power led 17 of the race’s 110 laps en route to a third place finish while Newgarden led 60 laps en route to securing a dominant victory. Pagenaud finished in seventh.

Don’t be too surprised to see Newgarden, Power and Pagenaud finish higher on the speed charts in this morning’s third and final practice session for the race, and don’t be surprised to see at least two of these drivers make it to the Firestone Fast Six in the race’s qualifying session with at least one of them qualifying on the front row.

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Have the three Team Penske drivers opened up the this year’s Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama weekend sandbagging? The third and final practice session for the 2019 IndyCar season’s third race is scheduled to begin later this morning at 11:45 a.m. ET, and it is set to be broadcast live from Barber Motorsports Park on NBC Sports Gold.

The qualifying session for this race is scheduled to begin later this afternoon at 4:00 p.m. ET, and it is set to be broadcast live on NBC Sports Network. The race itself is scheduled to take place tomorrow at the same time, and it is also set to be broadcast live on NBC Sports Network.