…Where there was more hip-checks than a hockey game and an Australian that’s keen on becoming a champion.

I’M NOT DEAD!!!

Now that we have that out of the way, let’s talk a little bit about Barber one more time before we shift focus to Long Beach. I say “a little bit” because I didn’t see the race live due to my intern duties with the Albuquerque Isotopes. All I’ve seen of the race is the series-produced highlights package that always goes up afterwards on YouTube.

As a result, I’m cutting the Bean Machine to four talking points instead of the usual eight. I’m afraid this is going to happen for a lot more races later on this season, but I just don’t feel comfortable doing the full eight if I’ve only seen bits and pieces of an event. I feel like I’d be short-changing you, the readers, if I tried to pull that over on you.

Now, if anybody wants to donate an old DVR to me, this could all be averted (wink, wink)…Just sayin’.

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1. Power surge

As action-packed as things got behind him, Will Power made sure he had himself a Sunday cruise at Barber. His victory puts him ahead of Dario Franchitti by seven points going into Long Beach and was the perfect response after Franchitti whipped him and the rest of the field in the season opener at St. Petersburg. The clash of the titans continues… PLUS 10.

2. Kanaan continues momentum

The feel-good story of the season also kept going at Barber, as Tony Kanaan jumped from 24th at the start to sixth at the checkered flag — a nearly miraculous bit of work at the highly technical Barber road course. It never ceases to amaze me how good he is on starts and restarts, and at Barber, he did it again on the green flag — check out the highlight tape to see it from his in-car camera. Truly great stuff to watch. PLUS 5.

3. Just like old times for Pagenaud

Sports car star Simon Pagenaud hadn’t been in an Indy-car for three seasons, but he proved to be a solid substitute for the injured Ana Beatriz, jumping 15 positions to finish eighth on Sunday. One can’t help but wonder if IndyCar is where the Frenchman really needs to be after a performance like that, but we’ll see if any other opportunities will pop up in the series for him. PLUS 3.

4. Servia still rising

How did this guy wind up sitting on the sidelines last year? It’s very clear now that Oriol Servia’s been raring to get back in the car and he’s done a solid job in these first two events with Newman-Haas Racing with a ninth at St. Pete and now, a fifth at Barber. And now that James Hinchcliffe is on board, the team’s potential has grown even further as well. PLUS 3.

This week: +21 beans.

Season tally (after two races): +15 beans.

1. Record crowd. Last Sunday’s attendance of over 53,000 fans at the Indy Grand Prix of Alabama set a new record for Barber Motorsports Park. Now keep in mind that some of the more recent oval races in the IZOD IndyCar Series have drawn half that many people or less. For those annoyed with the IRL’s shift to more road/street racing, Sunday may have proven to us that perhaps — perhaps — there’s a method to the league’s supposed madness. PLUS 10.

2. Marco? Is that you? Good to see Marco Andretti back up at the front again, although he wasn’t able to secure the victory in the end due to fuel trouble. The IRL has taken plenty of heat lately for lack of American talent, which makes it even more critical for them to see the homegrown talent that they do have do well. Let’s see if Michael’s boy can keep up the momentum at Long Beach this weekend. PLUS 5.

3. Helio wins first race as a dad. As fun as Sunday must have been for Helio Castroneves, I figure the day that he shows his daughter the photos of her as a baby in victory lane will be even better. “This is one thing that probably I told you guys already that I want to take a picture with her on the podium,” he said after the race. “So when she grows up 20 years later she can look back and be proud of her sharing good moments.” PLUS 10.

4. Barber needs some tweaking? While passing was not impossible on the Barber road course (especially at Turn 5, the slow left-hand hairpin known as Charlotte’s Web), it was still hard to come by. Target Chip Ganassi Racing driver Dario Franchitti was vocal in advocating another legitimate passing zone, mentioning either an extended straight or taking out one of the track’s quicker corners as options. Barber isn’t the worst road course ever, but its natural beauty still overshadows its on-track product. I’m inclined to agree with Franchitti as a result. MINUS 7.

5. #ParkMilka? That was the Twitter battle cry of Nicole Briscoe, wife of Team Penske’s Ryan Briscoe, after what she saw as bad driving from Milka Duno in the No. 18 Dale Coyne Racing entry on Sunday. Since then, many IndyCar fans have adopted the tag on the popular social network. Can’t blame them. Duno is clearly outclassed and it seems as if she’s actually gotten worse than when she started in IndyCar. MINUS 10.

6. Power down — for now. Will Power’s reign over the series finally ended as a result of pit strategy; he settled for fourth place. Now watch him clobber everyone on the streets of Long Beach in retribution. If he does indeed win on Sunday, I intend to write my headline as [Insert groan-inducing Will Power pun here]. I’m serious. Ya’ll hold me to it. EVEN.

7. Dixon’s start. Scott Dixon went off on league officials for penalizing him two spots after what they saw as him jumping the start of the race. From what I’ve seen on video, Dixon was ahead of Andretti at the line but was behind Castroneves until they got to Turn 1 when he passed him. Perhaps the league should have just told him to give up one spot instead. In any case, it clearly left a sour taste in his mouth, as he went on to call it “total B.S.” and went after polesitter Will Power for being too slow in getting the field to the green. MINUS 5.

This week’s tally: +3.

Season tally (after three races): +41.