Birmingham, Ala. (17 April 2021) – The long awaited INDYCAR season opener kicked off on Saturday at Barber Motorsports Park which welcomed Meyer Shank Racing (MSR) and Jack Harvey for the first time since their 2019 debut.
Harvey opened the 2021 INDYCAR season with a promising eleventh place qualifying result after posting a 1:05.863-second lap for Sunday’s Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama (3:00pm ET, NBC/SiriusXM Ch. 205).
Several changes greeted the INDYCAR field since its previous visit to the Alabama circuit, with Saturday’s sessions marking the first time that the aero screen-equipped Indy Cars have run on the repaved circuit. The first day of running saw record-breaking lap times and delivered a field that was tighter than ever.
Returning for just the second time in his INDYCAR career, Harvey wheeled the No. 60 AutoNation / SiriusXM Honda through two opening practice sessions ahead of the late afternoon qualifying on Saturday.
The MSR team made big improvements following the first practice which saw Harvey find an additional seven-tenths of a second ahead of qualifying.
On Saturday Harvey advanced to the Fast 12, and bested his previous qualifying run to start Sunday’s 90 lap race in 11th (1:05.863-seconds).
“It’s so great to be back at Barber, this track is a perfect way to kick off the INDYCAR season,” said Harvey. “I thought we had an okay day, but it wasn’t as smooth as I would have hoped for. We worked through a couple things during practice and were feeling hopeful going into qualifying. Overall 11th is a good starting position for the race. Tomorrow we just want to see the No. 60 AutoNation / Sirius Honda go as far forward as possible.”
Coverage of Sunday’s Honda Indy Grand Prix will begin at 3:00pm ET on NBC. IndyCar Radio will also broadcast live coverage on SiriusXM Ch. 205.