Sunday Update from Barber Motorsports Park

Sato starts on Pole

It is a beautiful race day morning here in Birmingham, AL for the Honda Grand Prix of Alabama. Today's high is predicted to be 80 degrees by race time. Rain is now out of the forecast until very late tonight.

Last night was a rocky night in town. A huge band of thunderstorms lit up the night sky for about 4 hours last night. And dumped inches of rain at the track. So there is mud in the parking areas this morning. And the Auburn Tigers, a college located about 2 hours south of Birmingham, lost to Virginia in their first Final Four appearance.

Today's race lineup is not quite the usual drivers in the front. Takuma Sato, the 2017 Indianapolis 500 winner, took the pole away from his teammate in the final seconds of the Firestone Fast Six yesterday. Graham Rahal, his teammate at Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, will line up next to Sato for today's start.

Missing from the front rows will be the Team Penske and Andretti Autosport cars. But don't count on the order staying that way for long. Josef Newgarden, the defending race winner, will be trying to keep his points lead. Will Power, the 2018 Indianapolis 500 winner, is a master on this track, winning here in 2011 and 2012.

Will we see passing today

Alexander Rossi, the number 27 Napa sponsored Andretti Autosport entry, also would like to add some points to his bank today. Rossi is currently 40 points behind Newgarden but today's race might greatly change the points order.

Scott Dixon, the 2018 IndyCar champion, is in the best position to gain points today if his race goes well. Dixon is starting third today and has finished on the podium in seven of his nine previous starts. But has not yet be a winner of this race.

Warm up is at 11:10 this morning. The race is broadcast on NBCSN with a 3:15 pm race start.

Lucille Dust reporting live from Birmingham for AR1