LEEDS, Ala – As we embark on the 10th year of the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama, both the NTT IndyCar Series and the Barber Motorsports Park officials are celebrating a joyous occasion.

See, a decade ago, the 2.38-mile scenic road course in the middle of NASCAR country didn’t seem like a good fit for a predominantly Midwestern open wheel series fan base. When you have NASCAR that annually invades the Talladega area, a place just east of Barber, 36 miles to be exact, and try to host both races in the same calendar month, you can see where the newest race at Barber may not last long.

“If you would have told me a decade ago to place odds on whether the INDYCAR event in Birmingham would make it a decade or Auburn would make the Final Four, I’m not sure which would have higher odds,” said Gene Hallman, President and CEO of the track.

Hallman, said that there were many skeptics when they first discussed having Indy Car come to the Birmingham area facility. He said that with this being the 10th year that the two sides have come together, that the community has proved them wrong.

“This event has been very successful and has a very, very bright future.”

Hallman, also discussed that they were desperate to have Indy Car come. See, that’s where IndyCar has grown wiser in the recent years. Go to where you’re wanted. Barber, wanted Indy Car racing, Indy Car wanted Barber.

“When we started, we literally chased INDYCAR around the country for two years,” Hallman continued. “We would show up at events unannounced, we would say, We’re here, we want to talk. I distinctly the first time I met Tony George, he literally turned around and walked off.

“We kept at it. We kept at it. It culminated in a meeting over in the museum with Mr. Barber, the governor and Tony George. The governor put on this beautiful prep, it’s true, about the automobile industry in the state, how this race would help support that and vice versa, how it really spoke to Alabama’s future in so many ways with Honda in particular being in Lincoln.

“When he summed it up, that’s all that needed to be said. We were all here for 10 years now, our 10th year. This year we sold tickets in 42 states and in eight countries around the world. The economic impact of this event is $30 million, according to the Greater Birmingham Convention and Visitors Bureau. We have great sponsors in Honda, T.E. McHale in the back, AmFirst, our presenting sponsor.”

With the racing at Barber being so good, the crowds just keep coming. Sunday’s Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama (4 p.m. ET/NBCSN/IndyCar Radio Network) should be among one of the best ever.