The month of May is now a distant memory in the Rahal Letterman Lanigan camp. Graham Rahal took his second pole of the season today at Portland International Raceway. After six years without a pole, Rahal now has earned two in three races.. The team’s 2023 season resume now reads 4 poles and one win. Christian Lundgaard won at toronrto and also has two p[ole positions. Except for the Indianapolis 500, the team has had a solid year.
The decision to stay on primary tires stemmed from the team having an extra set of sticker black tires. The team did not feel the red tires were much faster.
The resurgence of this team since May has been amazing to watch. Turning a team around mid-season is a Herculean task Just one goal remains for Rahal- to win tomorrow’s 110 lap race. It’s nice to have five truly competitive teams in the series.
Rahal elected to stay on primary tires for the entire Fast Six round.. His best lap of 58.3185 beat pole favorite Scott McLaughlin by 0.0340 seconds.
The expected Team Penske dominance of qualifying never occurred. Josef Newgarden crashed into the tire barrier in turn 12 less than three minutes into Round 2. Will Power missed the cut to the final round by 0.0531 seconds. Rahal grabbed the final spot in the Fast Six.
Newgarden starts 12th and Power rolls off seventh tomorrow.
Scott McLaughlin led as Penske 1-2 in Saturday’s practice at Portland. The defending race winner turned the fastest lap of the weekend, 58.1516 seconds, edging teammate Josef Newgarden by 0.1179 seconds..
Team Penske dominated the weekend in2022 and it appears they are looking to do it again.
Scott Dixon was third and points leader Alex Palou was fifth. Dixon has a slim chance of catching Palou for the title. He must win Sunday to keep his hopes alive.
Higher temperatures are on tap today. After a cool 69 degrees for morning practice, it will be 78 for qualifying and about 86 for final practice this afternoon. Rain will not be an issues.
If the field improves on yesterday’s speed, Will Power’s track record of 57.2143 seconds could be threatened. Christian Lundgaard was just nine tenths off the record speed yesterday.
Lundgaard ran 39 laps with his fast lap on his 26th circuit. Kyle Kirkwood, on the other hand, ran just 18 laps, and his best lap came on lap 13.
Notes
Myles Rowe can clinch the USFPro2000 championship this afternoon,
We may get some more silly season confirmations today or tomorrow. Stay tuned.
Christian Lundgaard led a fast first practice sessionfor the Bitnile.com Grand Prix of Portland. as 14 drivers turned laps under 59 seconds. Lundgaard led most of the session and waqs the first to go to the red tires.
Jyke Kirkwood was second quickest, and Alex Palou was third. Lundgaard’s best lap was 58.177 seconds, 15 hundredths of second better than Kirkwood and 18 hundredths ahead of Palou.
The session stopped three times to retrieve stalled cars. Felix Rosenqist went off track just before turn 12 and stopped just short of the tire barrier. Santino Ferrucci spun in turn 11 and stopped on track. Ryan Hunter-Reayspun n turn 12 and stalled facing the wrong way.
Scott Dixon, the only driver with a chance to catch Alex Palou for the championship, was 19th fastest.
Practice 2 is tomorrow morning at 9 am Pacific time.
The skies have cleared, the rain chances are dropping for the weekend, and we have a pleasant morning here at Portland International Raceway.
There are a good number of fans already at the track enjoying the USF and touring car action, as well as wandering through the paddock.
PIR has made some facility improvements. First, the media center has moved to the opposite end of the paddock into a nice temporary glass and metal building. It is a nice change from the trailers media used my first trip out here.
The main pedestrian bridge looks new and freshly painted.
I wandered through the paddock this morning as cars were emerging from their transporters. Here are a few photos. I’ll be back in a bit with more.
Victory podium. The new logo looks sharp.Will DHL be back next year?MSR prepping the cars
INDIANAPOLIS (Friday, Sept. 1, 2023) – INDYCAR fans can participate in the salute of 2023 season champions in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES and INDY NXT by Firestone at the INDYCAR Victory Lap Celebration on Thursday, Sept. 21 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Doors open for the event, hosted by NBC NTT INDYCAR SERIES announcer Leigh Diffey, at 7 p.m. ET at the Gallagher Pavilion in the Pagoda Plaza at IMS. Fans can register for free tickets at www.indycar.com/victorylap. Quantities are limited, so fans are encouraged to register promptly.
Awards will be presented to the 2023 champions in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES and INDY NXT by Firestone during the program that starts at 7:30 p.m. Drivers finishing second through fifth in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES standings and the 2023 Rookie of the Year also will attend and be honored. The Manufacturers Championship trophy also will be presented.
Both series have two race weekends remaining, Sept. 1-3 at Portland International Raceway in Portland, Oregon, and Sept. 8-10 at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, California.
Good morning from Portland. Yesterday was a gloomy, rainy day, but chances of rain over these next three days are diminishing. With the championship pretty much decided, it would seem there is little of interest to look for in Sunday’s 110 lap race. Some intrigue still remains, and part of it brings attention to the bottom of the grid. A former champion has a season win streak on the line, and another possible 2024 full timer gets his first chance to show what he can do.\
Power’s Streak on the Line
Scott Dixon saved his string of winning at least one race for 19 straight years by taking the checkered flag at the Gallagher Grand Prix. He added the Bommarito 500 for good measure last weekend, dominating the field.
Will Power has won at least one race every year for 16 straight seasons. 2023 has not seen Power in Victory Circle. With two races to go, we may see a desperate Power with a sense of urgency. Last year he won just oine race on the way to the title.
Palou’s Way to the Cup
Alex Palou can clinch the championship by finishing fifth or higher Sunday, no matter what Scott Dixon does. Dixon would have to win maxiumm points in both remaining races (he won’t) to have a chance.
Palou has won at Portland before, and I think he would like nothing better to cap his second title with a victory.
Leaders’ Circle on the Line
Up for grabs in the final two weekends is a spot in the Leaders’ circle, wotrth almost 1 million dollars to a team.
Herev are the current standings. The fourth Ganassi car, which is ineleigibke for the money, holds one of the top 22 spots, so 23rd place is the actual cutoff.
Vips Debut
Yuri Vips will make his Indycar debut in the number 30 car for RLL this weekend. Vips is a possible candidate to drive that car full time in 2024. He has essentially a two race tryout.
I understand giving someone a tryout, but the 30 is on the cusp of the leaders’ circle. I’d rather have someone with experience in the car here.
Race Notes
Not Indycar exactly, but news yesterday that the USF championships will switch to Continental Tire in 2024. Cooper tire had been the tire supplier for the Junior series for so long that I just thought it was part of the series name. Thanks to Cooper Tires for providing a great tire for the kids all these years.
I find it hard to believe it appears probable that Pato O’Ward, and the entire Arrow McLaren team will go winless this season. O’Ward was in a position to win at least three races early in the year, but the fickle racing gods intervened.
Last year Indycar moved the start zone back to the exit of the final turn. While it prevented the usual first lap mess in the Festival Curves, it made for a rather dull race.
The Pit Window by Mike Silver 