{"id":60011,"date":"2026-08-08T10:33:45","date_gmt":"2026-08-08T15:33:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/?p=60011"},"modified":"2026-08-09T10:38:51","modified_gmt":"2026-08-09T15:38:51","slug":"point-leader-palou-paces-opening-indycar-practice-at-portland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/08\/point-leader-palou-paces-opening-indycar-practice-at-portland\/","title":{"rendered":"Point-leader Palou paces opening INDYCAR practice at Portland"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"

Alex Palou – OnlyBulls Grand Prix of Portland – Photo by Paul Hurley<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

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

PORTLAND, Ore. _ Alex Palou\u2019s latest path to history became a bit smoother Friday after the Chip Ganassi Racing ace paced opening practice for the OnlyBulls Grand Prix of Portland.<\/p>\n

Palou _ bidding for a record-tying fourth consecutive NTT IndyCar Series championship and fifth overall _ was quickest at Portland International Raceway with a lap of 58.5716-seconds\/120.714 mph in the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. Palou, who completed 17 laps Friday, and CGR teammates Scott Dixon of New Zealand and Kyffin Simpson of the Cayman Islands tested July 29 on PIR\u2019s 1.964-mile\/12-turn circuit. That decision clearly paid early dividends.<\/p>\n

SEE:<\/strong> Practice Results<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cGood day, great start,\u201d said Palou, a 29-year-old native of Spain. \u201cI think there\u2019s some work to do with the alternates (Firestone Firehawk red tires), but we were really good on primaries (black tires), so I\u2019m looking forward (to Saturday\u2019s schedule).<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s good that we tested here because it allowed us to start with good speed already in the No. 10 DHL Honda. But, yeah, some work to do still. We just need more speed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kyle Kirkwood was second overall in the 64-minute session divided into three groups, turning a best lap of 58.6602-seconds\/120.531 mph in the No. 27 Sam\u2019s Club Honda of Andretti Global. Kirkwood is third in the series standings, 87 points behind Palou and four points in back of second-place David Malukas of Team Penske. Kirkwood\u2019s engineers made significant changes to the car\u2019s setup that resulted in him qualifying 19th and finishing 20th last year at this race.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe definitely came here with a much different car than we\u2019ve ever ran here, and hopefully it\u2019s paying off,\u201d said Kirkwood, a 27-year-old resident of Jupiter, Fla. \u201cEarly days here, but it\u2019s promising. Compared to where we were last year, this is a big step in the right direction.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rinus VeeKay of the Netherlands continued his strong season by placing third at 58.7996-seconds\/120.246 mph in the No. 76 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet. VeeKay is 10th in the standings for one of the smallest teams in the series.<\/p>\n

Two-time reigning Portland winner Will Power of Australia was fourth at 58.9096-seconds\/120.021 mph in the No. 27 TWG AI Honda of Andretti Global, which he joined this season after 15 fulltime campaigns with Team Penske. Louis Foster of Great Britain rallied from technical problems early in the session that forced extended repair time in the paddock to complete the top-five at 58.9274-seconds\/119.985 mph in the No. 45 Desnuda Organic Tequila Honda of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing.<\/p>\n

Malukas, 83 points back of Palou, stopped the clocks eighth at 58.9888-seconds\/119.860 mph in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet that Power drove to victory the last two years at PIR.<\/p>\n

Native New Zealander Marcus Armstrong of Meyer Shank Racing with Curb Agajanian and Pato O\u2019Ward of Arrow McLaren needed extended time in the pits for repairs after clouting the Armco barrier at the apex of the circuit\u2019s tricky Turn 1 with their respective right-front wheels in separate incidents.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Ward placed 15th<\/sup> overall after a best lap of 59.1732-seconds\/119.487 mph in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet. \u201cA handful to say the least today,\u201d said O\u2019Ward, a 27-year-old native of Mexico with family ties to San Antonio, Texas. \u201cIt was a very tough Practice 1. We\u2019ve got some work ahead of us to turn it around for a bit more of a consistent race car.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dallas resident Santino Ferrucci of Waller, Texas-based A.J. Foyt Racing was 20th<\/sup> after a best lap of 59.3142-seconds\/119.202 mph in the No. 14 Homes For Our Troops Chevrolet.<\/p>\n

Up next is Practice 2 at 1 p.m. (EDT) Saturday, followed by NTT P1 Award qualifying at 7 p.m. (FS1). Expect a close chase for pole and first few rows of the starting grid, as less than one-half second separated the top-10 on the speed chart Friday.<\/p>\n

The 110-lap\/216.04-mile race is scheduled to start at 4 p.m. (EDT) Sunday on FOX and FOX Deportes. FOX One and INDYCAR Radio powered by OnlyBulls also will broadcast all sessions this weekend.<\/p>\n

INDYCAR Officiating has announced six-position starting grid penalties<\/strong> for the No. 4 A.J. Foyt Enterprises Chevrolet driven by NTT IndyCar Series rookie Caio Collet of Brazil and the No. 12 Team Penske Chevrolet driven by David Malukas for unapproved engine changes.<\/p>\n

Collet placed 13th after Friday\u2019s first practice at Portland International Raceway with a best lap of 59.1359-seconds\/119.562 mph after 32 laps in the No. 4 Combitrans Amazonia Chevy around the 1.964-mile\/12-turn natural terrain road-course.<\/p>\n

The No. 12 Team Penske crew made two unapproved engine changes during the race weekend at Nashville Superspeedway while the No. 4 crew of A.J. Foyt Enterprises made an unapproved engine change following the Monday, July 20 race.<\/p>\n

The No. 4 and No. 12 entries were in violation of Rule 16.1.2.3.2. A fifth (5th) Engine is eligible to earn Engine Manufacturer points and will be considered an Approved Engine Change-Out if a Full Season Entrant has completed the Full Season Entrant Engine Mileage with its first four (4) Engines. Otherwise, a fifth (5th) or more Engine does not earn Engine Manufacturer points and will be considered an Unapproved Engine Change-Out.<\/p>\n

The No. 12 Chevrolet of Team Penske was in violation of Rule 16.1.6.2.1. If an Entrant makes two (2) Unapproved Engine Change-Outs during an on-track Event, the penalty for the second (2nd) Unapproved Engine Change-Out is served at the following Race.<\/p>\n

According to Rule 16.1.6.1.2., the penalty is a six-position starting grid penalty at road and street course events and nine positions at oval events and will be served at the series\u2019 next event, the OnlyBulls Grand Prix of Portland on Sunday, Aug. 9., at Portland International Raceway.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"

Niels Koolen – Grand Prix of Portland – INDY NXT Presented by Firestone – Photo by Paul Hurley<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Based upon Practice 1, the INDY NXT by Firestone<\/strong> Grand Prix of Portland could deliver major championship implications.<\/p>\n

Just one of the top-five drivers on Friday\u2019s time sheet at Portland International Raceway sits in the top-five in the championship standings for INDYCAR\u2019s developmental series. Dutchman Niels Koolen, 16th in points, led the session with a best lap of 1-minute, 3.0405-seconds\/112.156 mph after 31 laps in the No. 10 Chip Ganassi Racing car.<\/p>\n

SEE:<\/strong> Practice Results<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cIt seems all the prep we did as a team for this track paid off so far,\u201d said Koolen, a 25-year-old native of the Netherlands. \u201cLet\u2019s see if we can keep this up for the rest of the weekend.\u201d<\/p>\n

Scotland\u2019s Seb Murray of Andretti Global, 13th in points, placed second at 1:03.0861-seconds\/112.075 mph in the No. 27 Megatron machine on the 1.964-mile\/12-turn natural-terrain road course. Murray\u2019s teammate _ Lochie Hughes of Australia and fifth in points _ was third at 1:03.1374-seconds\/111\/984 mph in the No. 26 Andretti Global entry.<\/p>\n

Surprises continued with J.M. Correa, 11th in points, running fourth at 1:03.1984-seconds\/111.876 mph in the No. 68 Cusick Morgan Motorsports car. Myles Rowe, sixth in points, completed the top-five at 1:03.3058-seconds\/111.686 mph in the No. 99 Abel Motorsports with Force Indy machine.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, it wasn\u2019t the strongest session for the top three title contenders. Point-leader Nikita Johnson was 13th at 1:03.5915-seconds\/111.185 mph in the No. 21 Cape Motorsports Powered by ECR entry.<\/p>\n

\u201cTraffic was a little bit difficult,\u201d said series rookie Johnson, an 18-year-old native of St. Petersburg, Fla. \u201c(The circuit) is so flowy that it\u2019s kind of hard to see in your mirrors sometimes, and even I messed up as well, on some of these laps. It\u2019s kind of hard for everyone to see who\u2019s behind. A little bit of traffic here and there, but we had the car in a better window at the end.\u201d<\/p>\n

Enzo Fittipaldi, just one point behind Johnson in second, was 18th at 1:03.9284-seconds\/110.599 mph in the No. 67 HMD Motorsports car. Fittipaldi\u2019s fellow-rookie teammate, Tymek Kucharcyzk of Poland, was the quickest among a trio atop the standings in 12th at 1:03.5783-seconds\/111.208 mph in the No. 71 HMD Motorsports entry.<\/p>\n

All three title contenders took solace in knowing less than one-second separated the top-20 drivers on the speed chart. In addition, 2024 series runner-up Jacob Abel was ninth at 1:03.4055-seconds\/111.511 mph in the No. 48 Abel Motorsports car in his first INDY NXT by Firestone start since the end of the 2024 season.<\/p>\n

Practice 2 is booked for noon (EDT) Saturday, followed by qualifying at 3 p.m. The 35-lap\/68.74-mile\/55-minute race is scheduled to start at 2 p.m. Sunday. FS1, FOX One and INDYCAR Radio powered by OnlyBulls are broadcasting the remaining sessions this weekend.<\/p>\n

NTT IndyCar Series Point Standings _<\/strong> 1, Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing, 457; 2, David Malukas, Team Penske, 374; 3, Kyle Kirkwood, Andretti Global, 370; 4, Christian Lundgaard, Arrow McLaren, 353; 5, Pato O\u2019Ward, Arrow McLaren, 336; 6, Josef Newgarden, Team Penske, 310; 7, Felix Rosenqvist, Meyer Shank Racing, 296; 8, Scott McLaughlin, Team Penske, 295; 9, Marcus Ericsson, Andretti Global, 250; 10, Rinus VeeKay, Juncos Hollinger Racing, 237;<\/p>\n

11, Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing, 236; 12, Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 229; 13, Marcus Armstrong, Meyer Shank Racing, 225; 14, Will Power, Andretti Global, 220; 15, Kyffin Simpson, Chip Ganassi Racing, 216; 16, Alexander Rossi, Ed Carpenter Racing, 197; 17, Santino Ferrucci, A.J. Foyt Racing, 196; 18, Louis Foster, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 173; 19, Nolan Siegel, Arrow McLaren, 164; 20, Dennis Hauger, Dale Coyne Racing, 157;<\/p>\n

21, Romain Grosjean, Dale Coyne Racing, 155; 22, Christian Rasmussen, Ed Carpenter Racing, 151; 23, Caio Collet, A.J. Foyt Racing, 137; 24, Mick Schumacher, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 132; 25, Sting Ray Robb, Juncos Hollinger Racing, 123; 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;<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

FOX SPORTS\u2019 2026 NTT INDYCAR SERIES BROADCAST SCHEDULE\/(RACE WINNER)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Note _ All times Eastern<\/em><\/p>\n

Sunday, March 1 _ Streets of St. Petersburg, Fla., (Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing)<\/p>\n

Saturday, March 7 _ Phoenix Raceway, Avondale, Ariz., (Josef Newgarden, Team Penske)<\/p>\n

Sunday, March 15 _ Streets of Arlington, Texas, (Kyle Kirkwood, Andretti Global)<\/p>\n

Sunday, March 29 _ Barber Motorsports Park, Birmingham, Ala., (Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing)<\/p>\n

Sunday, April 19 _ Streets of Long Beach, Calif., (Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing)<\/p>\n

Saturday, May 9 _ Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road-Course, (Christian Lundgaard, Arrow McLaren)<\/p>\n

Sunday, May 24 _ 110th<\/sup> Indianapolis 500, Indianapolis Motor Speedway Oval, (Felix Rosenqvist, Meyer Shank Racing with Curb Agajanian)<\/p>\n

Sunday, May 31 _ Streets of Downtown Detroit, (Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing)<\/p>\n

Sunday, June 7 _ World Wide Technology Raceway, Madison, Ill., (Josef Newgarden, Team Penske)<\/p>\n

Sunday, June 21 _ Road America, Elkhart Lake, Wis., 2 p.m., (Christian Lundgaard, Arrow McLaren)<\/p>\n

Sunday, July 5 _ Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Lexington, (Pato O\u2019Ward, Arrow McLaren)<\/p>\n

Monday, July 20 _ Nashville Superspeedway, Lebanon, Tenn., (Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing)<\/p>\n

Sunday, Aug. 9 _ Portland (Ore.) International Raceway, 4 p.m.<\/p>\n

Sunday, Aug. 16 _ Streets of Markham, Canada, Noon<\/p>\n

Sunday, Aug. 23 _ Freedom 250 Grand Prix of Washington, D.C., TBA<\/p>\n

Saturday, Aug. 29 _ The Milwaukee Mile Race 1, West Allis, Wis., 2:30 p.m.<\/p>\n

Sunday, Aug. 30 _ The Milwaukee Mile Race 2, West Allis, Wis., 1 p.m.<\/p>\n

Sunday, Sept. 6 _ WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, Monterey, Calif., 2:30 p.m.<\/p>\n

Note _ Dates and times subject to change.<\/em><\/p>\n

2026 INDYCAR NXT BY FIRESTONE SCHEDULE\/(RACE-WINNER)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sunday, March 1 _ Streets of St. Petersburg, Fla., (Nikita Johnson, Cape Motorsports Powered by ECR)<\/p>\n

Sunday, March 15 _ Streets of Arlington, Texas, (Max Taylor, Andretti Global)<\/p>\n

Saturday, March 28 _ Barber Motorsports Park, Birmingham, Ala., (Nikita Johnson, Cape Motorsports Powered by ECR)<\/p>\n

Sunday, March 29 _ Barber Motorsports Park, Birmingham, Ala., (Alessandro de Tullio, A.J. Foyt Racing)<\/p>\n

Friday, May 8 _ Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road-Course Race 1, (Enzo Fittipaldi, HMD Motorsports)<\/p>\n

Saturday, May 9 _ Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road-Course Race 2, (Tymek Kucharczyk, HMD Motorsports)<\/p>\n

Sunday, May 31 _ Streets of Downtown Detroit, (Enzo Fittipaldi, HMD Motorsports)<\/p>\n

Sunday, June 7 _ World Wide Technology Raceway, Madison, Ill., (Myles Rowe, Abel Motorsports)<\/p>\n

Saturday, June 20 _ Road America, Elkhart Lake, Wis., Race 1, (Lochie Hughes, Andretti Global)<\/p>\n

Sunday, June 21 _ Road America, Elkhart Lake, Wis., Race 2, (Matteo Nannini, Cape Motorsports powered by ECR)   <\/p>\n

Saturday, July 4 _ Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Lexington, Ohio, Race 1 (Enzo Fittipaldi, HMD Motorsports)<\/p>\n

Sunday, July 5 _ Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Lexington, Ohio, Race 2 (Enzo Fittipaldi, HMD Motorsports)<\/p>\n

Sunday, July 19 _ Nashville Superspeedway, Lebanon, Tenn. (Matteo Nannini, Cape Motorsports Powered by ECR)<\/p>\n

Sunday, Aug. 9 _ Portland (Ore.) International Raceway<\/p>\n

Sunday, Aug. 30 _ The Milwaukee Mile, West Allis, Wis.<\/p>\n

Saturday, Sept. 5 _ Weather Tech Raceway Laguna Seca, Monterey, Calif., Race 1<\/p>\n

Sunday, Sept. 6 _ Weather Tech Raceway Laguna Seca, Monterey, Calif., Race 2<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  Courtesy of the NTT IndyCar Series PORTLAND, Ore. _ Alex Palou\u2019s latest path to history became a bit smoother Friday after the Chip Ganassi Racing ace paced opening practice for the OnlyBulls Grand Prix of Portland. Palou _ bidding for a record-tying fourth consecutive NTT IndyCar Series championship and fifth overall _ was quickest […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":676,"featured_media":60014,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_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},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[12],"tags":[824,22,672,654],"class_list":["post-60011","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-indycar","tag-alex-palou","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\/2026\/08\/Alex-Palou-OnlyBulls-Grand-Prix-of-Portland-By_-Paul-Hurley_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m162215.jpg?fit=1080%2C720&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7hzTZ-fBV","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60011","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=60011"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60011\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":60017,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60011\/revisions\/60017"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/60014"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60011"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60011"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60011"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}