IndyCar results and points after Barber

By May 2, 2022, 9:00 AM EDT
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Pato O’Ward continued his rebound in the NTT IndyCar Series points standings, topping the results sheet Sunday at Barber Motorsports Park in his first victory of the season.

The Arrow McLaren SP driver led the final 27 laps on the road course east of Birmingham, Alabama, and climbed from ninth to fifth in the points standings after opening the season with consecutive finishes outside the top 10.

O’Ward finished 0.98 seconds ahead of defending series champion Alex Palou, who was one spot short of repeating at the track where he won his first IndyCar race last year.

But Palou earned a solid consolation prize as he took over the championship lead through four races.

Two-time series champion Josef Newgarden, who had entered the race with a shot at a $1 million win bonus, fell to third in the standings after a 14th-place finish.

Here are the IndyCar results and points standings Sunday after the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama:

RESULTS

Click here for the box score from the 90-lap race on the 17-turn, 2.3-mile road course at Barber Motorsports Park in Leeds, Alabama. Click here for the lap leader summary and here for the pit stop performance.

Full lap chart

Best section times

Full section data

Event summary

Here is the finishing order in the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama with starting position in parentheses, driver, engine, laps completed and reason out (if any):

1. (2) Pato O’Ward, Chevrolet, 90, Running
2. (3) Alex Palou, Honda, 90, Running
3. (1) Rinus VeeKay, Chevrolet, 90, Running
4. (19) Will Power, Chevrolet, 90, Running
5. (13) Scott Dixon, Honda, 90, Running
6. (4) Scott McLaughlin, Chevrolet, 90, Running
7. (8) Romain Grosjean, Honda, 90, Running
8. (9) Graham Rahal, Honda, 90, Running
9. (5) Alexander Rossi, Honda, 90, Running
10. (10) Colton Herta, Honda, 90, Running
11. (24) Simon Pagenaud, Honda, 90, Running
12. (12) Marcus Ericsson, Honda, 90, Running
13. (17) Takuma Sato, Honda, 90, Running
14. (7) Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet, 90, Running
15. (14) Christian Lundgaard, Honda, 90, Running
16. (6) Felix Rosenqvist, Chevrolet, 90, Running
17. (20) Devlin DeFrancesco, Honda, 90, Running
18. (15) Jack Harvey, Honda, 90, Running
19. (22) Conor Daly, Chevrolet, 90, Running
20. (18) David Malukas, Honda, 90, Running
21. (16) Helio Castroneves, Honda, 90, Running
22. (21) Kyle Kirkwood, Chevrolet, 89, Running
23. (23) Dalton Kellett, Chevrolet, 89, Running
24. (26) Jimmie Johnson, Honda, 89, Running
25. (11) Callum Ilott, Chevrolet, 88, Running
26. (25) Tatiana Calderon, Chevrolet, 88, Running

Winner’s average speed: 114.304 mph; Time of Race: 1:48:39.4368; Margin of victory: 0.9800 of a second; Cautions: 1 for 3 laps; Lead changes: 5 among 4 drivers; Lap leaders: VeeKay 1-29, Palou 30, Newgarden 31-32, VeeKay 33-60, Palou 61-63, O’Ward 64-90.

POINTS

Click here for the points tally in Sunday’s race.

Here are the points standings after the fourth race of the season for:

Drivers

Engine manufacturers

Entrants

Points: Palou 144, McLaughlin 141, Newgarden 135, Power 134, O’Ward 114, Dixon 113, VeeKay 106, Grosjean 101, Ericsson 84, Rahal 84, Herta 79, Pagenaud 69, Rossi 62, Sato 61, Lundgaard 57, Rosenqvist 56, Castroneves 55, Johnson 51, Daly 50, Kirkwood 46, Harvey 44, Malukas 44, Ilott 37, DeFrancesco 33, Kellett 30, Calderon 25, Ferrucci 22, Carpenter 18, Hildebrand 17.

Rookie of the year standings: Lundgaard 42, Kirkwood 38, Malukas 34, Ilott 32, Calderon 20, DeFrancesco 20

NEXT: The NTT IndyCar Series begins its month at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, starting May 14 with the GMR Grand Prix on the IMS road course. The 106th Indy 500 will take place May 29 on the historic 2.5-mile oval. Both races will be live on NBC.

HOW TO WATCH INDYCAR IN 2022: Full NBC Sports schedule with dates, times, networks/streaming

To purchase tickets to the Indy 500, click here to reserve a seat.

Ford unveils a new Mustang for 2024 Le Mans in motorsports ‘lifestyle brand’ retooling

Associated PressJun 9, 2023, 7:00 PM EDT
Ford Mustang Le Mans
Ford Performance
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LE MANS, France — Ford has planned a return to the 24 Hours of Le Mans with its iconic Mustang muscle car next year under a massive rebranding of Ford Performance aimed at bringing the automotive manufacturer “into the racing business.”

The Friday unveil of the new Mustang Dark Horse-based race car follows Ford’s announcement in February (and a ballyhooed test at Sebring in March) that it will return to Formula One in 2026 in partnership with reigning world champion Red Bull.

The Mustang will enter the GT3 category next year with at least two cars in both IMSA and the World Endurance Championship, and is hopeful to earn an invitation to next year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans. The IMSA entries will be a factory Ford Performance program run by Multimatic, and a customer program in WEC with Proton Competition.

Ford CEO Jim Farley, also an amateur sports car racer, told The Associated Press the Mustang will be available to compete in various GT3 series across the globe to customer teams. But more important, Farley said, is the overall rebranding of Ford Performance – done by renowned motorsports designer Troy Lee – that is aimed at making Ford a lifestyle brand with a sporting mindset.

“It’s kind of like the company finding its own, and rediscovering its icons, and doubling down on them,” Farley told the AP. “And then this motorsports activity is getting serious about connecting enthusiast customers with those rediscovered icons. It’s a big switch for the company – this is really about building strong, iconic vehicles with enthusiasts at the center of our marketing.”

Ford last competed in sports car racing in 2019 as part of a three-year program with Chip Ganassi Racing. The team scored the class win at Le Mans in 2016 in a targeted performance aimed to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Ford snapping Ferrari’s six-year winning streak.

Ford on Friday displayed a Mustang with a Lee-designed livery that showcased the cleaner, simplified look that will soon be featured on all its racing vehicles. The traditional blue oval with Ford Performance in white lettering underneath will now be branded simply FP.

The new mark will be used across car liveries, merchandise and apparel, display assets, parts and accessories and in advertising.

Farley cited Porsche as an automaker that has successfully figured out how to sell cars to consumers and race cars in various series around the world while creating a culture of brand enthusiasts. He believes Ford’s new direction will help the company sell street cars, race cars, boost interest in driving schools, and create a merchandise line that convinces consumers that a stalwart of American automakers is a hip, cool brand.

“We’re going to build a global motorsports business off road and on road,” Farley told the AP, adding that the design of the Mustang is “unapologetically American.”

He lauded the work of Lee, who is considered the top helmet designer among race car drivers.

“We’re in the first inning of a nine inning game, and going to Le Mans is really important,” Farley said. “But for customer cars, getting the graphics right, designing race cars that win at all different levels, and then designing a racing brand for Ford Performance that gets rebranded and elevated is super important.”

He said he’s kept a close eye on how Porsche and Aston Martin have built their motorsports businesses and said Ford will be better.

“We’re going in the exact same direction. We just want to be better than them, that’s all,” Farley said. “Second is the first loser.”

Farley, an avid amateur racer himself, did not travel to Le Mans for the announcement. The race that begins Saturday features an entry from NASCAR, and Ford is the reigning Cup Series champion with Joey Logano and Team Penske.

The NASCAR “Garage 56” entry is a collaboration between Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet and Goodyear, and is being widely celebrated throughout the industry. Farley did feel left out of the party in France – a sentiment NASCAR tried to avoid by inviting many of its partners to attend the race so that it wouldn’t seem like a Chevrolet-only celebration.

“They’re going right and I’m going left – that NASCAR thing is a one-year deal, right? It’s Garage 56 and they can have their NASCAR party, but that’s a one-year party,” Farley said. “We won Le Mans outright four times, we won in the GT class, and we’re coming back with Mustang and it’s not a one-year deal.

“So they can get all excited about Garage 56. I almost see that as a marketing exercise for NASCAR, but for me, that’s a science project,” Farley continued. “I don’t live in a world of science projects. I live in the world of building a vital company that everyone is excited about. To do that, we’re not going to do a Garage 56 – I’ve got to beat Porsche and Aston Martin and Ferrari year after year after year.”

Ford’s announcement comes on the heels of General Motors changing its GT3 strategy next season and ending its factory Corvette program. GM, which unlike Ford competes in the IMSA Grand Touring Prototype division (with its Cadillac brand), will shift fully to a customer model for Corvettes in 2024 (with some factory support in the IMSA GTD Pro category).