Palou poised for another INDYCAR title after strategic victory in Portland
Alex Palou – OnlyBulls Grand Prix of Portland – Photo by Chris Owens
By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio
Alex Palou’s relentless rewrite of the INDYCAR record book added another entry Sunday, when the Spaniard combined pure pace and tire management to win the OnlyBulls Grand Prix of Portland in Oregon.
Alex Palou – OnlyBulls Grand Prix of Portland – (Photo by Travis Hinkle | IMS Photo)
Palou, 29, closed in on his record-tying fourth consecutive NTT IndyCar Series championship and fifth title overall via his sixth victory of the season and 25th of his mercurial career. Driver of the No. 10 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, Palou finished 4.1167-seconds in front of NTT P1 Award-winner Felix Rosenqvist in the No. 60 SiriusXM Honda of Meyer Shank Racing with Curb Agajanian.
Palou increased his championship lead to 110 points over Kyle Kirkwood of Andretti Global, a massive gap of more than two races with just five events remaining on the 2026 schedule. And while Portland International Raceway was not among the eight venues Palou conquered during his dominant 2025 season, Sunday’s performance underscored the chemistry between Alex and race strategist Barry Wanser.
Alex Palou – OnlyBulls Grand Prix of Portland – Photo by Joe Skibinski
“Yeah, I just don’t give it for granted. I think nobody in the team does,” Palou said during his post-race presser alongside Wanser. “So yeah, it’s not like once a year that you think about it. It’s like every single day when we talk about it.
“Normally I call him after a race, ‘Man, who expected that?’ After Nashville, ‘Man, we’re so lucky to be in this position.’ Because we are. We’re lucky to have the full package. You don’t know if it’s going to end next weekend, if it’s going to end next year, in ’28. At some point it’s going to end. This cannot go forever.
Alex Palou – OnlyBulls Grand Prix of Portland – Photo by Chris Owens
“I think that we’re doing a great job of, like, understanding how lucky we are. When I say ‘we’, I mean the team as well, everybody in the No. 10 car, CGR. I think that keeps us motivated.”
SEE: Race Results
Palou is fond of calling his bright yellow No. 10 Dallara “an absolute rocket ship.” On Sunday, Palou led 60 of the scheduled 110-laps/216.04-miles on PIR’s 1.964-mile/12-turn natural terrain road-course.
“Everybody at CGR and Honda did an incredible job,” Palou said. “It was very, very nice to drive every single lap. Chip puts the best guys around me, but then also everybody is just executing. That car is a rocket ship, and I’m just lucky enough to drive it.”
Felix Rosenqvist, Alex Palou and Will Power – OnlyBulls Grand Prix of Portland – Photo by Chris Owens
Two-time series champion Will Power finished third in the No. 26 TWG AI Honda in his first race with Andretti Global at PIR after winning this event the last two years with Team Penske.
Rinus VeeKay capped a strong weekend by finishing fourth in the No. 76 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet, with Kirkwood slotting two Andretti Global cars into the top-five in the No. 27 Sam’s Club Honda.
“Yeah, we had a really good day,” said VeeKay, a 25-year-old native of the Netherlands. “Starting up-front helps. Saves you from taking a lot of risks that cannot pay off. I think we just had a very stellar day. We had a good idea on strategy, and we kept calm and did what we wanted to do at the start. Kept out of trouble. A really good job by the pit crew to get me ahead of both Marcus Ericsson and Kyle Kirkwood at the end. Really happy to have a result like this with AM/PM on the car as well, and great to put Chevy up there.”
Rinus VeeKay – OnlyBulls Grand Prix of Portland – Photo by Paul Hurley
VeeKay embellished his profile as a possible free-agent at season’s end with his third top-five in the last five races. “I think we just figured out our road-course car,” VeeKay said. “My testing in Mid-Ohio, I think that really just made a huge difference for our program and we found some things that really need to change.”
The race, which produced only one caution period for two early laps, evolved into a chess match of tire strategy and management. Rosenqvist, Palou and Power each started on the slower, more durable Firestone Firehawk primary (black) tire from the top three positions, respectively. Rosenqvist led the first 30 laps until he and Power both made their respective first pit stops on Lap 31, staying on the primary tires.
Palou and Wanser decided to stay out one lap longer on an “overcut” strategy, pitting for alternate tires on Lap 32. Palou was able to lay down a blinding lap on that extra trip and exited the pits ahead of Rosenqvist and Power.
The overcut worked for Palou, as it typically does thanks to his tire preservation skills.
Felix Rosenqvist – OnlyBulls Grand Prix of Portland – Photo by Chris Owens
“The overcut was just so powerful,” said Rosenqvist, a 34-year-old native of Sweden and winner of the 110th Indianapolis 500 in May. “I also struggled a little bit on my launch (exiting the pit box). That’s basically what did it. He got ahead of us.”
Palou cycled back into the lead on Lap 37 after two-time series champion Josef Newgarden pitted on a different strategy in the No. 2 Astemo Team Penske Chevrolet. From that point, Palou only trailed during pit cycles. Palou pitted at the end of Lap 56 with a lead approaching five seconds and switched from alternate to scuffed primary tires. Meanwhile, Rosenqvist stopped at the end of Lap 59 and changed from primary to alternate tires.
Alex Palou – OnlyBulls Grand Prix of Portland – Photo by Chris Owens
The extra grip provided by the red-sidewall alternates helped Rosenqvist pull to within one second of Palou by Lap 80. Palou kept the No. 45 Desnuda Organic Tequila Honda of Rahal Letterman Lanigan’s Louis Foster between himself and Rosenqvist; one lap later Palou’s lead expanded to 1.7-seconds.
Palou made his final stop at the end of Lap 82, staying on scuffed primary tires. It then appeared Power could have a shot at catching Rosenqvist and maybe reaching Palou, as the Australian had a set of the quicker Firestone Firehawk alternates waiting in his pit stall for his final stop.
But Power never heard the call from strategist Ron Ruzewski to pit at the end of Lap 86 and stayed on track. Power then got stuck behind the No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda of six-time series champ Scott Dixon of New Zealand and the No. 77 Juncos Hollinger/Goodheart Chevrolet of Sting Ray Robb in the intervening lap before he pitted on Lap 87. That sequence ended Power’s chance of challenging Rosenqvist for second or Palou for the win.
Pato O’Ward – OnlyBulls Grand Prix of Portland – (Photo by Travis Hinkle | IMS Photo)
Meanwhile, Arrow McLaren ace Pato O’Ward salvaged an 11th-place finish in the No. 5 Chevrolet after starting 17th. “A really difficult day,” said O’Ward, a 27-year-old native of Mexico with family ties to San Antonio, Texas. “We had good strategy to get us some clean track there at the beginning to make up some positions. But it’s been a big struggle from Practice 1. We never managed to turn it around. It’s just one of those weekends where it really was trouble after trouble. I’m glad that we walked away with maybe not the best of results, but also not the worst of results all things considered. It was just a day that we had to cut our losses.”
Santino Ferrucci – OnlyBulls Grand Prix of Portland – Photo by Paul Hurley
Meanwhile, teammates Caio Collet and Santino Ferrucci of Waller, Texas-based A.J. Foyt Racing placed a disappointing 20th and 21st, respectively.
“Tough race for both cars; we need to understand why we struggled so much in the middle of the race,” said series rookie Collet, a 24-year-old native of Brazil and driver of the No. 4 Combitrans Amazonia Chevrolet. “Just lacking pace in general. I think my last stint was not as bad, but just in the middle of the race, we lost a lot of time there. So, we’ll try to analyze and understand why we did a couple of steps backwards in the race and come back stronger for next week.”
Dallas resident Ferrucci said Sunday’s performance magnified a season-long struggle to find race pace. “I think this is a great example of that,” said Ferrucci, 28, and driver of the No. 14 Homes For Our Troops Chevrolet. “We’ve missed the strategy again for third race in a row. Just not been on our side. We’ll regroup and focus forward on the next street-course and see if we can’t make up some ground.”
At the other end of the result sheet, Palou and Wanser collaborated to deliver CGR its 151st INDYCAR victory. “Yeah, it’s certainly not easy,” Wanser said. “We’ve talked about it before, winning in INDYCAR is difficult. You look at how close qualifying was. I mean, we had to do something different than Felix (during the race). We had to go longer than him.
“It takes a lot of performance by Alex and certainly the Honda engine to give us the fuel mileage to jump in one more and do the overcut. That helped us. We had a pretty smooth pit stop and got the jump there.”
Next race takes the series to Canada for the inaugural Ontario Honda Dealers Indy at Markham on Sunday, Aug. 16, on the streets of Markham. This event has replaced the former Toronto street race.
“Yeah, it’s a challenge for the drivers, but also for the teams. We have no references,” said Palou, who is clearly in the prime of his career. “Obviously we have nowadays great tools with the simulator. At Honda, they do an incredible job for us. But it’s never the same as knowing the track, knowing every bump, knowing how much you can push the car.
“It’s the same for the team. They can get ideas of how to set up the car, but it’s never the same. It’s going to be a big challenge for everyone in the paddock. I think this team has been excelling lately on whenever there’s a big challenge like that or new challenge. So, I’m excited.”
Alessandro de Tullio – Grand Prix of Portland – INDY NXT Presented by Firestone – Photo by Joe Skibinski
Alessandro de Tullio led all 35 laps from pole position to win Sunday’s INDY NXT by Firestone Grand Prix of Portland in the No. 14 A.J. Foyt Racing entry. It was the rookie’s second victory of the season, as he also won in late March from pole at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Ala.
SEE: Race Results
Alessandro de Tullio – Grand Prix of Portland – INDY NXT Presented by Firestone – (Photo by Travis Hinkle | IMS Photo)
The victory provided much-needed relief for the INDYCAR developmental series rookie, who has shown tremendous pace in qualifying with eight poles this season _ one shy of the series record _ but only the BMP win to show for it before Sunday. De Tullio also crossed the finish line first from pole in June at Road America, but he and teammate Nicholas Monteiro of Brazil were disqualified after post-race technical inspection discovered a sporting infraction.
“It wasn’t easy,” said de Tullio, a 20-year-old resident of Miami. “I had to take care of the tires. There was quite a bit of (wear) toward the end. Good race. The car was great. I can’t thank the full team enough.
“Super-happy to get this one, and hopefully it sticks.”
De Tullio took the checkered flag 2.1885-seconds ahead of series veteran Lochie Hughes of Australia in the No. 26 Andretti Global car. Hughes’ teammate, Max Taylor, completed the podium in the No. 28 Susan G. Komen entry.
Rookie Tymek Kucharczyk of Poland finished fourth in the No. 71 HMD Motorsports car, while Jacob Abel completed the top-five in the No. 48 Abel Motorsports entry in his first series start since 2024.
The race for the championship and NTT IndyCar Series career enhancement package awarded to the title winner tightened with three races remaining. Enzo Fittipaldi took over the series lead by one point via his seventh-place finish in the No. 67 HMD Motorsports car, taking the top spot from Nikita Johnson, who entered this event with a one-point margin over Fittipaldi.
Johnson finished eighth in the No. 21 Cape Motorsports Powered by ECR machine. Meanwhile, Kucharczyk drew closer to the top two with his 11th top-five finish in 14 starts this season. Kucharczyk remained third, just 18 points behind leader Fittipaldi and 17 behind Johnson.
“Tough weekend,” said Fittipaldi, a 25-year-old resident of Miami who started 12th. “I don’t understand why we struggled so much this weekend. We have an idea, but it’s strange. We were looking forward to this race weekend; I thought we were going to be really strong. For some reason, we were struggling a lot.”
De Tullio left no doubt about his speed at the start, as he got a jump at the green flag and built a small gap entering the notorious chicane in Turns 1 and 2 of the 1.964-mile/12-turn natural terrain road- course. He parried a strong move by Hughes in the chicane complex and started to pull away.
“It was tough because we have to start early here as a rule, so they (rivals) get a good draft,” de Tullio said. “Lochie, obviously, is a driver with a lot of experience and he knows how to race. So, it was difficult to hold him off there in Turn 1. We just had to go elbows out, and we kept it clean _ that was most important.”
The only other drama occurred when rookie Carson Etter spawned the lone caution period, on Lap 3. Etter spun exiting Turn 12 and nosed into the pit wall in the No. 11 Chip Ganassi Racing entry.
De Tullio rocketed from the field again on the restart on Lap 5 and never trailed. His gap to Hughes grew to nearly three seconds with 10 laps to go, as de Tullio was able to easily lap the No. 15 Cusick Morgan Motorsports machine of rookie Nicholas Stati of Australia, a task that was harder for his closest pursuers Hughes, Taylor and Kucharczyk.
Once that chasing trio cleared Stati, they set sail for de Tullio and sliced nearly a second from his lead. But there weren’t enough laps to trim that gap any further.
Next INDY NXT by Firestone race is Sunday, Aug. 30, at The Milwaukee Mile _ the final oval race of the season. The 2026 season will conclude with a double-header Sept. 5-6 at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, Calif.
NTT IndyCar Series Point Standings _ 1, Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing, 510; 2, Kyle Kirkwood, Andretti Global, 400; 3, David Malukas, Team Penske, 392; 4, Christian Lundgaard, Arrow McLaren, 375; 5, Pato O’Ward, Arrow McLaren, 355; 6, Felix Rosenqvist, Meyer Shank Racing, 338; 7, Josef Newgarden, Team Penske, 335; 8, Scott McLaughlin, Team Penske, 321; 9, Marcus Ericsson, Andretti Global, 278; 10, Rinus VeeKay, Juncos Hollinger Racing, 269;
11, Will Power, Andretti Global, 256; 12, Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing, 252; 13, Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 236; 14, Kyffin Simpson, Chip Ganassi Racing, 236; 15, Marcus Armstrong, Meyer Shank Racing, 230; 16, Alexander Rossi, Ed Carpenter Racing, 208; 17, Santino Ferrucci, A.J. Foyt Racing, 205; 18, Louis Foster, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 188; 19, Nolan Siegel, Arrow McLaren, 176; 20, Dennis Hauger, Dale Coyne Racing, 174;
21, Romain Grosjean, Dale Coyne Racing, 168; 22, Christian Rasmussen, Ed Carpenter Racing, 157; 23, Caio Collet, A.J. Foyt Racing, 147; 24, Mick Schumacher, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 146; 25, Sting Ray Robb, Juncos Hollinger Racing, 131; 26, Derek Daly, Dryer & Reinbold Racing, 24; 27, Takuma Sato, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 20; 28, Jack Harvey, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing, 8; 29, Jacob Abel, Abel Motorsports, 6; 30, Helio Castroneves, Meyer Shank Racing with Curb Agajanian, 5;
31, Ed Carpenter, Ed Carpenter Racing, 5; 32, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Arrow McLaren, 5; 33, Katherine Legge, HMD Motorsports with A.J. Foyt Racing, 5.
FOX SPORTS’ 2026 NTT INDYCAR SERIES BROADCAST SCHEDULE/(RACE WINNER)
Note _ All times Eastern
Sunday, March 1 _ Streets of St. Petersburg, Fla., (Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing)
Saturday, March 7 _ Phoenix Raceway, Avondale, Ariz., (Josef Newgarden, Team Penske)
Sunday, March 15 _ Streets of Arlington, Texas, (Kyle Kirkwood, Andretti Global)
Sunday, March 29 _ Barber Motorsports Park, Birmingham, Ala., (Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing)
Sunday, April 19 _ Streets of Long Beach, Calif., (Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing)
Saturday, May 9 _ Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road-Course, (Christian Lundgaard, Arrow McLaren)
Sunday, May 24 _ 110th Indianapolis 500, Indianapolis Motor Speedway Oval, (Felix Rosenqvist, Meyer Shank Racing with Curb Agajanian)
Sunday, May 31 _ Streets of Downtown Detroit, (Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing)
Sunday, June 7 _ World Wide Technology Raceway, Madison, Ill., (Josef Newgarden, Team Penske)
Sunday, June 21 _ Road America, Elkhart Lake, Wis., 2 p.m., (Christian Lundgaard, Arrow McLaren)
Sunday, July 5 _ Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Lexington, (Pato O’Ward, Arrow McLaren)
Monday, July 20 _ Nashville Superspeedway, Lebanon, Tenn., (Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing)
Sunday, Aug. 9 _ Portland (Ore.) International Raceway, (Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing)
Sunday, Aug. 16 _ Streets of Markham, Canada, Noon
Sunday, Aug. 23 _ Freedom 250 Grand Prix of Washington, D.C., TBA
Saturday, Aug. 29 _ The Milwaukee Mile Race 1, West Allis, Wis., 2:30 p.m.
Sunday, Aug. 30 _ The Milwaukee Mile Race 2, West Allis, Wis., 1 p.m.
Sunday, Sept. 6 _ WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, Monterey, Calif., 2:30 p.m.
Note _ Dates and times subject to change.
2026 INDYCAR NXT BY FIRESTONE SCHEDULE/(RACE-WINNER)
Sunday, March 1 _ Streets of St. Petersburg, Fla., (Nikita Johnson, Cape Motorsports Powered by ECR)
Sunday, March 15 _ Streets of Arlington, Texas, (Max Taylor, Andretti Global)
Saturday, March 28 _ Barber Motorsports Park, Birmingham, Ala., (Nikita Johnson, Cape Motorsports Powered by ECR)
Sunday, March 29 _ Barber Motorsports Park, Birmingham, Ala., (Alessandro de Tullio, A.J. Foyt Racing)
Friday, May 8 _ Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road-Course Race 1, (Enzo Fittipaldi, HMD Motorsports)
Saturday, May 9 _ Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road-Course Race 2, (Tymek Kucharczyk, HMD Motorsports)
Sunday, May 31 _ Streets of Downtown Detroit, (Enzo Fittipaldi, HMD Motorsports)
Sunday, June 7 _ World Wide Technology Raceway, Madison, Ill., (Myles Rowe, Abel Motorsports)
Saturday, June 20 _ Road America, Elkhart Lake, Wis., Race 1, (Lochie Hughes, Andretti Global)
Sunday, June 21 _ Road America, Elkhart Lake, Wis., Race 2, (Matteo Nannini, Cape Motorsports powered by ECR)
Saturday, July 4 _ Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Lexington, Ohio, Race 1, (Enzo Fittipaldi, HMD Motorsports)
Sunday, July 5 _ Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Lexington, Ohio, Race 2, (Enzo Fittipaldi, HMD Motorsports)
Sunday, July 19 _ Nashville Superspeedway, Lebanon, Tenn., (Matteo Nannini, Cape Motorsports Powered by ECR)
Sunday, Aug. 9 _ Portland (Ore.) International Raceway, (Alessandro de Tullio, A.J. Foyt Racing)
Sunday, Aug. 30 _ The Milwaukee Mile, West Allis, Wis.
Saturday, Sept. 5 _ Weather Tech Raceway Laguna Seca, Monterey, Calif., Race 1
Sunday, Sept. 6 _ Weather Tech Raceway Laguna Seca, Monterey, Calif., Race 2
