Scott McLaughllin – BITNILE.com Grand Prix of Portland – Photo by Chris Owens

By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio

Alex Palou is leaning on recent personal history in the bid for his third NTT IndyCar Series championship.

Palou, of Chip Ganassi Racing, leads the standings by 59 points with four races remaining _ including Sunday’s BITNILE.COM Grand Prix of Portland in Oregon. The 27-year-old Spaniard also paced the championship with four races to go in 2021 and 2023, when he won the title. Palou, who has led the standings after eight of 13 rounds this season, took the point lead at the Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey in Northern California in June.

The 59 points separating Palou and Colton Herta of Andretti Global is tied for the fourth-largest margin with four races remaining since 2008. During that span, the average lead with four to go is 38.75 points.

Shingles doesn’t care. And neither does Scott McLaughlin, who continued his strong late-season form by leading practice Friday at Portland International Raceway.

McLaughlin posted 25 laps with a top circuit of 58.3669-seconds/121.137 mph in the No. 3 Freightliner Team Penske Chevrolet in the 75-minute practice that featured an open session and then two groups. Palou was second-fast at 58.4337-seconds/120.999 mph in the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda on the 1.964-mile/12-turn circuit that hosts the last road-course event of this season.

The 2021 series Rookie of the Year, McLaughlin is fifth in the standings, 73 points behind Palou. McLaughlin has posted five top-three finishes in the last seven races, including a victory July 13 at Iowa Speedway. Still, that hasn’t put much of a dent into the lead of two-time Portland winner Palou, who has six top-four finishes in his last seven starts, including a win June 23 at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.

“Portland, it’s not an easy place to put together a full lap,” said McLaughlin, the winner at Portland in 2022. “These corners take precision, and that’s something that takes a few laps to work up to because there are slow corners but also some of the quickest corners we see all year long. It’s super-important to think about how each corner sets up for the next section.

“It’s a fun challenge, and it’s a place we’ve had some success on already in my career. I think most people would assume that we have the last three races on ovals circled as places to capitalize on, but we’re confident here at Portland, as well.”

Up next is a second practice today, followed by NTT P1 Award qualifying at 3:30 p.m. (EDT) and final practice at 8:15 p.m. _ all broadcast live by Peacock and the INDYCAR Radio Network. Live coverage of the 110-lap/216.04-mile race will start at 3 p.m. Sunday on USA Network, Peacock and the INDYCAR Radio Network.

Native New Zealander Marcus Armstrong also was impressive in Friday’s session, placing third at 58.6095-seconds/120.636 mph in the No. 11 American Legion Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. Alexander Rossi was fourth at 58.6705-seconds/120.510 mph in the No. 7 VELO Arrow McLaren Chevrolet, top time in the all-cars portion that started the practice.

“It was a good start to the weekend,” Rossi said. “The No. 7 VELO Arrow McLaren Chevrolet is in the window, and everything felt comfortable and easy. We’ll just need to keep that going with the track progression overnight, and work on a strong qualifying.”

Six-time series champion Scott Dixon of New Zealand completed the top-five at 58.7043-seconds/120.441 mph in the No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, as the Ganassi team placed three drivers among the top-five. Herta was eighth at 58.7565-seconds/120.344 mph in the No. 26 Gainbridge Honda fielded by Andretti Global with Curb-Agajanian.

The top six drivers in points _ Palou, Herta, Dixon, Will Power of Team Penske, McLaughlin and Pato O’Ward of Arrow McLaren, respectively _ all ended up in Friday’s top-nine. O’Ward ran 22 laps with a best time/speed of 58.8169-seconds/120.210 mph in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet.

“We started the day on the back foot,” said O’Ward, a native of Mexico with family ties to San Antonio. “Rolling off the truck, we were just not in the window in terms of what we needed the car to be doing. We made a lot of changes throughout the session, which improved things quite a bit and we definitely ended in a way better spot than where we started the session. All things considered, I think it was a productive and positive day.”

Dallas resident Santino Ferrucci was 10^th in the No. 14 A.J. Foyt Racing Chevrolet featuring the black, yellow-gold and white livery of Phoenix Investors _ primary marketing partner for the next two race weekends, including the Hy-Vee doubleheader at The Milwaukee Mile in West Allis, Wis. Phoenix Investors is a Milwaukee-based real estate developer that revitalizes former manufacturing facilities throughout the United States.

Ferrucci completed 26 laps with a top time/speed of 58.8234-seconds/120.197 mph.

INDYCAR officials have handed out six-position starting grid penalties for the entries of Graham Rahal’s No. 15 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda, the No. 27 Andretti Global Honda of Kyle Kirkwood and No. 66 Meyer Shank Racing Honda of David Malukas for unapproved engine changes following the Saturday, Aug. 17, event on the World Wide Technology Raceway oval.

The teams were in violation of Rule 16.1.2.3.2 _ a fifth (5^th) 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 (5^th) 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, the BITNILE.COM Grand Prix of Portland Sunday, Aug. 25, at Portland International Raceway.

Louis Foster is so close to the INDY NXT by Firestone championship trophy he can almost hoist it. But Friday’s opening practice for the Grand Prix of Portland proved the Englishman is not strolling down the stretch.

Foster led P1 with a best lap of 1-minute, 2.9311-seconds/112.351 mph in the No. 26 Copart/Novara Technologies car fielded by Andretti Global. Foster leads the standings in INDYCAR’s developmental series by 91 points and needs to expand that gap to 108 points after Sunday’s race to clinch the title. Foster has won six of the last eight races _ with only three remaining on the schedule.

“I’m enjoying every time I’m getting in the car,” said Foster, 21. “The goal is to put it on-pole; the goal is to win. It doesn’t change. I’m thankfully now at the stage we’re so many points ahead that I, touch wood, don’t need to play for points. I just want to keep winning races.”

Rookie Caio Collet was second at 1:03.2677-seconds/111.754 mph in the No. 18 HMD Motorsports car on the 1.964-mile/12-turn road course. Collet is third in points, 147 behind Foster. Collet and second-place Jacob Abel are the only drivers mathematically eligible to catch Foster, but the odds are quite long.

Collet’s chances got even slimmer after it was announced post-practice that he received a six-spot grid penalty for Sunday’s 35-lap/68.74-mile/55-minute race set for 1:10 p.m. (EDT, Peacock, INDYCAR Radio Network) for blocking and avoidable contact infractions in the race Aug. 17 at World Wide Technology Raceway.

Portland native Josh Pierson enjoyed a strong session at his home track, third at 1:03.3792-seconds/111.557 mph in the No. 14 HMD Motorsports entry. Jamie Chadwick was fourth at 1:03.6020-seconds/111.166 mph in the No. 28 VEXT car fielded by Andretti Global. Christian Bogle completed the top-five at 1:03.8091-seconds/110.806 mph in the No. 7 HMD Motorsports car.

Two red flags interrupted practice. The first flew 20 minutes into the session after Callum Hedge spun off track in Turn 6 due to a mechanical failure in his No. 17 HMD Motorsports car. The second came with six minutes remaining when Christian Brooks went wide exiting Turn 12 in the No. 39 HMD Motorsports machine, hitting the tire barrier on the outside of the front straightaway. Brooks was unhurt, but his car suffered heavy damage.

Up next is P2 Saturday afternoon, followed by qualifying at 7:20 p.m. (EDT). INDYCAR LIVE and the INDYCAR Radio Network will broadcast both sessions.

NTT IndyCar Series point standings _ 1, Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing, 443; 2, Colton Herta, Andretti Global, 384; 3, Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing, 378; 4, Will Power, Team Penske, 377; 5, Scott McLaughlin, Team Penske, 370; 6, Pato O’Ward, Arrow McLaren, 345; 7, Kyle Kirkwood, Andretti Global, 322; 8, Josef Newgarden, Team Penske, 317; 9, Alexander Rossi, Arrow McLaren, 277; 10, Santino Ferrucci, A.J. Foyt Racing, 249;

11, Felix Rosenqvist, Meyer Shank Racing, 249; 12, Christian Lundgaard, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 244; 13, Marcus Ericsson, Andretti Global, 229; 14, Marcus Armstrong, Chip Ganassi Racing, 227; 15, Rinus VeeKay, Ed Carpenter Racing, 221; 16, Romain Grosjean, Juncos Hollinger Racing, 213; 17, Linus Lundqvist, Chip Ganassi Racing, 209; 18, Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 205; 19, Pietro Fittipaldi, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 151; 20, Sting Ray Robb, A.J. Foyt Racing, 144;

21, Kyffin Simpson, Chip Ganassi Racing, 138; 22, Nolan Siegel, Arrow McLaren, 115; 23, Christian Rasmussen, Ed Carpenter Racing, 109; 24, Augustin Canapino, Juncos Hollinger Racing, 109; 25, David Malukas, Meyer Shank Racing, 92; 26, Theo Pourchaire, Arrow McLaren, 91; 27, Jack Harvey, Dale Coyne Racing, 90; 28, Tom Blomqvist, Meyer Shank Racing, 46; 29, Ed Carpenter, Ed Carpenter Racing, 45; 30, Conor Daly, Juncos Hollinger Racing, 43;

31, Callum Ilott, Arrow McLaren, 39; 32, Toby Sowery, Dale Coyne Racing, 32; 33, Nolan Siegel, Arrow McLaren, 29; 34, Katherine Legge, Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware Racing, 29; 35, Luca Ghiotto, Dale Coyne Racing, 27; 36, Helio Castroneves, Meyer Shank Racing, 26; 37, Kyle Larson, Hendrickcars.com Arrow McLaren, 21; 38, Takuma Sato, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 19; 39, Tristan Vautier, Dale Coyne Racing, 12; 40, Colin Braun, Dale Coyne Racing, 10;

41, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing-Cusick Motorsports, 6; 42, Hunter McElrea, Dale Coyne Racing, 6; 43, Marco Andretti, Andretti Herta with Marco & Curb Agajanian, 5.