The 2012 Indy Grand Prix of Alabama was the second race of the 2012 IndyCar Series season. The race was run on April 1, 2012 in Birmingham, Alabama, United States at Barber Motorsports Park.

Report

Background The first race of the 2012 IndyCar Series season in St. Petersburg, saw Hélio Castroneves capture his first victory since the 2010 season. Along with Castroneves, Scott Dixon and Ryan Briscoe were able to take advantage and lead throughout the race. Entering into the 2012 Indy Grand Prix of Alabama, Castroneves leads in the drivers' championship with 51 points, while Chevrolet leads in the manufacturers' championship.

Qualifying There was very limited practice time during the week leading up to the Indy Grand Prix of Alabama. Friday's practice was cut short due to rain, while the practice on Saturday morning was canceled due to fog. After qualifying was completed on Saturday morning, it was Hélio Castroneves who sat on the pole for the 2012 Indy Grand Prix of Alabama in the #3 AAA Insurance Chevy owned by Roger Penske. Andretti Autosport's driver James Hinchcliffe sat on the outside of the first row in the #27 GoDaddy.com car.

Race Scott Dixon led 38 laps and was leading on lap 66 when he made his final pit stop. A slow pit stop caused by trouble on the left rear tire, as well as traffic in the pit lane, allowed Will Power to pass him going into turn one. After all the leaders shuffled through their pit stops, Power took the lead, and held off Dixon over the final laps to win.

Classification

Starting grid RowInsideOutside13 Hélio Castroneves 27 James Hinchcliffe29 Scott Dixon 14 Mike Conway3 4 J. R. Hildebrand 11 Tony Kanaan4 5 E. J. Viso 38 Graham Rahal 512 Will Power 77 Simon Pagenaud (R)6 28 Ryan Hunter-Reay 2 Ryan Briscoe726 Marco Andretti 8 Rubens Barrichello8 67 Josef Newgarden (R) 15 Takuma Sato9 7 Sebastian Bourdais10 Dario Franchitti1018 Justin Wilson 19 James Jakes 11 78 Simona de Silvestro83 Charlie Kimball12 20 Ed Carpenter 6 Katherine Legge (R)13 98 Alex Tagliani† 22 Oriol Servià†

Race results Pos No. Driver Team Engine Laps Time/Retired Grid Laps Led Points 112 Will Power Team Penske Chevrolet 90 2:01:40.1127 9 22 50 29 Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing Honda 90 + 3.3709 3 38 42 33 Hélio Castroneves Team Penske Chevrolet 90 + 19.1150 1 28 36 4 38 Graham Rahal Chip Ganassi Racing Honda 90 + 19.3395 8 1 32 5 77 Simon Pagenaud (R) Schmidt Hamilton Motorsports Honda 90 + 20.1050 10 0 30 6 27 James Hinchcliffe Andretti Autosport Chevrolet 90 + 23.3093 2 1 28 7 14 Mike Conway A. J. Foyt Enterprises Honda 90 + 24.5552 4 0 26 8 8 Rubens Barrichello KV Racing Technology Chevrolet 90 + 25.4023 14 0 24 9 7 Sebastian Bourdais Dragon Racing Lotus 90 + 27.1815 17 0 22 1010 Dario Franchitti Chip Ganassi Racing Honda 90 + 32.7377 18 0 20 1126 Marco Andretti Andretti Autosport Chevrolet 90 + 33.5038 13 0 19 12 28 Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti Autosport Chevrolet 90 +35.8730 11 0 18 13 22 Oriol Servià Dreyer & Reinbold Racing Lotus 90 + 37.8944 26 0 17 14 2 Ryan Briscoe Team Penske Chevrolet 90 + 41.6742 12 0 16 15 4 J. R. Hildebrand Panther Racing Chevrolet 90 + 44.5059 5 0 15 16 19 James Jakes Dale Coyne Racing Honda 90 + 54.5343 20 0 14 17 67 Josef Newgarden (R) Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing Honda 90 + 1:00.6182 15 0 13 18 5 E. J. Viso KV Racing Technology Chevrolet 89 + 1 lap 7 0 12 1918 Justin Wilson Dale Coyne Racing Honda 89 + 1 lap 19 0 12 20 78 Simona de Silvestro HVM Racing Lotus 89 + 1 lap 21 0 12 21 11 Tony Kanaan KV Racing Technology Chevrolet 89 + 1 lap 6 0 12 22 20 Ed Carpenter Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet 88 + 2 laps 23 0 12 23 6 Katherine Legge (R) Dragon Racing Lotus 85 + 5 laps 24 0 12 24 15 Takuma Sato Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda 52 Mechanical 16 0 12 2583 Charlie Kimball Chip Ganassi Racing Honda 45 Mechanical 22 0 10 26 98 Alex Tagliani Team Barracuda – BHA Lotus 0 Mechanical 25 0 10

Notes Points include 1 point for pole position and 2 points for most laps led.

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship Pos Driver Points 1 Hélio Castroneves 86 2 Scott Dixon 84 3 Will Power 77 4 James Hinchcliffe 60 5 Simon Pagenaud (R) 58

Manufacturers' Championship Pos Manufacturer Points 1 Chevrolet 18 2 Honda 12 3 Lotus 6

Note: Only the top five positions are included for the driver standings.

References