The Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix, the fourth race on the 2023 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season schedule, takes place this weekend at Barber Motorsports Park near Birmingham, Alabama, and includes INDY NXT by Firestone action. 

Learn more about the tires Firestone has brought to Barber Motorsports Park for NTT INDYCAR SERIES and INDY NXT by Firestone in this video with Cara Krstolic, Director of Race Tire Engineering and Manufacturing. 

NTT INDYCAR SERIES 

Firestone is supplying more than 1,400 race tires to NTT INDYCAR SERIES teams and drivers for practice, qualifying (including the Firestone Fast Six), and Sunday’s 90 laps (207 miles) race on the 2.3-mile, 17-turn road course with elevation changes of more than 80 feet. 

Each NTT INDYCAR SERIES entry will receive the following Firestone Firehawk race tire allocation: 

• Primary (black sidewall): 6 sets per entry* 
• Alternate (red sidewall): 4 sets per entry 
• Rain (gray sidewall): 5 sets per entry 
  *Rookies receive an extra set for Friday practice 

Primary (black) tire information: 

• Same construction as the 2022 Barber primary tires 
• Similar compound to the 2021 Barber primary tires 
• Expected to exhibit additional grip, wear, and degradation as compared to the 2022 Barber primary compound. 

Alternate (red) tire information: 

• Same construction as the primary tire 
• Similar alternate compound to the 2021 Barber alternate tires 
• Expected to exhibit additional grip, wear, and degradation as compared to the 2022 Barber alternate compound.

Rain (gray) tire information: 

• Same construction and compound as the 2022 Barber rain tire  

Note from Cara Krstolic: Barber Motorsports Park has a full schedule of racing events throughout the year across many categories of motorsports resulting in a racetrack surface that sees a lot of use and which naturally affects the track grip level over time. Taking that into account, Firestone has brought primary and alternate race tires with a combination of higher grip and higher rate of degradation designed to present more of a challenge and promote more competition. 

INDY NXT by Firestone 

Firestone is supplying almost 400 race tires to INDY NXT by Firestone teams and drivers for practice, qualifying and Sunday’s 35-lap (80.5 miles or 55-minute) race. 

Each INDY NXT by Firestone entry will receive the following Firestone Firehawk race tire allocation: 

• Primary: 5 sets per entry 
• Rain: 1 set per entry

Note from Cara Krstolic: INDY NXT practice times on Friday indicate that track records are expected be reset this weekend. These are the same tires used at Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg and will be provided at all street and road courses with the possible exception of Road America.