NTT IndyCar Series Grand Prix of Portland Results

The NTT IndyCar Series started its final three weeks of the season on the west coast, starting with the Grand Prix of Portland at Portland International Raceway.

Qualifying was held on Saturday with Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou winning the pole and Andretti Autosports Alexander Rossi starting second.

It didn’t take long for chaos to occur on the opening lap in turns one and two. Several cars were braking late, heading into turn one, causing some to go off track or crash, leading to the first caution. Alex Palou lost the lead to Pato O’Ward, who started seventh. Helio Castroneves, James Hinchcliffe, Will Power, Romain Grosjean, and Oliver Askew were involved. James Hinchcliffe was the first driver out of the race. This caution was one of four throughout the day.

Pato O’Ward led the opening 29 laps before losing the lead to Graham Rahal when O’Ward made a pit stop. After everyone pitted, Rahal kept the lead.

Late in the race, a pair of Team Penske drivers made contact at turn seven when Simon Pagenaud hit Will Power before stalling, leading to the third caution on lap 86. Alex Palou had just taken the lead after Marcus Ericsson pitted.

After the fourth caution which involved another crash between Oliver Askew and Sebastien Bourdais, Alex Palou got a good jump on the restart at lap 92. Palou led the last 24 laps to win his third race of the season by 1.2895 seconds over Alexander Rossi. Palou led 29 of the 110 laps. With the win, his lead in the championship standings is now 25 points ahead of Pato O’Ward, with two races remaining.

During the post-race celebration, Palou couldn’t believe he won. “We kept our heads down, and we knew the race was really long. I cannot believe it. We made it (on fuel). The guys made it. They just gave me the numbers, and we just follow it. The strategy was amazing.” After Palou was told that he extended his points lead, Palou didn’t care. “I don’t care that much about the points at this moment. I think the race we did today, it’s just amazing. Not me, but the guys, with the strategy, with the pit stops, with everything. With all the bad luck we had, we still won. I’m proud about that. Fried chicken tonight!”

The third-place finisher, Scott Dixon, discussed the opening lap. “It’s just one of those situations. I got in there and made sure nobody was going to try and fill that hole. I bailed out of it and then got hit immediately. The call on race control to put us all in the back was definitely interesting, but long behold, it worked out for us.”

The rest of the top ten finishers were Jack Harvey fourth, Josef Newgarden fifth, Felix Rosenqvist sixth, Marcus Ericsson seventh, Colton Herta eighth, Scott McLaughlin ninth, and Graham Rahal tenth. There were twelve lead changes and four cautions for 20 laps.

The NTT IndyCar Series heads to WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca next Sunday, September 19^th, at 3 pm on NBC.