BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Following his Sunoco Rookie of the Year campaign, the 2015 Verizon IndyCar Series season had not started as Carlos Munoz had expected.

He hadn’t qualified in the top 10 through three races, and ninth place on the streets of Long Beach, Calif., was his best finish in the No. 26 AndrettiTV Cinsay Honda.

Qualifying 22nd for the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama on April 26 didn’t inspire the 23-year-old Colombian either. But maybe a spirited drive to sixth place in the 90-lap race on the 2.3-mile, 17-turn Barber Motorsports Park road course is a turning point with the Angie’s List Grand Prix of Indianapolis on deck May 9.

“I think sixth for me is like a victory,” said Munoz, who advanced the most positions of the 23 drivers relative to their starting spot. “I mean I always want to win, but this sixth feels so good because of how we started the weekend.

“Starting 22nd at Barber (Motorsports Park), it is really hard to make your way to the front. My team did a great job – in pit stops, in strategy. I think I did a great job at saving fuel; I’m more or less a rookie at saving fuel, but I think now I have my ‘saving fuel degree’ from university. Now I’m looking forward to the next one."

Andretti Autosport teammate Ryan Hunter-Reay, who won the 2013 and ’14 races at Barber Motorsports Park, gained 13 positions to finish a season-high fifth in the No. 28 DHL Honda.

“I think that (fifth) was as good as we were going to get,” he said. “We really worked hard on saving fuel; we had to have a lot of discipline there to pull it off. Some guys pitted a little later than us, they were able to go a little heavier, a little harder, so we missed out on the podium because of that. All in all a pretty good day for the DHL Honda."