IndyCar
IndyCar Championship Fight Continues This Weekend At Portland International Raceway
PORTLAND, OR (Pittsburgh Racing Now) – Two races remain in the 2019 NTT IndyCar Series schedule beginning with this weekend’s Grand Prix of Portland at Portland International Raceway.
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Takuma Sato is coming off a win in the Series last race at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway. Sato is also the defending winner of the Grand Prix of Portland after winning there in 2018.
“It’s great to go back to Portland as the defending winner and also after having won in St. Louis,” said Sato. “The fans waited a long time for the return of IndyCar racing and I’m really honored to be the first winner for the new generation of races there. That was also the first win for me with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing so there are a lot of great memories and happy moments.”
Sato’s victory was the highlight of the day for RLL as Sato’s teammate Graham Rahal was an innocent victim of a first lap crash that took him out of the race.
“I love going to Portland, it’s a great race,” said Rahal. “Last year was not what we hoped for, we were pretty competitive last year, and I expect us to be pretty competitive again this year.”
Rahal said the picturesque 1.964-mile permanent road course is not like most road courses where if you make a mistake you can recover.
In 2018 there was a huge accident on the first lap coming exiting turn three that saw Marco Andretti go up and over a couple of cars.
Marco Andretti Goes Airborne During Multi-vehicle Crash In Turn 3 At Portland International Raceway. (Photo:Chris Owens/IndyCar Series)
“There is no margin for error to go fast there,” said Rahal. “Like all tracks, you’ve got to push it to the limit to get the most out of a lap, but there is a very fine line there between what is good and what is not at Portland. And there is not a lot of runoffs so the moment you drop a wheel, you’re really in the grass whereas a lot of other places have a little bit of margin.”
Josef Newgarden comes into the event as the points-leader with his Team Penske teammate Simon Pagenaud in second place, 38-points behind. Andretti Autosports Alexander Rossi is in third place, 46-points behind Newgarden. PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon, the five-time and defending series champion, sits in fourth place 70-points out of the top spot.
“We were able to maintain the points lead in Gateway, and that was a huge deal for us,” said Newgarden. “Now we focus on Portland. It’s a technical road course, so we’re really going to have to make sure we hit our marks to make sure we don’t lose any ground.”
“Portland is shaping up to be a super-exciting weekend,” said Pagenaud. “This is the part of the season that I love the most. It is down to the wire exciting racing and competing at our highest level. It’s time to shine.”
“Our mindset has changed a bit from being conservative on our strategy to putting it all out there,” said Rossi. “We have to get another win in order to head into the season finale with a fighting chance for the Astor Cup. We were very strong last year at Portland and could have potentially won, but an untimely yellow caught us out.”
MADISON, IL (June 6, 2026) – Alex Palou and the No. 10 Chip Ganassi Racing team are continuing to lay down fast laps when it counts with Palou earning the pole position for Sunday’s NTT IndyCar Series Bommarito Automotive Group 500 at World Wide Technology Raceway. The pole position is Palou’s fourth straight NTT P1 Pole award.
“It was incredible and so much fun, especially that first lap,” said Palou, who turned a two-lap average speed of 174.353 mph in the No. 10 HRC Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. “The #10 Honda Honda had so much speed. The team I have around me is incredible. My car was on rails today; it was incredible.”
David Malukas starts second in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet after a two-lap average of 173.244 mph. Malukas could only look on in disbelief as Palou knocked him off the pole.
Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood starts third in the No. 27 Sam’s Club Honda following a two-lap average of 173.206 mph.
“ It was a good run for us,” said Kirkwood, the 2025 WWWT Raceway winner. “P3 is a really good starting spot and we can definitely do some great things from there. Last year we won from 10th, so it’s nice to be able to be at the front.”
2026 Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge winner Felix Rosenqvist starts fourth in the No. 60 SiriusXM Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb Agajanian Honda.
Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin will start 5th in the No. 3 Dex Imaging Chevrolet.
Palou’s Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Scott Dixon starts 7th in the No. 9 PNC Bank Honda and CGR’s Kyffin Simpson will start 14th in the No. 8 Sunoco Honda.
Television coverage of Sunday’s Bommarito Automotive Group 500 begins at 8 PM CT / 9 PM ET on Fox. Complete, flag-to-flag race coverage also will be available on the INDYCAR Radio Network, and SiriusXM INDYCAR Nation (Channel 160).
DETROIT, MI (May 31, 2026) – Alex Palou is back in victory lane after winning Sunday’s NTT IndyCar Series Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix, his fourth win of 2026 and 12th win in his past 25-races.
“It was a tough one,” said Palou. “The team did an incredible job one again with the strategy. Pit stops were incredible. The number 10 Honda Honda looked really good and I think every time it has been on track it’s had a win.”
Palou and the No. 10 HRC Chip Ganassi Racing Honda fought off Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood on two late-race restarts as Palou was on the harder Firestone Primary tire and Kirkwood was on the softer Firestone alternate tire.
“It was very tough with the temperature on the tires,” explained Palou. “On the restarts I couldn’t really be at the level of Kirkwood, Power and some of the guys who were able to get a little more tire temp than I Wass able to.”
“The Sam’s Club Honda was really fast,” said Kirkwood, who is second to Palou in the Championship. “We took a little bit of a gamble on tires there being the only guy on reds (alternate) at the end. It nearly paid off. It was so, so, close. They’re a great team and he’s a great driver.”
Rahal Letterman Lanigan’s Graham Rahal finished third in the No. 15 Fifth Third Bank Honda, tying Rahal’s best finish of the year.
“We had a lot of pace when we needed it,” explained Rahal. “We go lucky a little bit with the yellow.”
IndyCar
Alex Palou wins Detroit IndyCar Pole; Scott Dixon earns 4th starting spot; Honda sweeps front row
DETROIT, MI (May 30, 2026) – Alex Palou is starting on the pole position for the third consecutive NTT IndyCar Series Race, winning the number 1 starting spot for Sunday’s Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear.
Palou’s fast lap of 1-minute, 1.9017-seconds (95.668 mph) in the No. 10 Honda Racing Corporation Chip Ganassi Racing Honda was 0.005542-seconds ahead Will Power, who will start second in the No. 26 TWG AI Honda of Andretti Global. This is Power’s best starting position since switching to Andretti in the offseason.
“I’m super happy that we got the pole position,” said Palou. “The Fast Six was very exciting, especially with only getting one lap. The tires were not up to temperature, but this #10 Honda Honda car was on rails.”
“It was really nice to get into the Fast Six,” said Power, IndyCar’s all-time pole winner. “It’s my second time in the one lap shootout this year. It’s very difficult to beat Alex, so heading into the race I think we just have to put our heads down and see what we can do. The Honda is very good and I’ve been really enjoying running with Honda power all year.”
The front row Honda sweep on Chevrolet’s doorstep may bode well for the manufacturer as Honda has won every race at Detroit since the series switched to the downtown street circuit beginning in 2023.
Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin spoiled the Honda party, locking down the third starting spot with a lap of 1:02.4559 in the No. 3 Clarience Technologies Chevrolet.
Six-time series Champion Scott Dixon qualified a season-best fourth at 1:02.6085 in the No. 9 PNC Bank Honda to give Chip Ganassi Racing two of the top 4 starting spots.
“I was just a little too aggressive going for it,” said Dixon. “The No. 9 PNC Bank Honda has speed and it’s good to be starting up front.”
Arrow McLaren’s Christian Lundgaard will line up fifth after a fast lap of 1:02.7870 in the No. 7 Chevrolet, despite losing an engine in the morning practice.
Kyle Kirkwood continued the Firestone Fast Six Honda party qualifying sixth in the No. 27 Sam’s Club Honda despite locking his tires up at one point and two power slides during his quick lap.
David Malukas will start last in the field after bringing out a red flag during his qualifying run. Malukas smacked the wall in turn 7 causing heavy damage to the No. 12 Verizon Chevrolet.
Sunday starts with a 30-minute morning warmup at 9:30 a.m. followed by the 100-lap race at 12:30 p.m. on Fox and the IndyCar Radio Network.
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