Category: Auto Racing

Power Surge in Portland

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Top photo by Kyle McInnes

Will Power beat pole sitter Santino Ferrucci to the first turn and dominated the Grand Prix of Portland, leading 101 laps on his way to his third victory of the season. Points leader Alex Palou finished second and lost just 12 points to Power in the championship.

“Every win I get now is so special,” Power said in the post race press conference. He said that the series is so competitive now that each win is “a big deal.”

The race itself was static. Besides Ferrucci slipping to eighth at the end, few drivers improved their positions. Scott McLaughlin finished seventh after starting 20th, Pato O’Ward moved from 23rd to 15th, and Alexander Rossi improved go 12th from 18th.

For the first time in recent memory, the field got through turn 1 cleanly, but Scott Dixon was squeezed by Kyle Kirkwood, and then Pietro Fittipaldi hit him, sending Dixon into the Armco and out of the race.. It was the only caution of the afternoon.

Power used pit strategy to extend his lead, only losing the top spot during his stops.

Romain Grosjean spun in turn 1 and took some time to refire his engine. He then turned the car in the right direction right into the path of Christian Rasmussen. Both cars continued, but pitted as they came around.

Notes

Scott Dixon has finished last at two road races this year, yet he sill has an outside chance at the title. Dixon will probably be eliminated after the first race in Milwaukee next Saturday.

Power has led more than 100 laps in the last two races.

Can Alex Palou finally get an oval win in one of the final three races? Should he get the victory, it would pretty much seal his third title. He indicated in the media availability that it is a goal.

The championship is realistically down to just four- Palou, Power, Herta, and McLaughlin. While eight are still mathematically eligible, several will probably be out of the running after next weekend.

I will have some more thoughts tomorrow. Thanks for following along this weekend.

Portland Race Day; Lineup and Tire Selections

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Today’s Schedule:

9:30 AM Gates Open
10:20 AM – 11:15 AMINDY NXTRace (35 Laps or 55 mins)
11:40 AM NTT INDYCAR SERIESDriver Introductions
12:30 PM BITNILE.COM Grand Prix of Portland – NTT INDYCAR SERIESRace (110 Laps)

The Indycar race is on USA Network. Indy NXT and Indycar races are on Peacock.

Good morning from Portland. Today is expected to be the best weather day of the weekend, with a temperature of 70 degrees at the green flag and about 75 degrees when when checkered flag waves.

If Will Power beats Santino Ferrucci to turn 1, he should come away with the win. If not, mit could be anybody’s race. Several fast cars are startiing in the second half of the grid, including Alexander Rossi, Scott McLaughlin, and Pato O’Ward.

Alex Palou attempts to at least maintain his current 59 point lead from third. Power is the only contender starting ahead of him, and he is 66 points behind.in fourth place. The top six are separated by just 98 points, but it would take two bad races by Palou for him to be in trouble. I think Race 1 at Iowa was his bad race for the year.

The official lineup, with penalty assessments, and the starting tire for each driver:

I’ll be back after the race with a quick wrapup.

McLaughlin, Simpson Assessed Engine Penalties

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Photo b y Kyle McInnes

From Indycar:

McLaughlin will start 20th tomorrow.

INDYCAR Announces Portland International Raceway Grid Penalties 
 INDIANAPOLIS (Saturday, Aug. 24, 2024) – INDYCAR officials have announced a six-position starting grid penalty for the entries of No. 3 Team Penske and No. 4 Chip Ganassi Racing for unapproved engine changes following qualifying at Portland International Raceway.The teams were in violation of:Rule 16.1.2.3.2. A fifth (5th) Engine is eligible to earn Engine Manufacturer points if a Full Season Entrant has completed the Full Season Entrant Engine Mileage with its first four (4) Engines. Otherwise, a fifth (5th) or more Engine does not earn Engine Manufacturer points and will be considered an Unapproved Engine change-out.According to Rule 16.1.6.1.2., the penalty is a six-position starting grid penalty on road and street course events and nine positions at oval events and will be served at the series’ next event, which is the BITNILE.COM Grand Prix of Portland Sunday, Aug. 25 at PIR.

Shock Pole for Foyt Team

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Photo by Kyle McInnes

Hiring Michael Cannon has paid off handsomely for A. J. Foyt Racing. Santino Ferrucci sits on pole for tomorrow’s Bitnile.com Grand Prix of Portland. Ferrucci sits 11th in the points with several top 10 finishes this year as gthe Foyt team has had a resurgence in 2024.

Ferrucci played a waiting game and was the last car to get on track in the Fast Six. It was an unusual Fast Six, with Will Power and Alex Palou the only regular guests. Besides Ferrucci, Kyle Kirkwood, Graham Rahal, and Christian Lundgaard made it through to the final round.

Round 1 saw Scott McLaughlin and David Malukas, who were fast in the two practice sessions, eliminated. Scott Dixon and Colton Herta went out in the Fast 12, as did Josef Newgarden, Romain Grosjean, Marcus Armstrong, and Marcus Ericsson.

Alex Palou was leading the second round when he spun exiting turn 12. He was able to keep the car running, and returned to the track. The spin cost him his best lap up to that point, but he recovered to advance to the final segment.

Notes

Kirkwood and Rahal will star 11th and 12th, respectively when their six place grid penalties are assessed. Malukas will line up in row 13 with his penalty.

Today’s attendance is probably the best I’ve seen for a Saturday at Portland.

Points leader Palou will start third. Will Power, fourth in the standings is the only contender ahead of him.

Power still has not won a pole this season.

Results

McLaughlin Stays on Top

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Photo by Kyle McInnes

Scott McLaughlin continues to pace the Indycar field at Portland after the second practice. McLaughlin turned a lap 0f 58.8605 seconds this morning under cool conditions. David Malukas was just two hundredths of a second behind. Malukas will serve a six spot grid penalty for the race.

The field is quite tight. 26 of the 28 cars were within seven tenths of the leader. Only Felix Rosenqvist and Toby Sowery were more than a second behind the leader.

Felix Rosenqvist had a wild ride over the turn 1 curbing, captured by Peacock. He is now just two hours short of getting his pilot’s license.

Three red flags stopped the session briefly, but the field id get the full 45 minutes of green flag time allotted. Will Power spun and stalled in the first five minutes of the session. Sting Ray Robb went off track in turn 11 and went nose first into the tire barrier. Toby Sowery went off tack requiring a stoppage near the end of the session.

Qualifying begins at 12:30 pm Pacific Time.

Results

Notes

Get your spotters guide handy. There are nine cars this weekend with a shade of red and white liveries here. Several cars, notably the number 14, are in a livery that is a complete departure from their usual colors.

It is warming up quickly, and conditions for qualifying should near ideal.

Saturday at Portland

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Today’s Schedule: All Times Pacific

8:30 AM Gates Open
9:00 AM – 10:00 AMNTT INDYCAR SERIESPractice 2
10:20 AM – 11:00 AMUSF2000Race 2
11:20 AM – 12:05 PMINDY NXTPractice 2
12:00 PM – 12:30 PMUSF Pro 2000 & USF2000Autograph Session in Speed Zone
12:30 PM – 2:00 PMNTT INDYCAR SERIESQualifying/Firestone Fast 6
12:40 PM – 1:10 PMUSF JuniorsAutograph Session in Speed Zone
2:15 PM – 2:55 PMUSF JuniorsRace 3
2:15 PM – 3:00 PMINDY NXTAutograph Session
3:10 PM – 4:00 PMUSF Pro 2000Race 2
4:20 PM – 4:50 PMINDY NXTQualifying
5:15 PM – 5:45 PMNTT INDYCAR SERIESFinal Practice
6:05 PM – 6:45 PMUSF2000Race 3

It looks like te rest of the weekend will be dry, but today will begin cool. The temperature will be 5

7 degrees for the start of practice this morning, but when qualifying begins, it will be a near perfect 65 degrees. Tomorrow calls for a high of 80 degrees.

The slight contact between Romain Grosjean and Graham Rahal in Friday practice didn’t look like much of a big deal to me. I think the incident is magnified because Grosjean was involved. Grosjean has had a decent year, but he the clashes he has had with other drivers during his time at Andretti causes him to take the blame for each incident. I think he has been better this season, and maybe people should not be so quick to point hte finger at him every time.

I’m not sure if we will see a lap in the 57 second range today, but conditions should be ideal. It will be an interesting fight for the Fast Six. This morning’s practice may give us more clarity of hwo will be challenh[ging for pole.,

I’m heading to the track now. I will be back after morning practice. IndyCar has a compact, early schedule today, with a final practice four hours after qualifying ends.

McLaughlin Tops First Portland Practice

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Photos by Kyle McInnes

Scott McLaughlin led today’s opening practice round for the Portland Grand Prix this afternoon. McLaughlin’s fast lap of 58.3 seconds came in the small group session which followed the 45 minute all cars session. Alexander Rossi led the all xars portion of the practice period, and Marcus Armstrong was fastest in the second small group.

The rain cleared for practice, but it returned later this afternoon. We should not see any more this weekend, although temperatures will be cooler than normal.

I arrived in Portland just a few mionutes before practice began, and rental car issues and traffic made getting my credentials a longer process than I had anticipated. I will be at the track early tomorrow for the first practice.

I did watch practice on Peacock. Turn 1 is still a problem spot as several drivers locked up and missed the corner.

Results