“5 Things To Look For…” heading into the Grand Prix of Portland at Portland International Raceway
INDIANAPOLIS (August 29, 2019) – The NTT IndyCar Series will prepare for the penultimate race of the season that will solidify the championship contenders with a visit to Portland International Raceway for this weekend’s Grand Prix of Portland.
The Grand Prix of Portland, Round 16 of 17 on the NTT IndyCar Series season, will be critical as to whether series leader Josef Newgarden can maintain or extend his advantage over contenders Simon Pagenaud, Alexander Rossi and Scott Dixon.
Here are “5 Things To Look For” heading into the Grand Prix of Portland:
“Go Time”
Josef Newgarden of Team Penske has continually fended off the advances of teammate Simon Pagenaud, Andretti Autosport’s Alexander Rossi and Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon, and has led the championship standings after every race with the exception of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge.
Newgarden (No. 2 Hitachi Team Penske Chevrolet) arrives at the penultimate race of the season, looking to make things more difficult for the trio of contenders heading into the Sept. 22 season finale at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna. The Portland race is pivotal for all involved in terms of positioning for a title run, given that the season finale awards double points for the finishing positions.
Despite a spin on the final lap of Saturday night’s race at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway, Newgarden secured a seventh-place finish and added three championship points to his cushion, including one for winning the pole. It was only the third time in the last 10 races that Newgarden did not finish among the top five.
“We were able to maintain the points lead in Gateway, and that was a huge deal for us,” Newgarden said. “Now that Simon has moved into the second spot in championship points, we’re going to work hard as a team to really continue to battle for the championship. That’s great to Team Penske to have two drivers battling it out for the title.”
He owns a 38-point lead over Pagenaud (No. 22 Menards Team Penske Chevrolet), who finished fifth Saturday to move past Rossi and into second in the standings. Rossi (No. 27 NAPA AUTO PARTS Honda), who finished 13th, trails by 46. Dixon (No. 9 PNC Bank Honda) had his championship hopes dampened by a radiator issue early in the race that resulted in a 20th-place finish and 70-point deficit. He came in only trailing by 52.
“This is the part of the season that I love the most,” Pagenaud said. “It is down to the wire, exciting racing and competing at our highest level. It’s time to shine!”
In last year’s Grand Prix of Portland, all four championship contenders registered top-10 finishes. Dixon was fifth, Pagenaud sixth, Rossi eighth and Newgarden 10th.
“It’s a technical road course, so we’re really going to have to make sure we hit all of our marks to make sure we don’t lose any ground,” Newgarden said. “It’s going to be a tough race for the whole field, especially for the championship contenders.”
“Seb’s Second Home”
Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan driver Sebastien Bourdais (No. 18 SealMaster Honda) has developed quite an affinity for Portland International Raceway.
Bourdais was introduced to the 1.964-mile permanent road course during his Champ Car rookie season in 2003 and finished a pedestrian 14th in his debut. It has been anything but since.
He won from the pole the following season and it began an annual trek to the podium. Bourdais followed up the win with a runner-up finish in 2005, a third-place effort in ’06 and another win in ’07, all coming during his Champ Car career.
Despite a 10-year gap from his Champ Car dominance and the return of Portland on the NTT IndyCar Series schedule last year, he did not miss a beat. Bourdais qualified fourth and returned to the podium with a third-place performance.
“My first time in Portland was actually quite funny,” Bourdais said. “I remember I wasn’t too thrilled about the experience because the race was the same weekend as the 24 Hours of Le Mans, but the scenery looked very familiar to my hometown. It was very green and for good reasons. Back then, the race was in June, and I don’t remember ever going there and not seeing rain at some point during the event!
“The 2003 season was my first in Indy cars, and boy we were quick, but we also had the worst luck. Portland wasn’t any different, while running fourth the rear wing fell off. Over the years, we won a couple and lost some that we could have won, but that’s no different from most other places we raced at with Newman/Haas Racing during that period of time.”
“Return Of Ironman”
A young Tony Kanaan didn’t have an inkling of the historical significance of his start at Portland International Raceway on June 24, 2001 while competing for Mo Nunn Racing in just his fourth CART season.
Kanaan had sustained a concussion, broken arm and broken ribs during the Belle Isle race weekend and was forced to miss that race in Detroit. He returned the following week at Portland and it was by no means a memorable race – he crashed out after one lap and finished 24th.
However, it began his run for the Indy car all-time record for consecutive starts. Kanaan (No. 14 ABC Supply Chevrolet), the 44-year-old veteran with A.J. Foyt Racing, holds the record with 315 consecutive starts and will be looking to extend the “Ironman” streak to 316 in Sunday’s Grand Prix of Portland.
“When you come to think about it, you know, 315 races in a row, it’s pretty amazing,” Kanaan said. “I remember very well that day in Detroit… It was the biggest accident of my career. Broken arm, broken ribs, a concussion… I wasn’t sure how to deal with it. It was my fourth year in INDYCAR and thinking someone else would be driving my race car was quite frightening to be honest. I had never experienced something like that and since then having had the career that I had.
“It’s been an awesome journey! Some times I still can’t believe that I made it this far and I’m still going. Portland brings me good memories. The current streak started there and as a driver you never think about this kind of things, but once you achieve them you look back and think ‘Wow, that’s pretty cool!.’ I’m extremely humbled by it.”
Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon (No. 9 PNC Bank Honda) owns the second-longest consecutive starts streak with 256 following Saturday night’s start at World Wide Technology Raceway.
“Super Santino”
While all eyes have been on the NTT IndyCar Series championship battle, the Rookie of the Year race has really heated up.
Santino Ferrucci (No. 19 Cly-Del Manufacturing Honda) of Dale Coyne Racing continued his success on ovals and it has powered him into the lead of the Rookie-of-the-Year standings with two races remaining.
Ferrucci finished fourth Saturday night at World Wide Technology Raceway to move past Chip Ganassi Racing’s Felix Rosenqvist (No. 10 NTT Data Honda) by two points, 326-324, in the rookie race. Rosenqvist finished 11th at WWT Raceway.
It was the third time this season and second week in a row that Ferrucci has finished a season-best fourth, with all those performances coming on ovals. The back-to-back, fourth-place performances – Pocono was the other – allowed him to erase a 13-point deficit and come away with the rookie lead for the first time since Texas in early June.
“The rookie race is definitely going to be close,” said Ferrucci, who moved to ninth in the overall championship standings. “I kind of always thought it would come down to Felix and I. It’s going to be a really tough two weekends. We are both good friends, but I’m sure when it comes down to the wire we aren’t going to give an inch. I expect to be raced hard for this one.”
Rosenqvist has led the rookie standings a season-high nine times while Harding Steinbrenner Racing’s Colton Herta (No. 88 Capstone Turbine Honda) and Ferrucci have led three times each. Herta, the only rookie with a win this season, currently is third in the rookie race with 282 points.
“Portland Parity”
Last year’s inaugural Grand Prix of Portland was quite an example of the parity and depth of the NTT IndyCar Series field. Race winner Takuma Sato of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing led a parade of seven different teams being represented among the top seven finishers.
Sato was joined on the podium by runner-up Ryan Hunter-Reay of Andretti Autosport and Sebastien Bourdais of Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan. The trio was followed by Spencer Pigot of Ed Carpenter Racing (fourth), Scott Dixon of Chip Ganassi Racing (fifth), Simon Pagenaud of Team Penske (sixth) and Charlie Kimball of Carlin Racing (seventh).
The six lap leaders represented four different teams with Andretti Autosport’s Alexander Rossi (32 laps led) and Hunter-Reay (19); Team Penske’s Will Power (11) and Josef Newgarden (8); Rahal Letterman Lanigan’s Sato (25); and Carlin Racing’s Max Chilton (10).
The Grand Prix of Portland weekend opens Friday with a pair of 45-minute practices (1:50 p.m. and 5:40 p.m. ET, NBC Gold). Saturday’s on-track action will feature Firestone Fast Six Qualifying at 6 p.m. ET (3 p.m. PT local) live on the NBC Sports Network.
Sunday’s Grand Prix of Portland, a 105-lap, 206.22-mile race, will be televised live by NBC beginning with the pre-race show at 3 p.m. ET (Noon PT local) and green flag scheduled for 3:42 p.m. (12:42 local). The race also will be broadcast on the Advance Auto Parts INDYCAR Radio Network and SiriusXM Satellite Radio (XM 205, Sirius 98, Internet/App 970).
Up Next
The Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey, the finale of the 17-race NTT IndyCar Series season, is set for Sunday, Sept. 22, at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.
Television coverage will begin on NBC at 2:30 p.m. ET (11:30 a.m. PT local) with the green flag scheduled for 3:15 p.m. (12:15 p.m. local).
Live radio broadcasts will be available on the Advance Auto Parts INDYCAR Radio Network and SiriusXM Satellite Radio (XM 209, Sirius 98, Internet/App 970).
Sources: Mike Zizzo/NTT IndyCar Series PR