George Barber made his fortune through the family dairy business and property investments and raced Porsches competitively in the 1960s and early 1970s before business demands took over. The family company's experience in refurbishing commercial vehicles led Barber to attempt restoring cars; dissatisfied with the results, he turned to motorcycles instead and began assembling what he intended to be the world's largest motorcycle collection.
In 1994 he established a 501(c)(3) non-profit foundation, separate from his commercial interests. A public museum opened the following year in a warehouse in Birmingham's Southside neighbourhood, displaying 325 motorcycles from around the world alongside a few vintage cars. The total collection already exceeded 500 at that point. The foundation began searching for a site to build a larger facility.
When Barber Dairies was sold to Dean Foods in 1998, Barber donated $54 million to the foundation to finance a new museum building and a purpose-built road circuit. A 740-acre site in the rolling hills east of Birmingham was selected. Barber consulted John Surtees and Dan Gurney in designing the complex; renowned circuit designer Alan Wilson was hired to draw up the track layout, working the design around the natural topography of the wooded landscape.
The main circuit measures 2.380 miles (3.830 km) through 17 turns, with an undulating layout exploiting the site's significant elevation changes through a wooded park. Two shorter alternative configurations are also available. The paddock is arranged on multiple tiered levels. The principal spectator area runs along the back section of the circuit between turns 8 and 11, where most of the course is visible from embankments and temporary grandstands erected for event weekends; no spectator viewing facilities sit immediately alongside the start-finish straight.
A 14-acre Barber Proving Ground, equipped for vehicle dynamics testing, opened in 2014 adjacent to the circuit. The site also includes a vintage motocross course, a seven-mile off-road vehicle course, and an ATV obstacle course.
The IndyCar lap record at Barber stands at 1:06.8182, set by Patricio O'Ward in a Dallara DW12 during the 2021 Grand Prix of Alabama.
The museum occupies a five-floor building of 141,000 square feet attached to the circuit, accessible between turns 8 and 9. The collection houses more than 1,600 vintage and modern motorcycles and race cars representing over 140 marques from 16 countries, with machines dating back to 1904; up to 900 are on public display at any time, all maintained to running condition. In 1997, before the current building opened, 21 motorcycles from the collection were sent to the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum for the "The Art of the Motorcycle" exhibition.
In addition to motorcycles, the museum holds the largest collection of Lotus race cars in the world, spanning from a replica of the rare Mark 1 to the final Formula One car, the T109. Nearly all examples are regularly demonstrated at the circuit.
Barber first hosted motorcycle events from 2005, initially through AMA and WERA series. The IndyCar Grand Prix of Alabama has been on the calendar since 2010. The MotoAmerica Championship of Alabama has been held there since 2015. The circuit has also hosted Grand-Am and IMSA SportsCar Championship events and serves as the home base of the Porsche Driving Experience, Kevin Schwantz Suzuki School, Keith Code California Superbike School, and the Jamie James Yamaha Champions Riding School.
The circuit is informally described as "The Augusta National of Motorsports," reflecting the meticulous maintenance of the grounds and the approach taken to every aspect of the visitor experience. A sculpture trail throughout the site — featuring large steel spiders and dragonflies by artist Bill Secunda, a pair of lions, a Sisyphean figure pushing a boulder, and other installations — provides an unusual backdrop. The cluster of sculpture near turns 5 and 6, dominated by a giant spider, gives that section of track the informal name "Charlotte's Web."
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