By: Spencer Neff
May 2, 2025

The month of May kicks off with the NTT INDYCAR SERIES’ 15th trip to Barber Motorsports Park in Alabama.

It will be the fourth race of the 2025 season and the last before the series heads to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the Sonsio Grand Prix and 109th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge.

Ahead of this weekend’s on-track running, here’s a look at the major stories to watch.

Headlines

After starting the season with back-to-back victories, Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou finished second to Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood at Long Beach.

Now, Palou returns to the site of his first INDYCAR victory (2021). It is the only victory for CGR at the 2.3-mile, 17-turn permanent road course.

Kirkwood, who trails Palou by 34 points in the standings will look to better his carer-best effort at Barber from last year. In the 2024 race, Kirkwood started ninth and finished tenth.

Andretti Global has not won at Barber since Ryan Hunter-Reay went back to back in 2013-2014.

Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin became the fifth driver to win consecutive races at Barber win 2024. Last year, he started on the pole and led 58 of 90 laps en route to victory.

If McLaughlin wins on Sunday, he would be the first driver to win three consecutive races on a permanent road course since 2007-09, when Scott Dixon accomplished the feat at Mid-Ohio.

Fast Facts

Spotter Guide Pit Assignments

Race weekend: Friday, May 2-Sunday, May 4 Track: Barber Motorsports Park, a 2.3-mile, 17-turn road course (clockwise) in Birmingham, Alabama Race distance: 90 laps / 207 miles (NTT INDYCAR SERIES) | 35 laps / 80.5 miles / 55 minutes (INDY NXT by Firestone) Push-to-pass parameters: NTT INDYCAR SERIES: 200 seconds of total time, with a maximum single duration of 20 seconds. Push-to-pass is not available on the initial start or any restart unless it occurs in the final two laps or three minutes of a timed race. |  INDY NXT by Firestone:150 seconds of total time, with a maximum time of 15 seconds per activation Hybrid energy deployment parameters (NTT INDYCAR SERIES only): Unlimited activation, with a maximum deployment of 385 kilojoules (kj) per lap Firestone tire allotment: NTT INDYCAR SERIES: Five sets primary (hard) and five sets alternate (soft) to be used during the event weekend. Teams fielding a rookie driver may use one additional set of primary tires in the first practice session. Teams must use one set of primary and one set of new (sticker) alternate tires for at least two laps in the race. INDY NXT by Firestone: Three new sets to be used during the event weekend, with one new set used for qualifying and another new set used during the race. Two carryover sets from recent testing may be used during practice. X: @BarberMotorPark @IndyCar, @INDYNXT, #INDYBHM, #IndyCar Instagram: @BarberMotorPark, @INDYCAR, #INDYBHM, #INDYCAR Facebook: @BarberMotorsportsPark, @INDYCAR, @INDYNXT, #INDYBHM, #INDYCAR TikTok: @INDYCAR, @INDYNXT, #INDYCAR YouTube: @INDYCAR Event website: www.indyalabama.com NTT INDYCAR SERIES website: www.indycar.com | INDY NXT by Firestone website:www.indynxt.com 2024 race winners:NTT INDYCAR SERIES Scott McLaughlin (No. 3 Good Ranchers Team Penske Chevrolet) INDY NXT by Firestone Jacob Abel (No. 51 ABEL Motorsports )2024 NTT P1 Award winner (NTT INDYCAR SERIES): Scott McLaughlin (No. 3 Good Ranchers Team Penske Chevrolet), 1 minute, 5.9490 seconds, 125.552 mph 2024 INDY NXT by Firestone pole winner: Jacob Abel (No. 51 ABEL Motorsports), 1:11.3507, 116.047 Qualifying records: NTT INDYCAR SERIESPato O’Ward, 1:05.5019, 126.409 mph, April 17, 2021 (set in Round 2 of qualifying) INDY NXT by FirestoneChristian Rasmussen, 1:10:7371, 117.053, April 29, 2023 FOX Sports telecasts: NTT INDYCAR SERIES: Practice 1, 3:30 p.m. ET, Friday, FS2 (live); Practice 2, 11:30 a.m. ET Saturday, FS1 (live); Qualifying, 2:30 p.m. ET Saturday, FS1 (live); Warmup, 10 a.m. ET Sunday, FS1 (live); Race, 1:30 p.m. ET Sunday, FOX (live). Will Buxton is the play-by-play announcer for FOX’s coverage of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, alongside analysts Townsend Bell and James Hinchcliffe. Georgia Henneberry, Kevin Lee and Jack Harvey are the pit reporters. | INDY NXT By Firestone: Practice 1, 2:30 p.m. ET, Friday, FS2 (live); Practice 2, 10:10 a.m. ET Saturday, FS1 (live); Qualifying, 1:30 p.m. ET Saturday, FS1 (live);Race, 11:30 a.m. ET Sunday, FS1 (live). Kevin Lee is the play-by-play announcer for FOX Sports’ coverage of INDY NXT by Firestone alongside analyst Jack Harvey. Georgia Henneberry is the pit reporter, while guest analyst Tim Cindric will join for the race telecast. INDYCAR Radio Network broadcasts: Mark Jaynes is the anchor alongside driver analyst Davey Hamilton. Nick Yeoman and Michael Young are the turn announcers. Alex Wollf, Drake York and DJ Clark are the pit reporters. The Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix powered by AmFirst race (1 p.m. ET), INDY NXT by Firestone Grand Prix of Alabama (11:25 a.m. ET) and all NTT INDYCAR SERIES practices and qualifying sessions air live on network affiliates, SiriusXM INDYCAR Nation 218, indycar.com/leaderboard and the INDYCAR App powered by NTT DATA. All INDY NXT by Firestone practices, qualifying sessions and races are available on SiriusXM INDYCAR Nation 218, indycar.com/leaderboard and the INDYCAR App powered by NTT DATA. At-track schedule (All Times Local/Central Time): Friday, May 21:30- 2:15 p.m. – INDY NXT by Firestone practice 1, FS2 (Live) 2:35 -3:55 p.m. – NTT INDYCAR SERIES practice (split group format), FS2 (Live) Saturday, May 3  9:10-9:55 a.m. – INDY NXT by Firestone practice 2, FS1 (Live) 10:30-11:30 a.m. – NTT INDYCAR SERIES practice (Limited green flag guarantee of 45 minutes), FS1 (Live) 12:30-1 p.m. – INDY NXT by Firestone qualifying (Two groups, 12-minutes each), FS1 (Live) 1:35-3 p.m. – Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix qualifying for the NTT P1 Award (three rounds of knockout qualifying), FS1 (Live) Sunday, May 4 9:02-9:27 a.m. – NTT INDYCAR SERIES warmup, FS1 (Live) 10:30 a.m. – FS1 on air 10:31 a.m. – INDY NXT by Firestone Grand Prix of Alabama “Drivers, start your engines” 10:36 a.m. – INDY NXT by Firestone Grand Prix of Alabama (35 laps/55 minutes), FS1 (Live) 12:30 p.m. – FOX on air 12:40 p.m. – Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix “Drivers, start your engines” 12:47 p.m. – Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix (90 laps / 207 miles), FOX (Live)

Header Image By Chris Jones/INDYCAR