Posts Tagged ‘Barber Motor Sports News’
Legends of Motorsports at Barber Motorsports
Historic motor racing returns to the Barber Motorsports Park with Legends of Motorsports, a Bobby Rahal Signature Event!
Racing legend Bobby Rahal, partner in Historic Motorsports Productions, brings his newest venture to the Barber Motorsports Park for its inaugural event. Come watch actual rolling pieces of history as they compete on North America’s most beautiful circuit May 21 – 23!
Classes racing throughout the weekend will be:
2.0 Liter Formula Libre GTP / LeMans Prototypes
Can-Am
USRRC IMSA / FIA -GT
Classic Monoposto
Thunder & Lightning Production
Trans-Am
The featured marque will be Lotus, featuring a Lotus-only invitational race.
Weekend schedule to be posted soon!
In addition, Automotive Lifestyle Events will include the following:
• Thursday evening: Road Rally from track to Mountain Brook Village
• Friday evening: Inaugural Members Cocktail Reception for members and VIP’s
• Saturday evening: Charity Gala – benefitting the Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum and the Paul Newman Winning through Giving Award.
Edited: January 22nd, 2010
Barber Motorsports to light em up for testing
IZOD IndyCar Series and Firestone Indy Lights teams will have two Open testing periods during the 2010 season beginning with a preseason Open Test at Barber Motorsports Park next month.
The Barber Motorsports Park Open Test, slated for Feb. 24-26, will be the only Open Test conducted prior to the start of the 2010 season. It marks the second-straight season that both IZOD IndyCar Series and Firestone Indy Lights teams will conduct an Open Test at the scenic Alabama road course.
“The way the 2010 schedule falls allowed for the opportunity for our teams to focus their preseason plans on the road and street course events to open the season,” said Brian Barnhart, president of competition and racing operations for the Indy Racing League. “By shifting the oval testing portion to in-season Open Test dates, teams have the option of keeping their equipment in road-course trim until they are ready to focus on the oval portion of the schedule, including the month of May at Indianapolis.”
The first four races for IZOD IndyCar Series and first three Firestone Indy Lights races will be contested on road/street courses, including the inaugural Indy Grand Prix of Alabama on April 11 at the 2.38-mile road course in Birmingham, Ala.
The Open test at Barber Motorsports Park will be the third time the IZOD IndyCar Series has held an Open test in Alabama. Seven drivers tested at the facility in October 2007 and both series hosted their preseason road course Open Test at the track last March.
“We are honored to have the Indy Racing League in Birmingham for the Open Test, which will be a prelude to the inaugural event in April,” said Gene Hallman, President of Zoom Motorsports, the exclusive event promoter of Barber Motorsports Park. “The Open Test will allow the drivers additional experience on the finest road course in North America.”
An in-season oval testing day for IZOD IndyCar Series teams is scheduled for the 1.5-mile oval at Kentucky Speedway on May 4. Firestone Indy Lights rookies will join IZOD IndyCar Series teams for their rookie oval orientation program at Kentucky Speedway on May 3.
IZOD IndyCar Series teams are allowed up to six private testing days and a minimum of 800 miles testing depending on the number of full-time cars fielded by the team, in addition to the three Open Test dates. Teams can earn an additional 300 bonus testing miles by testing a Firestone Indy Lights driver at least 600 miles for a maximum of three private test days.
The IZOD IndyCar Series season opens March 14 with its first race in South America — on the streets of vibrant Sao Paulo, Brazil — while the initial race for Firestone Indy Lights is March 28 on the picturesque St. Petersburg, Fla., street circuit.
Open Test Schedule
Barber Motorsports Park
Tuesday, Feb. 23
IZOD IndyCar Series Photo/Video Day
Wednesday, Feb. 24
IZOD IndyCar Series
Thursday, Feb. 25
IZOD IndyCar Series
Friday, Feb. 26
Firestone Indy Lights
Edited: January 21st, 2010
Race Engineer Jeff Britton Joins A.J. Foyt Racing
Jeff Britton, of Indianapolis, has joined A.J. Foyt Racing as chief engineer of the No. 14 ABC Supply Indy car driven by Vitor Meira. Britton will be renewing an alliance with Meira as the two men worked together in 2005 when Meira finished second in the Indianapolis 500 for the first time.
“I’m very excited to be joining the A.J. Foyt Racing family,” Britton said. “I’m looking forward to being able to rely on the wealth of experience that A.J. has and also working with Vitor again. He makes things very easy for engineers because he can boil down the problems of the car to the biggest problem. He enables you to work on one thing at a time to really make progress in setting up the race car.
“The other thing is his attitude; he has the most positive attitude of any driver I’ve ever worked with. He never gets upset in the car, always has his emotions in check and is constantly trying to push the team in a positive direction.”
Britton’s respect for Meira is mutual. The 33-year-old Brazilian revealed, “Jeff was the first guy that I had big results with–the first time that I finished second at the [Indy] 500 was with him. We had three cars on the team, Buddy [Rice] and Danica [Patrick] were in the other two cars and we were much faster than both of them so I always thought that we worked well together. I like the way he works. He’s very quiet, you tell him what the car is doing and what the problems are, then he asks you to leave and he thinks about it and comes up with a solution. It’s very simple. I think it will be good, very good.”
Team director Larry Foyt interviewed several candidates before hiring Britton who brings 15 years of Indy car experience to the team.
“In the end, I liked the fact that Jeff worked well with Vitor and together they had some good results,” said Foyt. “With the limited practice time that you have on race weekends, it really helps to bring in someone who can communicate well with Vitor, so we aren’t starting from square one. With Jeff having been around the IRL since its inception, he and A.J. have a lot of common experience and that also was important in our final decision.”
Britton’s experience includes stints with Treadway Racing, Kelley Racing (when driver Scott Sharp won the 2001 pole at Indianapolis), Access Motorsports (Greg Ray), and Mo Nunn Racing (Tora Takagi). In 2005 he joined Rahal-Letterman Racing where he worked with Meira in 2005, Rice in 2006 and Sharp in 2007. Britton moved to Vision Racing in 2008 where he spent the past two years working with Ed Carpenter.
Edited: January 12th, 2010
Norton 750 Commando Racebike Doug MacRae at Barber Motorsports Park AHRMA 2009
Race bike at Barber Motorsports Track
Edited: January 2nd, 2010
“Toughest Ride in the South”
Three Weekends of Speed kicks off with the inaugural Indy Grand Prix of Alabama at Barber Motorsports featuring Danica Patrick. The Grand American Rolex Sports Series and 8th Annual Porsche 250 race are also at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham April 9-11. On April 17 hundreds of cyclists gather for races in downtown Anniston in the Sunny King Criterium and April 18, cyclists will endure the “Toughest Ride in the South” as they participate in the Cheaha Challenge Century. The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series visits the Talladega Superspeedway for the first time April 23-25 with the Aaron 499 Dream race.
Edited: December 31st, 2009
Legends of Motorsports, has announced an additional event to its premium historic automobile race weekend at Barber Motorsports Park
May 20-23, 2010. The special race will solely include Lotus Legends of Motorsports, has announced an additional event to its premium historic automobile race weekend at Barber Motorsports Park racing cars, featuring a variety of the marque’s most popular models.
“Few brands of race cars have more racing mystique than Lotus,” observed Legends of Motorsports co-founder and partner Bobby Rahal. “For anyone who loves these great cars, and there are many, it will be very exciting to see a sea of Lotus racers battling it out on the beautiful Barber Motorsports Park circuit.”
The Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum at the Barber Motorsports Park includes more than 1000 vintage and modern motorcycles and a substantial collection of 43 vintage Lotus cars, the largest collection in North America.
Consequently, the Lotus-exclusive race will be open to a raft of years and models of the famed British sports cars including Lotus 7, Lotus Super 7, Lotus 9, Louts 11, Lotus 15, Lotus 17, Lotus 19, Lotus 23, Lotus 26, Lotus 47 and Lotus 62.
Rahal, a revered international racing champion and 1986 Indianapolis 500 winner, is one of three Legends of Motorsports primary partners through the brand’s Historic Motorsports Productions (HMP) parent company. He is joined in the venture by Just Marketing International (JMI) founder and CEO, Zak Brown and noted business
executive Peter Stoneberg, who serves as CEO for HMP. All three men are active participants in historic racing in their own right.
Legends of Motorsports events typically include a variety of the most popular historic racing classes and cars. These include GTP/Group C; 3.0 Liter era Formula One; F.I.A. Championship of Makes; 2.0 Liter Sports Racers; Trans-Am; Can-Am; IMSA GT/Production Cars; and Formula Libre. In addition, at certain events individual automobile manufacturers and classes will be celebrated through special programming. Beyond vintage racing, HMP event weekends feature a variety of entertainment diversions such as fashion shows, race car parades, car shows and rallies.
“The owners of the Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum, founder George Barber and the museum staff are truly great stewards of racing history,” said Rahal. “They appreciate the legacy of legendary racing marques and certainly Lotus is high on that list. Their stellar facility will be a perfect venue for guests to appreciate the best of this historic racing brand.”
Tickets for the Legends of Motorsports at Barber Motorsports Park are on sale to the public beginning January 15, 2010.
Edited: December 22nd, 2009
Geoff May survived an outragous crash in the AMA Supersport race at Barber when he launched his M4 Suzuki GSX-R600 off the already downed Kawasaki of Jamie Hacking.
Edited: December 21st, 2009
The last Buell donated Barber Motorsports
The final Buell motorcycle produced at the company’s East Troy factory — a 2010 Buell Lightning XB12Scg — has been donated to the Barber Motorsports Museum in Leeds, Ala., along with several other models from the company’s 26-year production history.
A total of 12 bikes were donated to the collection, including a 1996 S3T Thunderbolt, a 1999 X1 Lightning, several clay model prototype mock-ups, and a pair of modified motorcycles used by stunt riders Craig Jones and Bubba Blackwell.
“We’re very pleased to be able to add to the Barber Museum’s already extensive collection of Buell motorcycles,” said Jon Flickinger, president and chief operating officer of Buell Motorcycle Company.
Edited: December 19th, 2009
Grand Am releases 2010 TV schedule
Fans at Barber Motorsports Park walk along pit road before the start of the race.
All 12 Grand Am Rolex Series races next year will be televised live on Speed, including the April 10 race at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham.
The Porsche 250 is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 10, part of a weekend package that includes the Indy Grand Prix of Alabama on Sunday, April 11. The Grand Am race was moved from its usual summer date.
The season begins with the Rolex 24 at Daytona on Jan. 30-31 and ends Sept. 11-12 at Miller Motorsports Park in Utah.
Edited: November 27th, 2009
More racing a Barber Motorsports
Edited: November 20th, 2009