{"id":27817,"date":"2019-08-31T20:40:00","date_gmt":"2019-09-01T01:40:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/?p=27817"},"modified":"2019-09-01T12:00:00","modified_gmt":"2019-09-01T17:00:00","slug":"colton-herta-claims-ntt-p1-award-for-grand-prix-of-portland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/2019\/08\/31\/colton-herta-claims-ntt-p1-award-for-grand-prix-of-portland\/","title":{"rendered":"Colton Herta claims NTT P1 Award for Grand Prix of Portland"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Colton Herta. Photo by Joe Skibinski<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Courtesy of the NTT IndyCar Series<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

PORTLAND, Oregon – A trio of NTT IndyCar Series<\/a> championship contenders facing challenging starting positions in Sunday’s Grand Prix of Portland was the only thing to possibly upstage what rookie Colton Herta<\/strong> did at Portland International Raceway.<\/p>\n

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Colton Herta. Photo by Chris Owens<\/p><\/div>\n

Herta, the second-generation Indy car standout driving for Harding Steinbrenner Racing, put his No. 88 Capstone Turbine Honda on the pole for the second time this season. Herta won the NTT P1 Award by besting pole whiz Will Power<\/strong> of Team Penske (No. 12 Verizon Chevrolet) with a final lap of 57.8111 seconds (122.302 mph).<\/p>\n

Herta, the second-generation Indy car standout driving for Harding Steinbrenner Racing, put his No. 88 Capstone Turbine Honda on the pole for the second time this season. Herta won the NTT P1 Award by besting pole whiz Will Power<\/strong> of Team Penske (No. 12 Verizon Chevrolet) with a final lap of 57.8111 seconds (122.302 mph).<\/p>\n

Power, who said he flat-spotted his tires on the next-to-last lap of the Firestone Fast Six round, settled for a lap of 57.8303 seconds (122.261 mph) as the two drivers exchanged the top spot three times in the final seconds of qualifying.<\/p>\n

RESULTS: <\/strong>Grand Prix of Portland qualifying<\/a><\/p>\n

“We left it right until the end, so everyone was all tense, and I think that made it much sweeter,” Herta said. “Before I knew we won the pole position, I went on the radio and heard everyone cheering so to find out that way was really cool.”<\/p>\n

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Colton Herta. Photo by Joe Skibinski<\/p><\/div>\n

Herta, 19, became the youngest pole winner in Indy car history when he topped qualifying June 22 at Road America. He became the youngest race winner when he took the checkered flag March 24 at Circuit of The Americas.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon<\/strong> (No. 9 PNC Bank Honda) was the only member of the four championship contenders to reach the Firestone Fast Six. He qualified third at 57.8355 seconds (122.250 mph), meaning the top three qualifiers had best laps separated by 0.0244 of a second.<\/p>\n

The top three in the standings — Josef Newgarden<\/strong> (No. 2 Hitachi Chevrolet) and Simon Pagenaud<\/strong> (No. 22 Menards Chevrolet) of Team Penske along with Andretti Autosport’s Alexander Rossi<\/strong> (No. 27 NAPA AUTO PARTS Honda) – all struggled in qualifying. Newgarden and Pagenaud didn’t advance from the first round of knockout qualifying and will start 13th and 18th, respectively, in a 23-car field. Rossi qualified seventh.<\/p>\n

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Simon Pagenaud. Photo by Chris Owens<\/p><\/div>\n

Given the narrowness of the 12-turn, 1.964-mile circuit and its imposing first corner, all three must be alert to first-lap trouble that has collected so many talented drivers in the past. Last year, a crash in Turn 3 collected five cars, including Dixon, who somehow kept his engine running and emerged from the heavy cloud of dust to stay on the lead lap. He finished fifth even with a pit road speeding penalty.<\/p>\n

“You always have to believe – and you have to fight,” Pagenaud said. “Anything can happen; we saw that last year.”<\/p>\n

Newgarden enters Sunday’s 105-lap race with a 38-point lead over Pagenaud. His margin over Rossi is 46 points, and 70 ahead of Dixon.<\/p>\n

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Josef Newgarden. Photo by Stephen King<\/p><\/div>\n

“I knew it was going to be tough,” Newgarden said of qualifying. “You just can’t make a mistake, and I made a couple of them there. I got wide on the curb coming off (Turn) 7 and probably dropped a tenth (of a second) on one lap and dropped another tenth on the final corner on the next.<\/p>\n

“It was going to be close and you just can’t afford (to lose) a tenth. That’s Portland. That’s how it was last year; I knew it was going to be the same this year.”<\/p>\n

Rossi missed advancing to the Firestone Fast Six by 0.0277 seconds.<\/p>\n

“It’s another indication of how close the NTT IndyCar Series is,” he said. “You’ve got to nail it every lap of every session. We missed it, but we’ll have to get after it tonight and make it better.”<\/p>\n

Sunday’s live race coverage on NBC begins at 3 p.m. ET (noon PT local) with the green flag at approximately 3:45 p.m. Live radio broadcasts will be available on the Advance Auto Parts INDYCAR Radio Network and SiriusXM Satellite Radio (XM 205, Sirius 98, Internet\/App 970).<\/p>\n

The Grand Prix of Portland is the penultimate race of the NTT IndyCar Series season. The 17th and final race will be the Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca on Sunday, Sept. 22.<\/p>\n

‘What They’re Saying’ from Grand Prix of Portland Qualifying<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Top-10 Qualifiers<\/strong><\/h3>\n

1st<\/sup> \u2013 COLTON HERTA (No. 88 Capstone Turbine Honda):<\/strong> \u201cI am so happy! We left it right until the end, so everyone was all tense and I think that made it much sweeter. Before I knew we won the pole position I went on the radio and heard everyone cheering, so to find out that way was really cool. This is awesome. We have really great race pace, so I think we can take the No. 88 Capstone Turbine Honda car to victory lane!”<\/p>\n

2nd<\/sup> \u2013 WILL POWER (No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet):<\/strong> \u201cThe lockup screwed me. Flat spotted the tire. Any left-handers, you really paid for it. But still happy to be P2 in the Verizon Chevy.  It was my fault for not warming the brakes a bit more.  It is tough when you have to pump them out straight-away. P2 \u2013 you can definitely win from there.  We need a win. We will go for it tomorrow. Colton owes me a win from COTA so maybe he will let me go.\u201d<\/p>\n

3rd<\/sup> \u2013<\/strong> SCOTT DIXON (No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda):<\/strong> \u201cHonestly the biggest struggle we had was going from set to set of tires and making the adjustments. We nearly got knocked out of the second qualifying segment. We had some additional understeer later on in the runs. Obviously, we have a good starting spot and the top three in the championship aren\u2019t up there with us, so we have to make the most out of every point we can grab tomorrow from them in the race with PNC Bank car.\u201d<\/p>\n

4th<\/sup> \u2013 JACK HARVEY (No. 60 AutoNation \/ SiriusXM Honda):<\/strong> \u201cWe are a part-time team, so to get into the Firestone Fast Six, it\u2019s a really great accomplishment for everyone at Meyer Shank Racing. We have learned some really great things this weekend and we have progressed really well and the No. 60 AutoNation \/ SiriusXM car has been fast. We had a good race brewing here last year, but a yellow flag hurt us. We put ourselves in a good position to try to replicate last year\u2019s race. I\u2019m proud of what this team has achieved and hopefully we can finish a couple of spots better tomorrow and end up on the podium.\u201d<\/p>\n

5th<\/sup> \u2013 FELIX ROSENQVIST (No. 10 NTT DATA Chip Ganassi Racing Honda): <\/strong>\u201cIt was a tough and close qualifying session. Every stage there was just thousandths of a second separating everyone. I didn\u2019t really feel 100 percent with the car and with my driving. It didn\u2019t feel like we had a pole car in the NTT DATA Honda, but we have a great starting spot to get to the podium.\u201d<\/p>\n

6th<\/sup> \u2013 RYAN HUNTER-REAY (No. 28 DHL Honda): <\/strong>\u201cI think we had a pretty good day all-in-all. We made some gains in the car going into qualifying. In Group 1, we were up there in the front and then in Round 2 we advanced to the (Firestone) Fast Six, so that was good. In the Fast Six, we thought just for the sake of being different, rolling the dice and trying to go for a strategy that was different than the others and went for (Firestone) black primaries. It wasn\u2019t the flavor of choice this afternoon. The other five in the Fast Six were all on the (Firestone) Reds. We were kind of the sitting duck on Blacks. It is what it is and we tried to go for it. Tomorrow the DHL team is going to put forth 110 percent and go for the win.\u201d<\/p>\n

7th<\/sup> \u2013 ALEXANDER ROSSI (No. 27 NAPA AUTO PARTS Honda):<\/strong> \u201cWe made some changes ahead of the second session. We wouldn\u2019t have made those changes if we didn\u2019t think it was the right decision to get us in to the Firestone Fast Six. I think missing out on advancing is an indication to how close the NTT IndyCar Series is and you have got to nail it every lap of every session. We missed it but we will get after tonight and make the car better.\u201d<\/p>\n

8th<\/sup> \u2013 JAMES HINCHCLIFFE (No. 5 Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda):<\/strong>\u201cHonestly I\u2019m pretty disappointed with eighth. I think we had a lot more in the No. 5 Arrow car. That second set of red tires [Firestone alternates] had way more understeer than we were expecting. The balance was a little better in the first round\u2026 we even added front wing to try to take care of it, but the fronts just didn\u2019t hold on for us. With how close the times are, you have to be absolutely perfect. We set our best time on Lap 3, the tires were definitely better on Lap 2, so it was just getting used to the handling of the car. Unfortunate, but we can certainly race from there.”<\/p>\n

9th<\/sup> \u2013 CONOR DALY (No. 7 Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda):<\/strong> \u201cI am honestly just super happy. This has been a tough battle for me obviously getting used to this car and the track. I think we can be super proud of that. The Arrow SPM engineers worked with me on making the car more suitable for me and the way I prefer to drive. It\u2019s a team effort, this game, and we\u2019re in the top 10 which is awesome. I\u2019m just really thrilled to be a part of this operation this weekend and I can\u2019t wait for the race.”<\/p>\n

10th<\/sup> \u2013 SPENCER PIGOT (No. 21 Autogeek Chevrolet):<\/strong> \u201cWe definitely made some improvements today and had our best session of the weekend during qualifying. All of the practice sessions were tough, but it\u2019s encouraging we moved in the right direction when it counted. We still have a few things we want to improve on and get better at, but overall we are pleased with where we will be starting.\u201d<\/p>\n

Remainder of Drivers (alphabetical \u2013 with qualifying position):<\/strong><\/h3>\n

MARCO ANDRETTI (Qualified 16th<\/sup> \u2013 No. 98 Oberto Circle K \/ Curb Honda):<\/strong> \u201cIt\u2019s like we have been just on the wrong side of that tenth of a second that put us out. The whole field is so competitive and the times are just so tight. The lap time that I did [in Round 1, Group 2] was actually faster than some of the [Firestone] Fast Six times [from Round 2]. We are just on the wrong side of that tenth. We\u2019ll have some work to do with the Oberto Circle K car tomorrow, but we\u2019ll fight hard and work to gain some spots.\u201d<\/p>\n

SEBASTIEN BOURDAIS (Qualified 12th<\/sup> \u2013 No. 18 SealMaster Honda): <\/strong>\u201cWe were working a P2 qualifying lap when we had a fuel issue. We\u2019re not sure what caused it, but it wasn\u2019t engine-related. The No. 18 SealMaster Honda had good pace. The guys did a good job. We had a Firestone Fast Six car. Things happen, that\u2019s racing. We\u2019ll get after it tomorrow, do the best we can and get the best result possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

MAX CHILTON (Qualified 20th<\/sup> \u2013 No. 59 Gallagher Carlin Chevrolet): <\/strong>\u201cWe obviously aren\u2019t happy with our qualifying result today for the No. 59 Gallagher Carlin Chevrolet. It\u2019s difficult because I felt like my fast lap was one of the best laps I\u2019d done in a long time. The car felt really strong and I was honestly surprised when they told me where we\u2019d ended up. We just need to have a look tonight at all of the data and try to find what\u2019s missing and what we need to do work our way to the front tomorrow.\u201d <\/p>\n

SANTINO FERRUCCI (Qualified 14th<\/sup> \u2013 No. 19 Cly-Del Manufacturing Honda): <\/strong>\u201cQualifying went well but we just didn\u2019t have enough in our No. 19 Cly-Del Manufacturing Honda today. We\u2019re trying really hard, but the margins are so small here between all cars and we didn\u2019t have what it takes to move into the next round. We\u2019ll start from 14th and just have to pass some cars. Our race cars have normally been good all year, so I\u2019m not too worried about it for tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n

ED JONES (Qualified 23rd<\/sup> \u2013 No. 20 Ed Carpenter Racing Scuderia Corsa Chevrolet):<\/strong>\u201cIt is a disappointing qualifying result, for sure. We had expected to be much higher up and it\u2019s surprising how it ended up. We will definitely have our work out for us tomorrow, but hopefully we can have a good strategy and get back towards the other end of the field.\u201d<\/p>\n

TONY KANAAN (Qualified 19th<\/sup> \u2013 No. 14 ABC Supply AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet): <\/strong>\u201cIt\u2019s kind of bittersweet because if you look at the lap times, we\u2019re only a tenth-and-a-half from the top 12. That\u2019s the closest we\u2019ve been all year. We improved the car a lot but it\u2019s that little bit. I\u2019m happy because the boys did everything right, we timed qualifying right to have the right tire choice. We went quicker than we went in the morning, so it was a step in the right direction. I\u2019m excited. I think we\u2019re coming from a great momentum, everybody\u2019s uplifted (from Gateway) and I\u2019m excited for tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n

CHARLIE KIMBALL (Qualified 22nd<\/sup> \u2013 No. 23 Carlin Chevrolet): <\/strong>\u201cI\u2019m disappointed with our qualifying result for sure. I don\u2019t think Max or I like being 20th or 22nd, but I\u2019d say we\u2019ve gotten more competitive over the course of the weekend. I really appreciate all of the work the (No.) 23 Carlin crew has put in, especially getting me back up to speed with turning right and making the No. 23 Carlin Chevrolet better and better every session. We definitely have more to show for tomorrow. We were able to come from 25th to seventh last year, so I\u2019m confident we can go from 22nd to the top 10 again this year. It\u2019s just going to come down to smart strategy calls and good speed when we need it.\u201d<\/p>\n

MATHEUS LEIST (Qualified 21st<\/sup> \u2013 No. 4 ABC Supply AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet):<\/strong>\u201cPractice 3 was actually decent and gave us some direction and some things to think about. In qualifying I think my black tire pace was pretty good, but we didn\u2019t have a good run on the reds and that was it. We\u2019re going to work on the reds (setup) for tomorrow and see if we can have a good race.\u201d<\/p>\n

JOSEF NEWGARDEN (Qualified 13th<\/sup> \u2013 No. 2 Hitachi Team Penske Chevrolet): <\/strong>\u201cI knew it was going to be tough. You just can\u2019t make a mistake and I made a couple of them there. I got wide on the curb coming off of (Turn) 7 and probably dropped a tenth (of a second) on one lap and dropped another tenth on the final corner on the next. It was going to be close, and you just can\u2019t afford a tenth. That\u2019s Portland \u2013 that\u2019s how it was last year. I knew it was going to be the same way this year, but our Hitachi Chevy is good. It was fast all weekend and Chevy has done a great job. We\u2019ve just got to race hard.\u201d<\/p>\n

SIMON PAGENAUD (Qualified 18th<\/sup> \u2013 No. 22 Menards Team Penske Chevrolet):<\/strong> \u201cWe just don\u2019t have the speed \u2013 we lacked a little bit of speed there in qualifying. It\u2019s about putting the lap together and I think it was very difficult to do so. It\u2019s a shame. You don\u2019t want to be here but that\u2019s the way it is. You\u2019ve got to fight your way and we\u2019ll fight strong in the race in the Menards Chevy. We\u2019ve got a really good car on long runs. I\u2019ve got a fantastic crew on the pit stops and an amazing strategist. Anything can happen \u2013 you saw it last year. You\u2019ve just got to fight.\u201d<\/p>\n

GRAHAM RAHAL (Qualified 15th<\/sup> \u2013 No. 15 One Cure Honda): <\/strong>\u201cWe go on about impeding progress and that\u2019s a big thing in qualifying. The first lap, second lap maximum are where these tires are their best. To start my first flyer, I was six seconds behind him (Veach) and to finish it, I was under one second.  To be five seconds off on your first flyer is ridiculous and it killed our run.  And the lap was solid, it was a low nine (57.9), so I knew I had to finish it but then I was up his gearbox and that was it. I\u2019m disappointed. On the blacks (primary tires) in particular, I thought our car was very good. I think we were less than a tenth off.  The One Cure machine is going to have some work to do tomorrow. I think our race car will be good though.\u201d<\/p>\n

TAKUMA SATO (Qualified 17th<\/sup> \u2013 No. 30 Mi-Jack \/ Panasonic Honda):<\/strong> \u201cWe tried to have a good qualifying (run) but it seems that we didn\u2019t have enough speed to get into the next round. The field is extremely tight. We\u2019re talking about two-hundredths of a second to make it to the next segment.  We thought we had quite a good car today so it\u2019s a shame that we didn\u2019t move on, but I feel very positive for the race. We will try to make tomorrow a good one.\u201d<\/p>\n

ZACH VEACH (Qualified 11th<\/sup> \u2013 No. 26 Gainbridge Honda): <\/strong>\u201cQualifying was a pretty good session for us. This morning we made changes that we weren\u2019t really happy with and ended up 16th. We unloaded in qualifying with a car that was much better and it just kept coming to us. I feel bad for the guys because we were on a lap that should have put us in the (Firestone) Fast Six. We were well past the point we needed to be at for the Fast Six, but I kept pushing for more and dropped the wheel and lost three or four tenths (of a second). It’s my fault that we are starting 11th when we have a car that should be starting in the top six or at least the top 10.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  Courtesy of the NTT IndyCar Series PORTLAND, Oregon – A trio of NTT IndyCar Series championship contenders facing challenging starting positions in Sunday’s Grand Prix of Portland was the only thing to possibly upstage what rookie Colton Herta did at Portland International Raceway. Herta, the second-generation Indy car standout driving for Harding Steinbrenner Racing, put […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":676,"featured_media":27821,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[12],"tags":[677,22,672,654],"class_list":["post-27817","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-indycar","tag-colton-herta","tag-indycar","tag-ntt-indycar-series","tag-portland-international-raceway"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/JGS-2019-PORTLAND-252988-1-e1567356392659.jpg?fit=640%2C427&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7hzTZ-7eF","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27817","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/676"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27817"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27817\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27828,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27817\/revisions\/27828"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27821"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27817"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27817"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27817"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}