Pato O’Ward seeks redemption at Portland International Raceway.
He described last year’s NTT INDYCAR SERIES race on the 1.964-mile, 12-turn circuit as one of the hardest road course races ever for Arrow McLaren.
Alexander Rossi, driving the No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet, was the team’s top qualifier in 17th and top finisher in 12th. O’Ward qualified 22nd and finished 15th, while Nolan Siegel started 23rd and came home 21st.
“That race was horrendous,” O’Ward said. “Just no pace.”
O’Ward believes his No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet is in a much stronger position this weekend. He was ninth quickest in Friday’s practice session, while teammate Christian Lundgaard, now in the No. 7 Chevrolet, topped the charts among 27 drivers.
Lundgaard has been a consistent contender on natural road courses this season, recording four podium finishes in six starts, including a third-place result behind Alex Palou and O’Ward on March 23 at The Thermal Club.
O’Ward sees similarities between Portland and other tracks in the series.
“I think it’s a mix of Indy (Indianapolis Motor Speedway) road course, because it’s pretty flat,” he said. “And whether you believe it or not, Thermal Club, because the surface is quite similar.”
O’Ward finished second in both of those races. He trails championship leader Palou by 121 points and must gain at least 14 points this weekend to prevent Palou from clinching his third title in four years and fourth overall. Palou was second quickest in Friday’s practice.
Here are three other observations about the first practice of the BITNILE.COM Grand Prix of Portland presented by askROI race weekend, plus other notes of interest:
- Portland International Raceway remains Palou’s playground. In four starts at the circuit, Palou has earned two wins and a runner-up finish. He was second-fastest overall in Friday’s opening practice sessions. The Chip Ganassi Racing driver has finished in the top two in all six natural road course races this season, winning five of them.
- Friday’s conditions stood in stark contrast to what’s expected for the rest of the weekend. Practice began with an ambient temperature of 77 degrees under fair skies, while Firestone engineers reported a track temperature of 113.5 degrees. In contrast, Sunday’s race day forecast calls for mid-90s temperatures, potentially pushing the track surface above 130 degrees. If that happens, it would mark the second-hottest race day in PIR history, behind only the 96 degrees recorded June 21, 1992. The only other time race day temperatures at PIR topped 90 was on June 20, 2004, when it hit exactly 90. These hotter conditions could significantly impact how the cars handle on track.
- Scott Dixon rebounded from an early practice spin off track in Turn 11 to record the 11th-quickest lap in the No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. Dixon is winless in eight PIR starts but finished third in three of the last four races.
Power Remains in Limbo About Future
Will Power led 101 of 110 laps in last year’s victory at Portland International Raceway. He has not won since, riding an 18-race winless drought.
Could a return to victory lane on Sunday save his job with Team Penske?
Power, a free agent at season’s end and a Penske driver since 2008, told Bob Pockrass of FOX Sports that his future with the team remains uncertain.
Of his 44 career victories — fourth-most in INDYCAR history – 41 have come with Team Penske, the most of any INDYCAR SERIES driver in the team’s storied history. That total includes the 2018 Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge win. He has 11 victories more than Team Penske legend Helio Castroneves.
Power also leads all Team Penske drivers in road and street course wins (31), holds the all-time INDYCAR SERIES record for pole positions (71), ranks fourth in podiums (107) and is tied with Al Unser Jr. for fifth in top-five finishes (141). Power also claimed the series championship in 2014 and 2022.
“I don’t think I’ll know until after, at the end of or during the weekend of Nashville,” Power said. “I just want to know, to be honest. I would like to know what I’m doing. That would be nice. That’s sort of the stress that would be off me is just to know, like, where am I driving and am I driving at all?”
Power has two PIR victories. A third would tie Michael Andretti for the most all time at the track. He was 14th quickest in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet on Friday.
Odds and Ends
- Kyffin Simpson earned a six-position grid penalty for Sunday’s race from avoidable contact during the July 27 race at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. The penalty comes after a post-race review of the Lap 1, Turn 6 incident with the No. 60 entry of Meyer Shank Racing w/ Curb-Agajanian driven by Felix Rosenqvist.
- Five different teams have earned NTT P1 Award honors over the last five PIR race weekends. Pole winners since 2019 include Colton Herta (Andretti Global), Palou (Chip Ganassi Racing), Scott McLaughlin (Team Penske), Graham Rahal (Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing) and Santino Ferrucci (AJ Foyt Racing).
- Meyer Shank Racing w/ Curb-Agajanian has yet to score a PIR pole during that span but showed strong pace Friday, with Rosenqvist and Marcus Armstrong posting the third- and seventh-quickest times, respectively. Rosenqvist has four top-10 finishes in five PIR starts, including two second-place results. Armstrong finished fifth at PIR last year with Chip Ganassi Racing.
- Saturday features a packed schedule with two practice sessions (noon ET and 7:30 p.m. ET) and qualifying at 2:30 p.m. ET to set the grid for Sunday’s race. All sessions will be broadcast on FS1, the FOX Sports app and the INDYCAR Radio Network.
- Rahal spent the off weekend after the race at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca officiating his sister Michaela’s wedding.