IndyCar
Scott McLaughlin dominates INDYCAR Grand Prix of Portland
PORTLAND, OR (Pittsburgh Racing Now) – Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin held off teammate Will Power following a late restart to win Sunday’s NTT INDYCAR SERIES Grand Prix of Portland.
McLaughlin started from the pole position and led 104-of-110-laps in the No. 3 Freightliner Chevrolet in a dominating performance for his third win of the year.
“The Freightliner Chevy all weekend has been fast and has been right there when we needed it,” said McLaughlin. “The team, the Thirsty 3’s, got the job done in the pits. We did exactly what we needed to do this weekend, and that was win and get max points and keep ourselves in the fight.”
Power started on the outside of the front row and, after finishing second, heads into the season finale with a 20-point lead in the championship standings over teammate Josef Newgarden and Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon, who finished third.
“It was a great day, obviously,” said Power. “Good finish. Could have been much worse.”
Power was alluding to that late restart when he was hoping to challenge McLaughlin but Arrow McLaren SP’s Pato O’Ward tried to make a pass going into Turn 1 and made contact with Power’s No. 12 Verizon Chevrolet.
“I left as much room as I could. Inside, inside, and I kept going further, and, bam, he hit me over the curve,” explained Power. “I didn’t expect it from Pato, though. He is usually a pretty good racer, pretty smart racer. He was probably needing to win the race to have a shot at the championship, so he probably just went a little bit too far.”
Right behind O’Ward and Power on the restart going into Turn 1 Josef Newgarden and Alexander Rossi made contact and opened the door for Dixon, who pounced on the opportunity.
“I think when I saw Josef break I was, like, ‘Wow, I’m not sure if he is going to make the corner,'” recalled Dixon. “He did all that he could to make the corner, but put him at a weird angle, and that, obviously, offset him and Rossi because Rossi had a great run on him out of 12 into turn one.”
Dixon was able to carry so much momentum through the corner that the No. 9 PNC Bank Honda got a run on O’Ward, who made a move in reaction to Dixon’s run.
“I got a run on Pato, and he put a pretty big block on, and a lap later Indy called that, and I was able to get past, which thankfully I think the front three we pulled a ten-second gap on the next pack where we pulled away really quickly,” explained Dixon. “It was a great restart. Something that definitely helped us on the points side, and we’ll take what we can.”
Now the stage is set for the Championship finale next week in Monterey California.
“20 points, I would have taken it,” said Power. “We’ve got to come up to Laguna seriously ready.”
“You know, still in it,” said Dixon. “That’s all that we can hope for.”
McLaughin’s win leaves him in fifth position and in contention for the title, 41-points behind Power.
“Yeah, we’re a long shot,” said McLaughlin. “I don’t care. But we’re a shot, and I’m looking forward to it.”
WASHINGTON D.C. (August 22, 2026) – Alex Palou’s blistering lap of 56.8993 seconds in the No. 10 OpenAI Chip Ganassi Racing Honda puts the four-time NTT IndyCar Series Champion on the pole position for Sunday’s Freedom 250 on the streets of Washington D.C.
“Incredible,” said Palou. “My car was on rails. Super-fun lap, super-fun car to drive. Couldn’t be happier. Looking forward to tomorrow. Tomorrow is going to be a long day, man, 250 miles.”
Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood lines up second after a lap of 57.4661 in the No. 27 Sam’s Club Honda.
“P1 both first and second group, and the last one Alex Palou is just a legend and goes faster on his one-lap dash than he did the whole rest of the run, I think,” Kirkwood said. “He made us look silly out there.”
Scott McLaughlin spoiled the Honda party up front, putting the No. 3 PPG Chevrolet third on the grid after a fast lap of 57.4200.
Palou’s CGR teammates Scott Dixon and Kyffin Simpson did not fare as well as their teammate.
Dixon was on a lap that would have allowed him to transfer into the next round of qualifying, when Simpson hit the wall, triggering a red flag which cancelled Dixon’s lap. The No. 9 PNC Bank Honda will start 14th.
Bringing out the red flag penalized Simpson of his two fastest laps so the No. 8 Sunoco Honda will start last in 25th.
Coverage of the Freedom 250 starts at 11:30 a.m. on Fox and IndyCar Radio with the green flag waving in our nation’s capital at 1 p.m.
MARKHAM, ONTARIO (August 15, 2026) – The NTT IndyCar Series is making it’s first visit to a new street circuit in Markham, Ontario but a familiar face topped the speed charts after the first practice.
Four-time Series Champion Alex Palou turned the fastest lap around the 12-turn, 2.19-mile temporary street course, a 1-minute, 14.9915-seconds (100.811 mph) lap in the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda.
A.J. Foyt Racing rookie Caio Collett was second quick with a 1-minute, 15.0454-seconds (100.739) in the No. 4 Chevrolet.
Louis Foster was third quick in the No. 45 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda at 1:15.0278 (100.702) followed by Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin 1:15.2981 (100.401). Will Power rounded out the Top 5 at 1:15.3152 (100.378).
Palou’s Chip Ganassi Racing teammates were not as strong. Six-time Series Champion Scott Dixon was 20th at 1:16.4583 (98.877) in the No. 9 PNC Bank Honda. Kyffin Simpson was 24th at 1.17.3893 (97.688) in the No. 8 Sunoco Honda. Simpson made contact with the wall at Turn 6, causing damage to the rear suspension. Simpson limped to pits for repair and returned to action later in the session.
Practice 2 is set for 2:30 p.m. as delayed track construction forced officials to cancel Friday’s activities and condense Saturday’s schedule. NTT P1 Pole Qualifying is set for 6:30 p.m. ET
MARKHAM, ONTARIO (August 14, 2026) – Issues with the completion of the temporary street circuit in Markham Ontario has forced the NTT INDYCAR SERIES first practice to be moved to Saturday as all of Friday’s on-track activity had to be scrubbed from the schedule.
“INDYCAR is incredibly disappointed that our promoter was not able to complete the track build on time, despite significant support from our team on site,” INDYCAR President J. Douglas Boles said. “Ontario has always been a magnificent market for our sport and the number of spectators that attended today is a shining example of that. New events can always pose logistical challenges and we join in the frustration of our loyal fans and apologize.”
Green Savoree Promotions also issued a statement.
“Ensuring the safety of the drivers and the completion of the certification process of competing on a brand-new racetrack delayed all on-track activities today. Today’s sessions have been rescheduled to Saturday, August 15, to allow for further track preparations.”
“We greatly appreciate all the fans who made it out to the Ontario Honda Dealers Indy at Markham today and chose to spend the day with us. The attendance and support were overwhelming.”
The revamped schedule calls for the first practice to take place at 10:00 a.m. followed by a second practice at 2:30 p.m. and P1 Pole Qualifying at 6:30 p.m.
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Palou quickest in first Markham practice
