RacingNation.com
Home / IndyCar Series / Power Tops Field In IndyCar Practice At Barber

Power Tops Field In IndyCar Practice At Barber

Leeds, Ala. – Will Power outdid the star-studded IndyCar Series field in practice for Sunday’s Indy Grand Prix of Alabama presented by the Legacy Credit Union at the picturesque Barber Motorsports Park. In two rounds of practice, the fleet Australian driver took the speed honors both times.

For his fast lap, Power maneuvered around the 2.38-mile, 17-turn road course in the Verizon Team Penske car at a speed of 116.315 miles per hour.

“Qualifying (Saturday) will be very important because you don’t want to be caught in the middle of the pack with a fast car,” said Power, who won the opening two races of the 2010 IZOD IndyCar Series season.

Qualifications will be held Saturday morning, and the weather forecast calls for unseasonably cool weather over night. However, the cold weather doesn’t seem to bother Power and the other drivers. When the IndyCar Series held its winter test at the Barber track in late February, it was very cold then.

Although Power is off to a strong start for the season, he hasn’t lost focus. “You have to have everything go right, and you can’t make a mistake,” he said. “This is the first time I’ve been with such a good team, and I want to take the opportunity to get the most out of it.”

Tony Kanaan was the second fastest driver, and he was pleased with the outcome. He was a tick of the clock slower than Power at 116.127 mph. “Qualifying will be important for us because we have 12 or 15 cars capable of winning the race,” he stated.

Helio Castroneves was third fastest followed by Scott Dixon and Marco Andretti.

The second five of the fastest drivers were Takuma Sato, Ryan Briscoe, Hideki Mutoh, Mike Conway and Dario Franchitti.

Twelve of the 25 drivers topped the 115 mph mark.

Share Button