MILLER: A Big Day For 'Bama

IndyCar

MILLER: A Big Day For ‘Bama

An IndyCar race 40 miles from Talladega, the heart of NASCAR country? Sounded like a promoter’s nightmare, if not a real bad idea.

Robin Miller | Posted April 12, 2010 Indianapolis, IN

Lots of fans, good racing and a different form of racing seemed to capture the imaginations of the local Alabama residents. (LAT)

An IndyCar race 40 miles from Talladega, the heart of NASCAR country? Sounded like a promoter’s nightmare, if not a real bad idea.

Turns out it was neither.

Sunday’s crowd at the inaugural Indy Grand Prix of Alabama was Charles Barkley big as 53,555 southerners came out to see the funny cars driven by the people with the strange names.

They came from Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Florida and all across Alabama and they were treated to a pretty entertaining show – all things considered.

On a tight track built for motorcycles, they saw a lot more passing than anybody envisioned, enough different strategies to keep things interesting and almost a Cup staple green/white/checker finish.

“It was everything I thought it would be and more,” said George Barber, the owner of this pristine facility east of Birmingham. “I wanted to get an Indy car race from Day 1 and I thought we would get a good crowd.

“It’s the largest weekend we’ve ever had and I think it’s going to be even better next year.”

A motorcycle aficionado whose museum is one of the best on the planet, Barber built this twisty, undulating, challenging 2.3-mile road course for the 2-wheeled boys. It’s a helluva layout for cycles, but feared to be way too tight for an Indy car.

With a narrow track and no real straightaways, passing figured to be non-existent. But Marco Andretti, starting to drive the way we’ve all expected, put a nifty move on Helio Castroneves to snatch the lead on Lap 16 and, thanks to traffic, there was plenty of overtaking in Turns 5 and 11.

“I think we were all pleasantly surprised about that,” said Scott Dixon, who finished second ahead of teammate Dario Franchitti. “It’s not easy, by any stretch, but you could get it done in Turn 5.

“I’d still like to see a passing zone so maybe we’ll get one.”

Franchitti chimed in: “This track has a lovely flow and it’s a lot of fun to drive but it limits passing. So maybe extend one of the straights or take one of the flowing bits out and put in a good, heavy braking zone. Then we’d be in good shape.”

Barber, who originally told IndyCar officials he’d be willing to open a corner or add a straightaway if he scored a race, opted to stay pat.
“I wanted to see what happened in the first race and I had heard there wasn’t going to be any passing but I saw plenty of it out there,” he said.

“I intend to sit down and talk with the IndyCar people but really, I don’t think we need to change a thing.”

Castroneves, who scored his first road racing victory since 2008 because he was able to squeeze the throttle and only make two pit stops, also found a fence to climb.

“This morning on the parade lap I was looking around and I saw a little one (fence) surrounded by a bunch of people thought that might be a good spot and that’s exactly where I stopped,” he said.

“The fans really got me going when I was climbing and I must say this has been such a great three days. There were big lines for the autograph sessions, big crowds and everybody is so friendly. I didn’t hear anything negative all weekend and these fans really seemed to enjoy our show.”

The three-day attendance of 84,126 was the biggest weekend in Barber Motorsports Park’s seven-year history and not surprising based on the first open test in 2009.

“From the git-go, when we had that first open test and had over 10,000 people, we never get that,” said Dixon. “To see the enthusiasm today was amazing. Before the race in the paddock, you could barely walk and there are not many places we go that are like that.

“It was a big day for Alabama and a big day for us.”

Robin Miller became an Indy-car junkie in late 1950s and stooged for his hero, Jim Hurtubise, at the 1968 Indy 500. He went on to work as a vent man and board man on Indy pit crews from 1971-77. Miller bought a Formula Ford from Andy Granatelli in 1972 and raced it in SCCA until 1974 when he purchased a midget from Gary Bettenhausen, competing in the USAC midget series from 1975-82.

Robin flunked out of Ball State College in 1968 and began working at The Indianapolis Star sports department in 1969, covered motorsports there from 1969-2000.

In addition to his broadcast work. Miller's also covered IndyCar racing for Autoweek, Autosport, Car & Driver and On Track magazines over the past 35 years.

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The opinions reflected herein are solely those of the above commentator and are not necessarily those of SPEED.com, FOX, NewsCorp, or SPEED

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Robin Miller

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