Alexander Rossi feels like the upcoming stretch of races, led by Sunday’s Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix powered by AmFirst at Barber Motorsports Park through the XPEL Grand Prix on June 9 at Road America, provides a strong opportunity to end his 23 race NTT INDYCAR SERIES winless drought.

Arrow McLaren driver Rossi’s last win came with Andretti Global in July 2022 on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.

“I think we’ve got a pretty good shot at it,” he said on a victory in this stretch.

Rossi has five top-10 finishes in his last six starts around the 2.3-mile, 17-turn Barber Motorsports Park. The next race, May 11, is back to the IMS road course for the Sonsio Grand Prix. Rossi finished fifth in his No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet on both visits to the IMS road course in 2023.

After the Sonsio Grand Prix, the series rapidly shifts to the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval for the 108th Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge on May 26. Rossi won the 2016 Indianapolis 500 in his rookie start and has six top-seven results in eight tries, including a pair of fifth-place finishes over the last two years.

A week later is the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear on June 1, a race in which Rossi finished fifth last year. Then it’s to Road America, where Rossi was third in 2022 and dominated the 2019 race by leading 54 of 55 laps in victory, both with Andretti Global.

Rossi said turning those fifth-place finishes last season into wins this year boils down to Arrow McLaren being more comfortable together in his second season with the team. Arrow McLaren expanded an additional entry in 2023 to bring Rossi into the organization.

“The whole team and everything is in a much better place,” Rossi said. “It’s much calmer. We're used to running three cars now. There's just more confidence throughout the organization. I think from that standpoint, everything's in a much better spot.”

Last season, Rossi scored six less points (375) in the No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet compared to 2022 (381) with Andretti Global. While he didn’t win like in 2022, he produced more top-five finishes (6-5) and top 10s (11-9).

This season, Rossi hasn’t finished worse than 10th in any of the three races, including The Thermal Club $1 Million Challenge exhibition race. He comes to Barber Motorsports Park seventh in points.

Rahal Allows Rahal To Showcase Racecraft

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing enjoyed a stellar opening practice session Friday at Barber Motorsports Park. Two of the team’s three drivers were in the top seven, led by Christian Lundgaard’s No. 45 Hy-Vee Honda in fifth at 1 minute, 6.8972 seconds.

Graham Rahal was seventh at 1:06.9679 in his No. 15 Hendrickson Honda. That pace makes him confident he can parlay this into a great weekend.

“I’ve typically been fairly competitive here,” he said. “I thought it was a strong day.”

Rahal said Barber is a venue that rewards drivers who can maintain tires throughout a race. Rahal, a veteran of 277 NTT INDYCAR SERIES starts, think that area is his biggest strength in racecraft.

“It's a place that I always felt confident at, felt good at, and we've been able to have some good success here,” Rahal said. “I had a couple really close calls for wins. We've been competitive.

“Our car seems good this weekend. It will be interesting to see. I think tire degradation could become a factor. We'll see what Sunday brings.”

Rahal finished runner-up in 2015 and 2016 at Barber. He has not returned to that form since but still has three top-10 finishes in the last six seasons, with the best result seventh in 2021.

“The last couple of years, the strategies have been a little all over the place,” he said. “Last year we made a stupid move. We were going down a two-stop path, bailed, went to a three for some reason.”

Grosjean Apologetic After Harvey Hip Check

Late in the 75-minute practice session, Peacock cameras caught Romain Grosjean running Jack Harvey’s No. 18 Dale Coyne Racing Honda off track.

Grosjean wasn’t thrilled about ripping through Turns 1 and 2 of the 2.3-mile natural road course in his No. 77 Juncos Hollinger Chevrolet and having Harvey exit the pits into his line. He then veered slightly toward Harvey in retaliation and made contact with his car, forcing the Englishman into the grass off track.

Frenchman Grosjean admitted he took out his frustrations on Harvey and apologized after practice because the two made contact, and he didn’t mean for that to happen.

“It was on me,” Grosjean said. “It was the fourth lap in a row that I got blocked. I did the French move that I was complaining, but I couldn't turn the wheel with one hand.

“We actually made contact, which I feel a bit embarrassed about it. It's the honest truth. Believe me, I wanted to push him a bit wide, showing I was not happy, but I never wanted to make contact. I just couldn't turn the wheel.

“I think everyone got blocked. It's just Barber. It's probably the most physical track of the season. It's very hot. We're pushing the limits on the car with high-speed corners. I'm not very proud of that moment, but I'm much more proud of our session, generally.”

Grosjean shot up to sixth on the speed chart in practice with a lap time of 1:06.9639. He was 19th quickest in this session a year ago and turned that into an NTT P1 Pole Award a day later.

Grosjean has never started worse than eighth in three Barber Motorsports Park starts, with a finish of second last April with Andretti Global.

Odds and Ends

• Reigning NTT INDYCAR SERIES Rookie of the Year Marcus Armstrong flashed a new livery Friday. The orange and black No. 11 Root Insurance Honda colors flanked his Chip Ganassi Racing entry for the first time this season. The sophomore driver was eighth quickest in practice at 1:06.9689. That was quickest among the five Chip Ganassi Racing drivers in the opening session.

• Jacob Abel (1:11.9990) was quickest in his No. 51 Abel Construction entry for the opening INDY NXT by Firestone practice of the weekend. He was an imposing .5158 of a second clear of second-place driver James Roe. Abel is after his first career victory after being 0-for-29 in INDY NXY by Firestone, 0-for-39 in Indy Pro 2000 and 0-for-7 in USF2000. Louisville native Abel has finished runner-up three times, all coming in INDY NXT by Firestone competition, including in this year’s season opener March 10 at St. Petersburg.

• Pato O’Ward continued his stellar form in the opening practice session of a race weekend this season. O’Ward, the driver of the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet, was second quickest in the first practice for the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg presented by RP Funding in March. At last week’s Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, O’Ward was quickest among 27 drivers in the first session. On Friday, O’Ward was second again. Barber Motorsports Park is a strong track for the Mexican. He has qualified first, second and third, respectively, the last three tries with respective finishes of fourth, first and fourth in those events. That bodes well for the rest of the race weekend.