TheChildren’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix is anIndyCar Series race held atBarber Motorsports Park, a 17-turn 2.38-mile (3.83 km)road course, inBirmingham, Alabama, United States. Officially announced on July 27, 2009, the inaugural event was on the weekend of April 9–11, 2010.[1][2] The event is under the management of the local group Zoom Motorsports. The venue is designed to allow for nearly 100,000 spectators and will have an estimated economic impact onGreater Birmingham of $30 million.[1]
Having an IRL race at Barber became a possibility in 2007 when the league had testing session at the facility on October 12, 2007.[3] The test would also serve in evaluating the track as a potential site for a race beginning in the2009 season. By July 2008, IRL revealed its 2009 schedule with new races being held atLong Beach andToronto, but not at Barber.[4] However local officials indicated that Barber was under strong consideration for a 2010 date.[4]
Due to the success of the testing session in 2007, Barber was selected for a full-field, three-day testing session in March 2009.[5] Officials remained confident that the track would gain a race in the future due to the desire of the IRL to expand intothe South, as well as the location of theHonda Manufacturing of Alabama plant in nearbyLincoln,Honda being an official engine supplier of IRL.[5]
The opportunity to pursue the event came after theDetroit Indy Grand Prix was discontinued.[1][6] Initially, Zoom Motorsports looked to have the Detroit race moved to Alabama for the 2009 season; however, the league decided in February 2009 to not replace the event on its schedule.[7] With an open date available for 2010, Birmingham made its pitch to IRL officials and was selected to hold the event overCleveland (Burke Lakefront Airport),Houston,Baltimore,Nashville,Charlotte andPortland.[1] IRL cited both strong support from both local and state government in addition to the large crowd that attended an IRL training session in March 2009 as factors in Birmingham being selected for the race.[1]
^abBolton, Mike (December 7, 2008). "IndyCar Series drivers to conduct test session at Barber: Preseason testing bodes well for possible race at Barber in 2010".The Birmingham News.
