I hope you enjoyed the weekend off, fear not, IndyCar action continues as we roll into Alabama and the first of 6 permanent road courses on this year’s calendar! This fast and flowing circuit is one we love returning to, with plenty of elevation on the 2.3 mile circuit to provide drivers and fans the thrills we desire!
Who can stop Palou?
The reigning champ will enter as the heavy favourite, road courses are where he excels, but he is vulnerable, three races in, 1 dominant win, 1 crushing defeat and 1 runner up finish. Expect Palou to be in the mix, perhaps returning to victory lane at the very circuit he first became an IndyCar winner at in 2021.
Power’s next test
Will Power came good in Arlington, after a crash-ridden start to his Andretti career ruined his Long Beach and Phoenix weekends, a P3 in Arlington was just what he needed. A few questions come to mind here, Andretti are best on Street courses, we saw Will competitive at Phoenix.
But can he also rebuild their Road Course program? Was Arlington a sign of things to come or flash in the pan? Furthermore the 26 team has not been qualifying well, holding the best qualifier in IndyCar history to starts of 13th, crash and 4th. Again Arlington was expected to be a strong weekend, so can they carry the momentum or will Power struggle again this weekend?
Who else should we watch for?
Team Penske
Both Newgarden and McLaughlin have gone back to back at Barber in years gone by, and Josef is the winningest driver in track history. The recurring story will be how Penske bounce back, three races in they sit 3rd, 4th and 5th in the standings so one would think the Penske trio will be in the mix, but we don’t know and the new style of circuit will be the final test in the trial of a prominent return to the top!
Christian Lundgaard
The Danish driver finished 2nd only to the formidable Alex Palou on road courses last year, taking 5 of his 6 podiums last year on road courses and finished runner up in this race last year! 2026 hasn’t been as flashy but it’s a solid start with finishes of 3rd, 12th and 7th. I expect big things from all the McLaren drivers this weekend
Rahal Letterman Lanagin
Another team to watch is the RLL trio, again when taking just road course races into account both Rahal and Foster jumped way up the standings! Additionally for new hire Mick Schumacher, one would imagine the road courses would be the easiest to adjust to.
The Schedule
Friday
FP1 – 3:30pm EST
Saturday
FP2 – 11am EST
Quali – 2:30pm EST
Sunday
Race – 1pm EST
In the USA you can catch Practice and Quali through the FOX affiliated networks and the IndyCar Live app, while the race will be broadcast on big FOX.
In Canada, you can watch the race on TSN or TSN+
In Europe, you can check Sky Sports F1, Ziggo Sports (NLD), ViaPlay and Canal+ , depending on the country.
written by Carlos Faria // Media Credit: Penske Entertainment
