PORTLAND, Ore. – There are several things to keep in mind heading into Sunday’s Grand Prix of Portland.
NTT IndyCar Series teams and drivers received a memo Saturday afternoon informing them that the acceleration zone for the pole winner at the start of the race will be at the exit of turn 12.
Drivers who shortcut the turn 2 apex over the curbing must make every effort to utilize the second turn 1 runoff chicane. Failure to follow this procedure will result in a review and penalties may apply.
There is also a championship clinch scenario regarding Team Penske’s Will Power on Sunday.
•Power must win and pick up three bonus points (535 points)
•Josef Newgarden must finish 23rd or worse.
•Scott Dixon must finish 12th or worse (loses on 2nd place tiebreak).
•Marcus Ericsson must finish 10th or worse.
Alex Palou, Scott McLaughlin and Pato O’Ward are eliminated from contention if Power wins Sunday.
Teams and drivers received a memo Sunday morning explaining the Turn 1 ordering procedure, in case of an incident.
IndyCar will order the field according to the following priorities:
Cars properly following the race course will be ordered according to the last timeline crossed under green condition.
Cars properly utilizing the runoff chicanes will blend back into field based on crossing data established on the last green timeline.
IndyCar deems cars that utilize the runoff chicanes as off-track and thus priority to cars on the racing surface.
Cars failing to navigate the runoff chicanes properly are subject to further penalty
“Lower priority” to cars on the racing surface.