The season-opening event of the 2021 NTT IndyCar Series, the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama, has been rescheduled from 11 April to 18 April, due to ever-changing conditions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
This rescheduling now creates and exciting, condensed beginning to the season with four races in fifteen days. After the Grand Prix of Alabama at Barber Motorsports Park, the series will travel to Florida for the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg (25 April), followed by the doubleheader event at Texas Motor Speedway (1-2 May).
Six of the first eight races will also be shown nationwide in the United States on network television via NBC.
Penske Entertainment Corp. President and CEO Mark Miles says that despite the schedule changes, this will provide the sport with a great opportunity to showcase their product to a large audience.
“The schedule changes we’ve had, while partially prompted by ongoing pandemic conditions, give us a powerful start to the 2021 season,” Miles said.
“With six of our first eight races on network television and all in a more compact timeline, it’s an enormous opportunity to drive even more momentum as we deliver our exciting brand of racing to our fans.”
This will be the first time that Barber Motorsports Park has hosted the season opener in it’s eleventh season on the IndyCar calendar. The series first began testing at the track in 2007 and ran it’s first race in 2010. Josef Newgarden has the most race wins at the track with three wins, while Takuma Sato is the most recent winner.
In 2020, the race was cancelled due to the initial outbreak of COVID-19.
To view the full 2021 season schedule, you can click here. An updated listing of green flag times will be announced at a later date.
