Colton Herta of Andretti Global was the fastest driver in Saturday evening’s final practice session for the NTT IndyCar Series BitNile.com Grand Prix of Portland on Sunday.
Herta, who enters the race second in points, 59 behind Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou, had a best lap of 59.0031 in the No. 26 Gainbridge Honda. Palou was the second fastest in the No. 10 DHL Honda for Chip Ganassi Racing.
Marcus Armstrong of Chip Ganassi Racing was third in the No. 11 Honda at 59.2503. Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden was fourth in the No. 2 Chevrolet for Team Penske with Felix Rosenqvist of Meyer Shank Racing fifth in the No. 50 Honda at 59.2773.
Santino Ferrucci, who a few hours earlier won the first IndyCar pole of his career, was ninth in the final practice at 59.4007 in the No. 14 Chevrolet for A.J. Foyt Racing.
IndyCar’s long day concluded with a 30-minute final practice session that began at 5 p.m. local time under cloudy and cool conditions.
This weekend’s race is at Portland 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.
It is the final IndyCar race on a road course this season.
One of the favorites entering the race weekend was Scott McLaughlin of Team Penske. He felt something in the o engine that concerned him during qualifications, so Team Penske decided to change engines.
It was the first unapproved engine change for Chevrolet this season. McLaughlin had qualified 14th, but with the penalty, he will start Sunday’s race 20th.
He is the 2022 winner of this race from the pole. He was the fastest driver in Friday’s practice session and Saturday morning’s practice, making him a favorite for the pole.
Instead, he qualified 14th and the team decided a fresh engine was better than an engine that might break during the race.
Kyffin Simpson of Chip Ganassi Racing was another driver whose team changed engine after qualifications. He had qualified 26th in the 28-car field, so the six-grid-spot penalty will only be two for Simpson, who will line up last on Sunday.
Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden set the early pace at 59.2515 in the No. 2 Chevrolet with Arrow McLaren rookie Nolan Siegel second at 59.5942 in the No. 6 Chevrolet.
Rinus VeeKay went off course in the No. 21 Chevrolet for Ed Carpenter Racing, kicking up some dirt in front of Will Power with 18 minutes left in the session
Toby Sowery later had a spin in the No. 51 Honda entering Turn One.
Felix Rosenqvist knocked Siegel down to third after the Meyer Shank Racing driver turned a lap at 59.2773 in the No. 60 Honda.
Pato O’Ward, who had a very disappointing qualification effort, passed his Arrow McLaren teammate for third with a lap at 59.5228 in the No. 5 Chevrolet at the halfway point of the final 30-minute practice.
Simpson had a flat left-side rear and had to pit with sparks flying out from underneath his Honda. It appeared that VeeKay had run into the back of him, causing Simpson to brush a curb.
The next on-track activity for IndyCar is Sunday’s race, set for 3:30 p.m. ET.