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2018 Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama results: Josef Newgarden wins

By Brittany Frederick

BIRMINGHAM, AL - APRIL 22: Josef Newgarden, Team Penske Chevrolet (1) motors through Turn 9 during the 9th annual Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama on April 21, 2018, at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, AL. (Photo by David John Griffin/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
BIRMINGHAM, AL - APRIL 22: Josef Newgarden, Team Penske Chevrolet (1) motors through Turn 9 during the 9th annual Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama on April 21, 2018, at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, AL. (Photo by David John Griffin/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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Rain was the story in IndyCar’s return to Barber Motorsports Park. Here are the complete 2018 Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama results.

The Verizon IndyCar Series battled the weather in Birmingham, and it was Josef Newgarden who won as he captured a wet 2018 Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama.

Rain arrived about a half-hour prior to the pace laps at Barber Motorsports Park, making this the first race under inclement weather of the 2018 IndyCar season — and the first with IndyCar’s new universal aero kit. The two variables threw understandable wrenches into Sunday’s events.

Charlie Kimball spun and hit the wall after contact with Ed Jones on Lap 12 of 90, causing his No. 23 Carlin Racing entry to stall on track and bring out the first caution of the day. That also erased an almost three-second lead for pole sitter Josef Newgarden, who slid on the restart.

But Newgarden fared better than teammate and Barber expert Will Power — whose car went entirely sideways and was done for the day after driving nearly blind. “I couldn’t see a thing [and] I had one car in front of me,” Power said after he stepped out of the No. 12 Team Penske car, but he’d get a second chance when weather called time on the race.

The red flag was brought out on Lap 19 due to the extreme lack of visibility, which Graham Rahal called “the worst I’ve ever seen, by far” before he spun during attempted yellow-flag laps.

After a second red flag, IndyCar made the decision to postpone the race until Monday morning. It picked up as a timed event, with just over an hour to go when the green flag dropped. Newgarden once again separated himself from the field, at one point with a double-digit lead.

But the rain was a factor again at the end of the Grand Prix of Alabama, with the final 15 minutes forcing Newgarden to come in for rain tires. That left him in a duel with Sebastien Bourdais, who was the last driver to switch off dry tires. With seven minutes left Bourdais made a tire-only stop and returned the lead to the No. 1 Team Penske car while rain began to pour.

The victory was Josef Newgarden’s second of the 2018 IndyCar season, and third in the last four years at Barber Motorsports Park.

Below are the complete 2018 Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama results:

1 – Josef Newgarden
2 – Ryan Hunter-Reay
3 – James Hinchcliffe
4 – Robert Wickens
5 – Sebastien Bourdais
6 – Scott Dixon
7 – Graham Rahal
8 – Takuma Sato
9 – Simon Pagenaud
10 – Marco Andretti
11 – Alexander Rossi
12 – Matheus Leist
13 – Zach Veach
14 – Jordan King
15 – Spencer Pigot
16 – Rene Binder
17 – Gabby Chaves
18 – Tony Kanaan
19 – Zachary Claman De Melo
20 – Ed Jones
21 – Will Power
22 – Max Chilton
23 – Charlie Kimball

Next: Juan Pablo Montoya talks leaving IndyCar

For complete coverage of the 2018 IndyCar season, follow the Motor Sports category at FanSided.