IMSA WEATHERTECH SERIES
//
D:00
H:00
M:00
S:00
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
Pre-Race Notes
Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix – Barber Motorsports Park, Leeds, Alabama
Round 4 of 18 in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES
DATE: Friday – Sunday, March 27-29, 2026
PRACTICE BROADCASTS: Live on FS2 on Friday from 3:30–5:00 p.m. ET, live on FS1 on Saturday from 11:00–12:30 p.m. ET and live on FS2 on Sunday from 10:00–11:00 a.m. ET. Also live on the INDYCAR Radio Network (IRN) and www.indycar.com (timing & scoring + live analysis).
QUALIFYING BROADCAST: Live on FS1, the IRN and www.indycar.com (timing & scoring + live analysis) from 2:30 – 4:00 p.m. ET Saturday.
RACE BROADCAST: Live on FOX Sunday, March 29 from 1:00-3:30 p.m. ET. And also on IRN Sirius XM INDYCAR Nation 218.
TRACK LAYOUT: 2.38-mile, 17-turn road course
RACE LENGTH: 90 laps / 207 miles
2025 WINNER: Alex Palou
2025 POLESITTER: Alex Palou (123.046 mph)
RLL TOP START / FINISH AT BARBER: 1st by Sato in 2019 / 1st by Sato in 2019; 13 events
RAHAL’S BEST START / FINISH AT BARBER: 2nd in 2019 / 2nd in 2015 and 2016 – Both with RLL; will be his 16th race here
RAHAL’S BEST SERIES START / FINISH: 5 Poles – St. Pete (street) 2009, Kansas (oval) 2009, Detroit (street) 2017, IMS (road) 2023, Portland (road) 2023 / 6 Wins – St. Pete 2008, Fontana (oval; 500 miles) 2015, Mid-Ohio (road) 2015, Texas (oval) 2016; Detroit Race 1 (street) 2017, Detroit Race 2 2017
FOSTER’S BEST START / FINISH AT BARBER: 12th / 26th – both in 2025
FOSTER’S BEST SERIES START / FINISH: Pole at Road America 2025 / 11th (Indy GP and Road America 2025)
SCHUMACHER’S BEST START / FINISH AT BARBER: First event here
SCHUMACHER’S BEST SERIES START / FINISH: 4th / 18th – both in Phoenix (oval) 2026
NEWS & NOTES:
RAHAL LETTERMAN LANIGAN RACING AT BARBER MOTORSPORTS PARK
The 2026 Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix (CAIGP) will mark the 14th INDYCAR SERIES race for the team at Barber Motorsports Park (BMP). Team highlights include a 1-2 start in 2019 with Sato and Rahal and a victory by Sato. For 2026, RLL has entered the No. 15 Fifth Third Bank Honda for Graham Rahal, the No. 45 Droplight Honda for Louis Foster and the No. 47 ENVE Honda for Mick Schumacher which brings the total to 29 entries for RLL for this event.
GRAHAM AT BARBER MOTORSPORTS PARK
Rahal’s best start at BMP is second in 2019 and his best finish is second, two times (2015-2016) in his previous 15 races here. In 2025, he started 21st and finished 14th. In 2024, he started seventh on a two-stop strategy, ran in the top five hoping the timing of the caution periods would play into the team’s favor but they did not, and he ultimately finished 11th. A race-by-race description of previous years, including his two, second-place finishes, is available upon request. The “Augusta of Motorsports” is one of his favorite tracks of the season and he’s looking for a strong result.
“First off, Mr. Barber was just an unbelievable man. What he created and the vision he had is second to none and I think we’re all better off having known him and we’re better off having the facility that he created and the dream that he had. But also, me personally, he did a lot to help my foundation. He hosted several events there for us and we were able to raise some money together and do some great things and provide some great experiences so I’m eternally grateful for everything that Mr. Barber did for us.
“I feel we should be very strong this year on the road and street courses. The street courses have been a little more challenging than I may have predicted but generally I feel we should be very strong. I’m looking forward to getting down to Barber, a place that we have been good at before and a place where we have great race pace. I’m hoping that it can continue on.”
GRAHAM ON THE 15 CREW BEING RANKED NUMBER 1 IN THE PIT STOP STANDINGS
Rahal’s No. 15 crew leads the Firestone Pit Stop Standings after three races with a total of 108 points. A $75,000 award is given to the pit crew who sets the fastest cumulative time in the pits overall throughout the season.
“The boys have done a wonderful job in the pits. I expect that to continue, and I know that they do as well. They’ve put a lot of time, effort and commitment into it this year. I’m excited to see them get back in action at Barber.”
FOSTER TACKLES THE CHALLENGES PRESENTED AT BARBER
Foster calls Barber one of the tracks that has been the most challenging to get a good result while racing in the US. He looked set to change that last year when he progressed to Round 2 in qualifying and earned the top starting spot for the team of 12th place but a late race, off course excursion limited his result to 26th. In his two INDY NXT races at Barber, his best finish is fifth place. In 2023, he qualified third but retired in 14th place after contact after completing 25 of 35 laps. His top finish of fifth came in 2024 after starting last in the field in 21st due to electrical issues. He is looking forward to another opportunity to flip the script and leave with a satisfying result here.
“Barber is one of the more fun tracks on the calendar, especially in qualifying. Its super flowy, there are a lot of fast sections, a lot of undulations within the circuit which makes it a lot of fun so its always a place I enjoy going back to. However, Barber has always been a place that has kind of not treated me very nicely if I’m honest. Every year I have raced there I have always had some kind of issue. It’s just one of those things. Last year in INDYCAR we were fast in qualifying, had some issues in the race but those were issues that were easily fixed afterwards. Going into it this year, I think if we can roll off the same if not better than last year, aim for the top-12 again and try and start inside the top-10 and, now with our improved race pace from last year, hopefully we can stay around there for a good result.
“I’m trying to go into the weekend with little expectations really because it was one of our weaker road courses last year so I’m not expecting us to be fighting for pole although I’d love to as that’s the goal. I don’t really know where we’ll end up, but I think we’ve got a decent car there. There is no reason we can’t start in the top 10 and fight for a good result.”
SCHUMACHER MAKES HIS ROAD COURSE DEBUT IN INDYCAR AT BARBER
Mick’s maiden INDYCAR season has included two street course events and a short oval to date. This weekend he will compete in his first road course of the season at Barber Motorsports Park and is looking forward to it.
“I’ve heard a bunch of good stories about Barber. We’re all excited about going there, especially me because I’m excited to see what an Indy car is like on a proper road course. The IMS road course was interesting, but this one is a standalone road course race track and I’m excited to see what it is all about.
“The preparation has mainly gone into analyzing racing footage and looking at videos to make sure I am on top of what the track is like and what to expect. There is no better preparation than actually going out on the race track and driving so I’m excited to get going and go into FP1 and figure out for myself what its like being out there.
“I’ve heard that it is a very physically demanding track. I’ve heard your hands are the one part that are going to suffer the most due to blisters from what I’ve heard. There is no real thing you can do to prepare for that; just go in and try to execute everything and hold the steering wheel as tight as possible, which is what my plan is going to be. I’m excited to go out there and see what it does to me and how it feels and hopefully we have a strong and competitive car that is easy to drive which is obviously what everybody wants to have, and to be able to do well.
“I found driving an Indy car was physical but also not as physical as everybody said it would be, so I felt pretty good. Obviously, the short oval was probably the toughest one so far. I didn’t drive in St. Pete (race) and of Arlington and the short oval in Phoenix, the short oval takes it on the difficulty scale for me obviously. Barber, from what I understand is going to be pretty tough as well so I’m excited to see how tough it is and see how I hold up with the physical demands.”
