James Hinchcliffe, No. 27 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet
Hinchcliffe heads to IndyCar’s Round Two of competition after capturing his first career victory in the St. Petersburg season opener. He started from the second position at the 2012 Grand Prix of Alabama and finished sixth.
” I’m looking forward to getting back to Barber. Obviously for us the open test went pretty well, and the race last year went pretty well, so there are a lot of reasons to be optimistic and certainly riding a bit of a high form (the St. Pete win) two weeks ago. We’ll see. I t’s definitely going to be a long, physical race with the faster times we saw at the test there – it was definitely taking a toll on the drivers so we’ll see how everybody holds up over the distance. Definitely doing a lot of neck work since the test so hopefully that holds up. Other than that just looking forward to another strong race and hopefully putting the Go Daddy car back up front.“
Did You Know: As a big fan of good barbecue, Hinch says the Birmingham area has some of the best pulled pork on the circuit. He looks forward to taking in some of the local southern cuisine this weekend.
Marco Andretti, No. 25 RC Cola Chevrolet
Andretti opened the 2013 season with a podium finish on the streets of St. Petersburg on March 24; his first top–five finish on a road or street circuit since 2011. Andretti finished in the top five in his first two starts at Barber Motorsports Park (2010 and 2011).
“I’m really looking forward to keeping the momentum going after St. Petersburg. I think we know how to execute our plan well at Barber and we have high expectations for this weekend. In the past this is a place where I have performed really well, and there were a couple of times that I came close to reaching the podium – this would be a great time to have my best finish yet at Barber for the RC Cola Chevy.”
Did You Know: Marco has accumulated a total of 28 top-five finishes since his 2006 rookie season.
E.J. Viso, No. 5 Team Venezuela PDVSA CITGO Chevrolet
Viso is fresh off a top-10 finish after maneuvering his way through the field at the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg from 22nd to finish seventh. The Venezuelan’s highest start at Barber Motorsports Park is seventh in 2012.
“Heading to Barber, the second race of the year, it’s probably the track I have the most mileage on as we had two test days already. I’m looking forward to this race! I believe we had superb pace from those test days. Between my teammates and I, I think we achieved a pretty good setup on the car during the test, and keeping the momentum that we created during the first race of the year, I think Barber will be a great chance to perform.”
Did You Know: Not only an adrenaline junkie, E.J. loves all things fashion and his own line of watches with Orefici through Neiman Marcus is now available.
Ryan Hunter-Reay, No. 1 DHL Chevrolet
Hunter-Reay started IndyCar’s Round One of competition from the eighth position but, due to mechanical problems, was forced to retire the race early recording an 18th-place finish. The reigning series champion closed out the pre-season open test at Barber Motorsports Park ranked fifth on the time charts.
“It’s been a long two weeks since St. Pete! Following the electrical issues we faced in Round 1 of the championship we’re looking to get our season started at Barber for the DHL Chevy. As a team Andretti Autosport had an encouraging open test (at Barber Motorsports Park) in early March so we’ll be looking to pick up where we left off and improve through each session leading into qualifying this weekend.”
Did You Know: Ryan needs 10 more starts to mark 100 consecutive IZOD IndyCar Series starts. This weekend’s Grand Prix of Alabama will be his 134th career open-wheel start (CART, IZOD IndyCar Series).