With just four races left in the 2024 NTT IndyCar Series season, the 28-car field hit the track for practice for the final road course race of the season – the BitNile.com Grand Prix of Portland.
This weekend’s race is at Portland (Ore.) Int’l Raceway, a 12-turn, 1.964-mile road course in Portland, Oregon. Sunday’s BITNILE.Com Grand Prix of Portland is 110 laps, 216.04 miles.
Arrow McLaren’s Alexander Rossi was the fastest at 54.6705 in the No. 7 Chevrolet in the full field session.
There was one practice session including all cars followed by two, 10-minute sessions with the field split into two groups.
Scott McLaughlin of Team Penske was the fastest at 58.3669 in the No. 3 Tire Rack Chevrolet in the first group. The second group was paced by Marcus Armstrong of Chip Ganassi Racing at 58.6095 in the No. 11 Honda.
McLaughlin’s speed was the fastest overall for all sessions.
“Portland, is not an easy place to put together a full lap,” said McLaughlin, who won there in 2022. “These corners take precision, and that is 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 are confident here at Portland, as well.”
Toby Sowery was back in the No. 51 Honda for Dale Coyne Racing with RWR. He has finishes of 13th at Mid-Ohio and 15th at Toronto in July.
Juri Vips, the 24-year-old Former Formula One reserve from Estonia, is making his first IndyCar Series appearance this season in an extra entry for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing in the No. 75 Honda.
Six-time IndyCar Series champion Scott Dixon had some oversteer on one of his fast laps and opted to use the escape route instead of heading through the dirt.
Graham Rahal went through the dirt in turns 4 and 5 on one of his laps but was able to quickly get back on course and return to speed.
Kyle Kirkwood of Andretti Global was assessed a penalty from IndyCar Race Control for not properly utilizing the chicane in turns 2A and 2. Kirkwood’s No. 27 Honda sailed over the curbing.
Alexander Rossi and Nolan Siegel both had off-course excursions for Arrow McLaren but were able to get back on the race course without contact.
There were some close calls on the race course between Graham Rahal and Romain Grosjean, who ultimately came onto pit lane to have his Juncos Hollinger crew look over the No. 77 Chevrolet.
Team Penske’s Will Power went off course with under four minutes left in the session. He wiggled, locked up the brakes, saved the car and kept on racing.
After the practice for the full field, Alexander Rossi was the fastest at 54.6705 in the No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet followed by Will Power’s No. 12 Verizon Chevy at 58.9262. Colton Herta of Andretti Global was third at 59.0425 in the No. 26 Gainbridge Honda followed by Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin’s 59.1012 in the No. 3 Chevrolet and Rinus VeeKay’s 59.1131 in the No. 21 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet.
“I think as a team as a whole things have been coming together better at this time of the year than in other years,” Ed Carpenter said. “We’ve had circumstances like everyone with this car that has held us back. I thought Rinus would be strong here because the first time he ever tested for the team was here and it has a special place in his heart.
“I think we are heading in the right direction.”
Conor Daly ran four laps in the session after his No. 78 Juncos Hollinger Chevrolet had a fuel pressure issue.
“Just unlucky, for sure,” Daly said. “This stuff is so different. The ovals are easier to get into and go but there is a lot more input from us working together on a road course. I still have a lot to catch up on and they will give me the car, for sure, to go out there on Saturday.”
After that session, the field was split into two groups for 10-minute sessions each to attempt qualification laps.
The first group included all three drivers from Team Penske as well as championship leader Alex Palou of Chip Ganassi Racing.
When that 10-minute session ended, McLaughlin of Team Penske was the fastest at 58.3669 in the No. 3 Tire Rack Chevrolet. Palou was the second at 58.4337 in the No. 10 DHL Honda. Power was third at 58.7315 in the No. 12 Chevrolet followed by David Malukas in the No. 66 Meyer-Shank Honda at 57.7518. Pietro Fittipaldi rounded out the top five at 58.8362 in the No. 30 Honda for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing.
“It felt good, honestly quite a lot of grip, more than I expected,” Palou said. “We ran the same amount of pace as we did last year without the hybrid, so I feel pretty good around our chances.
“It’s a great opportunity. Sad that it’s the last road course, but three ovals at the end gives me an opportunity to win on an oval. We’ll win someday.
“I feel good about the ovals, but so far, it’s only been second. Hopefully, we can make progress next week at Milwaukee, but we’ll talk about that.”
The second session hit the track a few minutes after Group One concluded.
Marcus Armstrong of Chip Ganassi Racing was the quickest at 58.6095 in the No. 11 Honda. Teammate Dixon was second at 58.7043 in the No. 9 PNC Bank Honda followed by Herta’s 58.7565 in the No. 26. Pato O’Ward’s No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet was fourth at 58.8169 and A.J. Foyt Racing’s Santino Ferrucci rounded out the top five at 58.8234 in the No. 14 Chevrolet.
“We had a good session, I would say,” O’Ward said. “We rolled off the truck really weak and had a lot of work to do. We kept changing, changing, changing and that last run I had definitely put us in a better position heading into Saturday.
“It’s going to be very tight to not make any mistakes on Saturday. We are definitely in a better spot for Saturday.”
There is another practice session scheduled for Saturday morning followed by Knockout Qualifications culminating with the Firestone Fast Six later in the day.