BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Part of Scott Dixon’s success at Barber Motorsports Park relates to another flowing road circuit, Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, where the Target Chip Ganassi Racing driver has won four of the past seven Verizon IndyCar Series races.
Dixon has been the runner-up in each of the four races on the 2.38-mile, 17-turn Barber Motorsports Park, and though the top step in Victory Circle is the goal each outing the points accumulated have greatly helped in the championship chase. Dixon, driver of the No. 9 entry, earned his third series title in 2013.
"I guess you could say I have a bit of a love-hate relationship with the track," said Dixon, who has 31 career second-place finishes.
In the past 50 years, the only other time a driver has placed second four times in a row at the same racetrack was Dixon (2006-09) at Chicagoland Speedway. Dixon clinched the '08 championship at the 1.5-mile oval in Joliet, Ill.
The increasing grip of the Barber racing surface through the weekend produces high cornering speeds that create momentum through the remainder of the racetrack that features 80 feet of elevation change. Reaching a balance on the car's set-up for the high- and slow-speed corners, much like Mid-Ohio, is a key.
As Josef Newgarden of Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing said: "Everything tends to feel good on the car because there's so much grip. The car is fast for everyone, but the challenge is you just have to be a little bit quicker than everyone else, and it's hard to find that last bit of speed."
Helio Castroneves and Dario Franchitti have finished third in consecutive years at Barber. Castroneves also won the race in 2010, while Team Penske teammate Will Power won in 2011 and '12.
Coming off victory, Conway looks ahead
“What if” isn’t lodged in Mike Conway’s thoughts. Conway, driving the No. 20 Fuzzy’s Ultra Premium Vodka car for Ed Carpenter Racing on road/street courses, won the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach on April 13. He’s second in the championship standings heading into the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama.
A missed radio communication at St. Petersburg while in third cost Conway a possible podium in the season opener March 30.
“I can’t really look back at the St. Pete now,” said Conway, who qualified on the front row in the first race at Barber. “We learned a lot about our team there and how to improve the overall performance. I missed the pits and it cost us. But we came back strong at Long Beach. I feel we can transfer the Long Beach win into a good showing this weekend at Barber.”
Dollar General steps up as primary sponsor of Villeneuve's car at '500'
Dollar General will serve as primary sponsor of the Schmidt Peterson Motorsports car driven by Jacques Villeneuve in the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race on May 25. Villeneuve, who will participate in a refresher session April 29 on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval, won the 1995 race and was the runner-up as a rookie in ’94.
Dollar General was the primary sponsor of Villeneuve's car for select races in NASCAR.
Honda vehicles for One Lap of America on display
Honda Performance Development engineers and drivers will send a video greeting to participants in the FIRST Robotics World Championships, being held this weekend in St. Louis. Justin Wilson will carry the FIRST logo on the No. 19 Dale Coyne Racing car at Barber.
On display in the Honda Car Corral at Barber will be two high-performance vehicles developed by Honda Manufacturing of Alabama in nearby Lincoln for the 2014 One Lap of America.
The “One Lap” Honda Odyssey and Acura MDX are modified to take part in the endurance/performance event, which includes both cross-country highway travel and a variety of performance competitions at racetracks across the country.
Of note
A.J. Foyt’s granddaughter, Amanda, is a freshman at the University of Alabama. She is the oldest daughter of A.J.’s son Jerry and wife Kate. ... The pairing of Dixon and Tony Kanaan marks the first time the reigning Indianapolis 500 winner and the reigning Verizon IndyCar Series champion have been teammates since 2002, when Team Penske had 2001 Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves and 2001 CART champion Gil de Ferran.