Sportsbooks are enamoured with Will Power to win the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama, which will be held at Barber Motorsports Park as the third calendar event in the IndyCar season. And why wouldn’t they be? Will Power… Dynamic, isn’t it? Nobody snuggles with Will Power. You strap yourself in and feel the G’s. That’s the way Will Power is; decisive, uncompromising and rude. Some love him, some hate him – but even the latter don’t hate him with pure hatred, but with hatred born of love.
Will Power
William “Will” Power (huh. we thought Will Power didn’t abbreviate) is a two-time winner of the Grand Prix of Alabama (2011 and 2012), and has never finished outside the top 5 in seven starts (4th in 2010, 2015, and 2016, 5th in 2013 and 2014). Another such finish would come in really handy for the Australian, seeing as how he placed 19th in the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg and 13th in the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach.
Scott Dixon
Dixon led the most laps in Long Beach but finished 4th; he had the fastest lap in St. Pete and finished 3rd. so what’ll it be this time around? Pole position and second place? The New Zealander has never won at Barber Motorsports Park but has come pretty darn close every single time (2nd in 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013, and 3rd in 2014 and 2015) with the exception of last year, when he placed 10th – and a top 10 finish is still not that bad. All of which makes him another sportsbooks’ favourite.
Simon Pagenaud
The French driver is not only the reigning and defending IndyCar Series champion, he also is the winner of the 2016 Honda GP of A, in which he completed the 90 laps in 1:48:42 at an average speed of 114.254. Pagenaud has never finished outside of the top 10 in Alabama (8th in 2011, 5th in 2012, 6th in 2013, 4th in 2014, and 9th in 2015). This season he came in 2nd Florida and 5th in Long Beach.
James Hinchcliffe
Like his fellow Canadian Neil Young, Hinchcliffe has not gone over well in Alabama – his best finish a 6th place in 2012 and 2016 and his worst a 26th place in 2013. However, the DWTS runner-up is hot off a win in Long Beach the weekend before last.
Sebastien Bourdais
Similar to Hinchcliffe above, Bourdais has not really set Barber Motorsports Park on fire – an 8th place in 2015 and a 9th place in 2012 the only two times he has made the top 10 in six outings. Nonetheless, he won in St. Pete, was the runner-up in Long Beach, and leads the driver standings with 93 points, 19 ahead of the Canadian.
Josef Newgarden
The Nashville-born won the 2015 edition of the ‘Bama Grand Prix with CFH Racing and finished 3rd last year with Ed Carpenter Racing. Team Penske is Newgarden’s third racing team in as many seasons but then with every change he keeps doing better than in three years with Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing – and that makes him a sportsbooks’ fave as well.
