IRL CEO impressed with Birmingham track

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — First-time visitor Randy Bernard was impressed with Barber Motorsports Park, taking in the tree-lined hills and picturesque surroundings Friday.

That's good news for track officials because Bernard is the new CEO of Indy Racing League.

"I've never seen a course this beautiful," said Bernard, who took over on March 1. "When they call it the Augusta of motorsports, I can see why. This is spectacular."

The track is tucked into a rural area on the fringes of Birmingham.

He also doesn't mind the location about 20 minutes from Talladega Superspeedway in an area known more for NASCAR than IndyCar. It provides an opportunity to expose new fans to open-wheel racing.

"Our job is to make sure we're delivering the message out there that we're a sport on the move, a racing league that's trying to move to the next level," Bernard said.

Bernard said people around Birmingham approached him Thursday when they saw his IndyCar jacket. He spoke to reporters a few minutes after chatting with race promoter Gene Hallman, and came away with positive reviews about how things were running.

"It's been very smooth," Bernard said. "Promoters are very quick to tell you when things aren't going well, so it's good to hear when they're going great."

Hallman estimates somewhere between 75,000-85,000 fans will attend over the weekend, and said they have sold tickets in 40 states and seven countries.

RYAN'S RIDE: Ryan Hunter-Reay has managed to get sponsorship for the next three races leading up to the Indianapolis 500, but he's still hoping to get a full-season ride.

He has done his part on the track. Hunter-Reay is second in the points standings behind Will Power after two races.

After an 11th-place finish at St. Petersburg, IZOD agreed to let him keep running through Indy, where he was already scheduled to race.

"We're going to do everything in our power as a team to run Ryan for the entire season," said John Lopes, chief marketing officer for Andretti Autosport. "We believe he's a championship contender. We told that to Izod.

"We think we've had a lot of progress. We've added some races. We're making progress, so I think at some point we're going to be able to say we're here for the whole year. We're not there yet, but we're getting close."

FASTEST LAPS: Will Power and Tony Kanaan turned in the fastest laps in Friday's practice session. Power topped out at 116.315 mph, just ahead of Kanaan (116.127).

Both drivers said the track got faster in the late afternoon. Racers from Firestone IndyLights, Rolex Series and Continental Tires Series were also practicing or qualifying early in the day. Residue from different kinds of tires affected their grip, the drivers said.

"This morning running over other people's rubber wasn't very compatible with outstanding traction," Power said.

That's not great news: They'll have to follow the Indy Lights race Sunday.

The conditions were also different from the February testing, when temperatures were substantially cooler.

"That made it so much different with the balance of the car," said Takuma Sato, who drove his No. 5 Lotus to the sixth-fastest time. "It changed the whole grip level."