Intro:

Andretti Autosport retained their perfect season record on Sunday (April 7th), when defending IndyCar Series champion Ryan Hunter-Reay took the chequered flag at the Grand Prix of Alabama at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham.

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The IndyCar series was in the deep south of the United States this weekend, running the Grand Prix of Alabama at Barber Motorsports Park.

Defending series champion Ryan Hunter-Reay started from pole position as the field went green at the picturesque permanent road course.

As cars jockeyed for position on the first lap, Graham Rahal and Oriol Servia made contact that collected James Hinchcliffe and damaged his car. It left him with what he believed to be a tyre issue, but the caution period wasn't long enough for IndyCar officials to tow him back to pit lane. So Hinchcliffe's disabled vehicle sat broken down on the course as the race went on around him - the driver finally got out of it with 18 laps to go.

AJ Allmendinger showed his inexperience - he ran seventh for most of his debut but finished 20th after stalling his car during his final pit stop.

First place went to Hunter-Reay. He passed Helio Castroneves for the lead with 14 laps to go, thanks to the alternate Firehawk tyres, which add grip and lap speed. Hunter-Reay rushed alongside the Brazilian on the straightaway and had the inside as they went into Turn 5 and never looked back.

Two-time IndyCar Series champion Scott Dixon got past Castroneves for second on Lap 77 and finished 0.6363 seconds behind Hunter-Reay. Castroneves came in third to take over the IndyCar points lead.

It was Hunter-Reay's 10th career victory, and he put the No. 1 car into Victory Lane at an IndyCar race for the first time since Sebastien Bourdais won at Mexico City in 2007. He also moved up 15 spots in the standings to third.