Roller Coaster day for Cape Motorsports at Barber
Ahmed captures a hard-fought fourth-place finish while Jones’ promising day ends when the engine won’t restart after a red flag
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (May 2, 2023) – Barber Motorsports Park has earned the nickname “The Alabama roller coaster” but that moniker also describes the INDY NXT by Firestone Alabama Grand Prix race weekend for Cape Motorsports.
Enaam Ahmed brought home a fourth-place finish for the team, but the chance to earn a similar finish was thwarted for Jagger Jones, when his Dallara would not refire after a late red flag, relegating him to 12th position.
“This was always going to be a hard weekend for us as a team, with no testing there,” said Dominic and Nicholas Cape. “The circuit is full of compromises in the set up. We had elected to run full fuel loads because we had missed the St Pete race. Everyone worked really hard together on the set ups, we took some big swings before Saturday, and made good progress with the cars. Though qualifying didn't go quite as planned the cars had a good balance.
“Enaam had to use an older left front tire due to a flat spot in qualifying, and he had an awesome race with a great fourth place finish. Jagger had a heart breaker, with a low battery warning from around the third lap on. We’d lost the alternator belt, and when we went red and stopped in the pit lane, we just hoped there was enough juice to start the car – but unfortunately not. It was a real shame as Jagger was in for a solid top ten finish. But great work by our drivers, engineers, and crew guys. We are really looking forward to the challenges coming up.”
Both drivers have experience at the 16-turn, 2.366-mile track. Jones captured a victory last year in the USF2000 Championship, while Ahmed earned top 10s in all four of his USF Pro Championships races, including a podium finish last year. But this was the first time the Cape team would race an INDY NXT car at Barber, so the learning curve was steep.
In Friday’s practice, Ahmed experienced an electronic issue that held him to nine laps, while Jones worked on balance and adjusting to the increase in downforce between the USF2000 car and the Dallara. Practice two on Saturday morning was a very different story, with Ahmed consistently in the top four early in the session and Jones fine tuning setup ahead of qualifying.
Cloudy and cool conditions greeted the drivers for the eight-minute qualifying session, much cooler than either practice session. Both drivers’ first laps put them solidly in the top 10, with Ahmed cracking the top three halfway through the session. With 2:30 remaining, Jones threw down a flyer, putting the No. 98 temporarily into P4 but struggled to find increased pace late in the session. At the checkered flag, both drivers had bested the series track record, with Ahmed qualifying in ninth position and Jones in 13th.
Hard rain overnight removed much of the track’s grip, but the NTT INDYCAR series warm-up laid down a new layer of Firestone rubber just ahead of the INDY NXT race. Ahmed took a look on the inside at the drop of the green, but got boxed in and fell to 11th, while Jones grabbed a position in the standard turn one-two chaos. Ahmed quickly retook ninth as the field settled into a rhythm.
Ahmed moved into eighth and Jones took advantage of contact between several drivers to take ninth, right behind his teammate. But on lap 14, two cars came together in turn nine, bringing out a full course caution that brought the field back together and opened up another passing opportunity on the restart.
The green flag flew again on lap, with Jones peeking a nose inside Ahmed in turn three but unable to make the move stick. The pair paced together, trying to pressure the cars ahead, until another caution on lap 27 for a car into the turn nine barrier brought the action to a halt – and moved Ahmed and Jones into seventh and eighth, respectively.
Unfortunately, the tow truck dispatched to retrieve the car got stuck in the (very) wet grass in turn nine, so the series threw a red flag with the hopes of finishing under green – the last thing Jones wanted to see, as he was experiencing battery issues. When the call came to restart engines 11 minutes later, Jones’ Dallara would not refire in pit lane, ending his day. The race took the green flag for a five-lap sprint to the finish, with Ahmed forcing the driver ahead into a mistake in turn five and getting around on the outside to take sixth position. He pushed hard on the final lap – until two cars ahead tangled in the final turns, handing Ahmed a fourth-place finish and valuable championship points, with Jones finishing 12th.
Next up for Cape Motorsports will be the INDY NXT by Firestone Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, May 12 and 13. Practice on Friday, May 12 will be broadcast on INDYCAR LIVE and INDYCAR Radio, with Saturday’s race live on Peacock.
QUOTEBOARD
ENAAM AHMED – No. 47 Rickshaw Rocket Dallara
Start – 9th / Finish – 4th
Championship standing: 10th
“Barber just really suits me – it’s such a high-grip, high-downforce track, like so many tracks in Europe. I worked on saving tires early, but I saved them a bit too much. It was a good battle at the end with James Roe – I know him well; I knew he wouldn’t crash into me. I saw an opportunity and took it without too much risk. We are behind in points, so I wasn’t going to take any big risks. We can’t afford to crash again.
“I’m so impressed with the level of development in this team – all these teams and drivers have years of experience here and there we were, fighting up at the top. But Dominic and Nicholas are the best engineers I’ve worked with. The car they give me is the best – and we know what to do to make it a winning car. We have a lack of experience, but I have no doubt that we can fight for the championship.”
JAGGER JONES – No. 98 Lead Sled Dallara
Start – 13th / Finish – 12th
Championship standing: 17th
“Barber is such a high-speed, high-commitment track, so having won here last year really helped my confidence – though it was a whole new experience this year, with all the downforce. And because it was such a short race for us at St. Pete, I have no experience with push-to-pass and was a bit too greedy with it early, which hurt me later – I felt as though I had pace on the cars in front but couldn’t make a move. But I definitely have a better idea of exactly how long 150 seconds is now! I took a look at Enaam on that second restart, but we had the mentality of keeping it smart and capitalizing on others’ mistakes rather than forcing the issue – though if it had been for a podium or a win, that might have been different!
“In the end, it was the alternator that put us out, totally out of the team’s control. I was just hoping we didn’t have a red flag – but sometimes when you think about something like that, you make it happen! But for the limited time we’ve had with the cars, I think we’re close – and the potential is very high.”