PORTLAND, Ore. — Jacob Abel knew the task and completed it perfectly.
Abel kept alive his faint hopes for the INDY NXT by Firestone championship by passing points leader Louis Foster on the first lap and winning the Grand Prix of Portland on Sunday at Portland Int’l Raceway. Abel drove his No. 51 Abel Construction entry of Abel Motorsports to victory by .4103 of a second over Foster’s No. 26 Copart/Novara Technologies car of Andretti Global.
“We didn’t roll off the trailer that well at all,” Abel said. “We were really struggling there the first practice session, especially going against someone like Louis, who won here last year and rolled off and just made his stuff better and better. Huge shoutout to the Abel Motorsports crew.”
Abel’s third victory of the season and in his career – his first since early May on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course – pulled him to within 79 points of Foster with two races remaining. Foster only needs to lead by 54 points after the next race, the INDY NXT by Firestone Milwaukee 100 on Saturday, Aug. 31 at the Milwaukee Mile, to clinch his first title in the INDYCAR development series. Foster and Abel are the only drivers still eligible for the championship, which includes a financial package to run selected NTT INDYCAR SERIES races.
“We’re really just trying to go out and win some races,” Abel said. “We lost a little bit of ground there in the middle of the season, so just trying to go out and have some fun and enjoy my last few races in INDY NXT and hopefully make the jump to INDYCAR next year.”
Rookie Bryce Aron of Andretti Global completed the podium finishers today on the 12-turn, 1.964-mile road course in the No. 27 Jaguar Land Rover Chesterfield machine after starting sixth. That finish tied his career best set in June at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.
Rookie Caio Collet finished fourth in the No. 18 HMD Motorsports car, followed by fellow rookie and teammate Christian Brooks in the No. 39 HMD Motorsports machine. Brooks tied a career-best with his fifth place.
Abel wasted no time pouncing on an opportunity to pass Foster and keep the championship race alive. Abel, who started second, dove inside pole sitter Foster in the precarious, right-hand Turn One on the first lap and led all 35 laps.
But Foster didn’t make it easy on Abel. Foster stayed within a half-second of Abel’s gearbox for the entire race, often closing to within a car length.
Foster, who leads the series with six wins this season, pulled close enough to challenge on lap 12 but was rebuffed by Abel in a near-calamity for both drivers.
British driver Foster pulled inside of Abel entering the left-hand Turn 10, with Foster’s right front tire making light contact with Abel’s left rear tire. Foster backed off, and both drivers continued, with Foster applying pressure on leader Abel for the rest of the race.