®Your pocket guide to indYcar weekend

Friday-Sunday, april 9-11 ♦ BarBer MotorSportS park

al.com ♦ Our Online hOme

FRIDAY7:30 a.m. – Gates open

8 a.m. – Grand-am: Conti-nental tire Series practice (GS, St)

8:40 a.m. – Grand-am: Continental tire Series practice (dp, Gt)

9:50 a.m. – Grand-am: Continental tire Series qualifying (GS)

10:15 a.m. – Grand-am: Continental tire Series qualifying (St)

10:40 a.m. – Grand-am: rolex Series qualifying (dp)

11 a.m. – Grand-am: rolex Series qualifying (Gt)

11:45 a.m. – Firestone indy lights practice

12:50 p.m. – iZod indyCar Series practice

2 p.m. – on-track activi-ties

2:55 p.m. – Firestone indy lights practice

4 p.m. – iZod indyCar Series practice

5:45 p.m. – iZod indyCar Series driver autograph session (red diamond Fan Zone)

SAtuRDAY7:30 a.m. – Gates open

8:15 a.m. – Firestone indy lights qualifying

9:20 a.m. – iZod indyCar Series qualifying

10 a.m. – rolex and Conti-nental tire autograph ses-sion (team transporters)

11:30 a.m. – Grand-am rolex Series Fan Walk on pit lane

12:30 p.m. – Grand-am: rolex Series race: porsche 250

3:30 p.m. – Grand-am: Continental tire Series race

SunDAY7:30 a.m. – Gates open

8 a.m. – Firestone indy lights warmup

8:40 a.m. – iZod indyCar Series warmup

9:15 a.m. – on-track ac-tivities

noon – Firestone indy lights race

2 p.m. – iZod indyCar Se-ries race: indy Grand prix of alabama presented by legacy Credit union

The schedule TickeTs3-day admission: $85Sunday: $60Saturday: $50Friday: $20

Children 12 or younger admitted free with adult.

tickets are available at the gate, or go online to www.barbermotorsports.com or call (205)-327-7223.

ParkingFree parking at Birmingham race Course at 1000 John rogers drive.

take i-459 to the derby parkway exit, travel west on derby and follow the signs to the Birmingham race Course. Free shuttles, including ada accessible, will transport spectators to and from the park.

FYi. Cameras, lawn chairs, blankets and coolers (no glass bottles) permitted.

. trams provided free to travel around the site.

. Barber Motorsports Museum is open each day from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. tickets are available at the museum entrance.

WIll PoWeR, 29, is from toowoomba, australia, and currently lives in indianapolis. He drives the no. 1 2 car for team penske. He joined penske in 2009 as a part-time, fill-in driver for Helio Castroneves and scored one win at edmonton, although he injured his back late in the season. this season he has gotten off to a huge start by winning the first two races on the street courses in Brazil and at St. petersburg.

HelIo CAStRoneveS, 34, is from Sao paulo, Brazil, and lives in Coral Gables, Fla. He drives the no. 3 for team penske. He’s a three-time winner of the indianapolis 500, including last seasonís race shortly after a federal

jury acquitted him on tax evasion charges. off the track he is best known as a champion of “dancing With the Stars.” He finished fourth at St. petersburg and ninth in Brazil.

RYAn HunteR-ReAY, 29, is from Boca raton, Fla., and lives in Fort lauderdale. He drives the no. 37 for an-dretti autosport. Hunter-reay drove for Vision racing last year and had a best finish of second at St. peters-burg. this year with andretti he finished second at Brazil and 11th in St. pete. He is currently tied for second in the standings.

DARIo FRAnCHIttI, 36, is from edinburgh, Scotland, but now lives in nashville. He drives the no. 1 0 for target Chip Ganassi racing. He is married to actress ashley Judd. Franchitti is the defending series champion and won five times last year. Franchitti was seventh at Sao paulo and fifth at St. petersburg. He is also known to many naSCar fans for his attempt in 2008 to break into Sprint Cup racing. that ended after he was injured in a wreck at talladega and his team lost its sponsorship.

RAPHAel MAtoS, 28, is from Belo Horizonte, Brazil, and lives in Miami. He drives the no. 2 for luczo dragon racing de Ferran Motorsports. Matos is the 2008 Fires-tone indy lights champion. He finished fourth in Brazil and eighth at St. petersburg and is fifth in the points standings.

The drivers Who To WaTch For

Helio Castroneves

Dario Franchitti

®

the trackBarBer moTorsPorTs Park

indYcar coverage. daily in the Sports section of the Birming-ham news

. updates at al.com, the online home of the Birmingham news: al.com/birmingham

. Follow Doug Demmons’ Blog of tomorrow online at blog.al.com/blogoftomorrow