Honda, as the sole engine provider for the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, won the first two races at Barber Motorsports Park in 2010 and 2011. In the 11 races since, the pendulum has swung toward Chevrolet.
The Bowtie camp is 8-for-11 on the 17-turn, 2.3-mile track, including two straight victories from two different teams (Arrow McLaren in 2022, Team Penske 2023).
Who’s next?
Here are the favorites and sleepers who could win Sunday’s 90-lap race (1 p.m. ET, NBC, Peacock, INDYCAR LIVE, INDYCAR Radio Network).
Favorites
Scott McLaughlin (No. 3 Good Ranchers Team Penske Chevrolet)
Three of Scott McLaughlin’s four career NTT INDYCAR SERIES victories have come on natural road courses, including last April at Barber Motorsports Park. McLaughlin led 24 laps en route to a victory and comes to eyeing a repeat. He was first and third, respectively, in the pair of practice sessions last year and qualified fourth.
Pato O’Ward (No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet)
O’Ward, the NTT P1 Pole Award winner in 2021 at Barber, developed an early puncture in a Firestone Firehawk tire during that race. That sparked an early, unscheduled pit stop. If that didn’t occur, the Mexican star had a great shot at victory. Instead, he dropped to fourth at the finish. The Arrow McLaren driver got revenge with a victory in 2022. He finished fourth again last April following a third-place start.
Scott Dixon (No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda)
The latest NTT INDYCAR SERIES race winner with a victory in last Sunday’s Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach has never won at Barber Motorsports Park (0-for-13). But Dixon does have six runner-up finishes and nine podium results in 13 tries. Last season, the 57-time INDYCAR SERIES race winner was fourth in both practice sessions, qualified fifth and finished seventh.
Alex Palou (No. 10 Ridgeline Lubricants Honda)
Palou’s Barber Motorsports Park streak of two consecutive top-two finishes, including a 2021 win, came to an end with a fifth-place result last April, a race he started from the front row. Eight of his nine points-paying NTT INDYCAR SERIES victories are on natural road courses, including four wins in 2023. Two-time and defending series champion Palou won last month at The Thermal Club $1 Million Challenge on a similar track near Palm Springs, California.
Will Power (No. 12 Verizon Business Team Penske Chevrolet)
In 13 Barber Motorsports Parks starts, Power has 10 top-five finishes, including consecutive wins in 2011 and 2012. He was runner-up in 2021, fourth in 2022 and third last April. Also, the two-time INDYCAR SERIES champion has 14 natural road course podium finishes since 2020. That ranks second to Palou (15) in this span.
Sleepers
Alexander Rossi (No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet)
While Rossi has never won at Barber Motorsports Park, he has produced a pair of fifth-place finishes, a ninth-place run in 2022 and eighth place last year in his last six tries. In 2021, he qualified on the front row before pitting at the wrong time for his opening pit stop. The California native was consistent on natural road courses last season, with six top-10 finishes in seven tries. Rossi’s nine natural road course podium finishes over the last four seasons has him tied with Scott Dixon for third on that list.
Rinus VeeKay (No. 21 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet)
The Ed Carpenter Racing driver led the most laps (57) from the pole and rounded out the podium with a third-place finish in 2022. Last year he finished 16th but started ninth.
Christian Lundgaard (No. 45 HyVee Honda)
The Dane is quick on natural road courses, including a sixth-place finish in 2023 at Barber. That was one of six top-seven finishes in seven natural road course starts in 2023.
Felix Rosenqvist (No. 60 AutoNation/SiriusXM Honda)
Rosenqvist won the NTT P1 Award in the final natural road course event of 2023, the NTT INDYCAR SERIES season finale at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. He was runner-up at the prior race at Portland International Raceway. Last year at Barber Motorsports Park, Rosenqvist started eighth and finished ninth. He showed speed in the season-opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg presented by RP Funding by qualifying second and finishing seventh. At The Thermal Club, Rosenqvist qualified second, won his heat race and finished third in the main event. He finished ninth after another NTT P1 Pole Award last weekend in Long Beach.
Romain Grosjean (No. 77 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet)
Grosjean finished 10th as a rookie here in 2021, was seventh in 2022 and finished runner-up after leading a race-high 57 laps from pole a season ago.