| Race details | |
|---|---|
| 2nd round of the2012 IndyCar Series season | |
 | |
| Date | April 1, 2012 |
| Official name | Indy Grand Prix of Alabama |
| Location | Barber Motorsports Park Birmingham, Alabama |
| Course | Road Course 2.38 mi / 3.83 km |
| Distance | 90 laps 214.2 mi / 344.7 km |
| Weather | Temperatures reaching up to 84.9 °F (29.4 °C); wind speeds up to 9.9 miles per hour (15.9 km/h)[1] |
| Pole position | |
| Driver |  Hélio Castroneves (Team Penske) |
| Time | 1:10.4768 |
| Driver |  |
| Podium | |
| First |  Will Power (VerizonTeam Penske) |
| Second |  Scott Dixon (TargetChip Ganassi Racing) |
| Third | Hélio Castroneves (AAATeam Penske) |
The2012 Indy Grand Prix of Alabama was the second race of the2012 IndyCar Series season. The race was run on April 1, 2012 inBirmingham, Alabama,United States atBarber Motorsports Park.
The first race of the2012 IndyCar Series season inSt. Petersburg, sawHélio Castroneves capture his first victory since the 2010 season. Along with Castroneves,Scott Dixon andRyan 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, whileChevrolet leads in the manufacturers' championship.
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.[2] After qualifying was completed on Saturday morning, it wasHélio Castroneves who sat on the pole for the 2012 Indy Grand Prix of Alabama in the #3AAA Insurance Chevy owned byRoger Penske.Andretti Autosport's driverJames Hinchcliffe sat on the outside of the first row in the #27GoDaddy.com car.[3]
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, allowedWill 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.
| Row | Inside | Outside | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | Hélio Castroneves | 27 |  James Hinchcliffe |
| 2 | 9 | Scott Dixon | 14 |  Mike Conway |
| 3 | 4 |  J. R. Hildebrand | 11 | Tony Kanaan |
| 4 | 5 |  E. J. Viso | 38 | Graham Rahal |
| 5 | 12 | Will Power | 77 |  Simon Pagenaud(R) |
| 6 | 28 | Ryan Hunter-Reay | 2 | Ryan Briscoe |
| 7 | 26 | Marco Andretti | 8 | Rubens Barrichello |
| 8 | 67 | Josef Newgarden(R) | 15 |  Takuma Sato |
| 9 | 7 | Sebastian Bourdais | 10 | Dario Franchitti |
| 10 | 18 | Justin Wilson | 19 | James Jakes |
| 11 | 78 |  Simona de Silvestro | 83 | Charlie Kimball |
| 12 | 20 | Ed Carpenter | 6 | Katherine Legge(R) |
| 13 | 98 | Alex Tagliani† | 22 |  Oriol Servià† |
† Tagliani and Servià penalised 10 places for changing engine | ||||
1 Points include 1 point for pole position and 2 points for most laps led.
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