The NTT IndyCar series commenced Practice 2 at the Portland International Raceway.
With the championship battle heating up, Alex Palou continues to hold a commanding 121-point lead over his closest rival, Pato O’Ward. This weekend will be critical for both drivers as one aims to win a Championship and the other aims to stay in contention for as long as it takes.
Penalties Handed
At the beginning of Practice 2, officials informed that both Christian Lundgaard and Santino Ferruci received a six-place grid penalty for unauthorized engine changes.
The Opening Stages
As Practice 2 got underway, Pato O’Ward was the first out on track, setting an early pace, followed by Colton Herta and Graham Rahal. However, just four minutes into the session, Josef Newgarden jumped to the top with a 1:01.114 lap time. David Malukas and Felix Rosenquist stepped out with new liveries. On the other side of track, Will Power quickly found himself in the gravel at Turn 6, possibly due to a struggle with the hard tyres.
Meanwhile, Malukas looked strong, trading top spots with Louis Foster and Newgarden before Conor Daly muscled Foster out of third. As the pace intensified, Alexander Rossi driving for Ed Carpenter Racing, briefly held P1 with a 59.036, before Lundgaard surged to the front with a blistering 58.845. That lap kept him at the top for a significant stretch of the session. Rinus VeeKay worked his way into the top ten, while all Andretti drivers sat outside the top ten for much of the session.
In a surprising dip in form, the other two Arrow McLaren drivers, O’Ward and rookie Nolan Siegel, found themselves in 20th and 24th places, respectively. Siegel later found his way back up to sixth, while Sting Ray Robb continued to impress in eighth.
Second Half
With just under 25 minutes left, viewers were onboard with last year’s Portland pole-sitter Graham Rahal, who was having a frustrating session down in 26th. At the front, Marcus Ericsson made a late push, timed at 58.739 to take the lead with VeeKay and Rasmussen close behind. Despite being on the hard compound tyres all session long, several drivers were still finding grip and confidence on track.
Colton Herta finally delivered with a 58.423 lap time that would not be topped. That push dropped O’Ward to last place, an unexpected twist considering his early session pace—with a gap of 1.2 seconds between him and the leader.
Josef Newgarden ended his practice session early potentially due to engine issues; the Penske #2 driver headed back to the paddock for evaluation. After the end of practice 2 the driver was handed a six-place grid penalty for engine changes.
In a heated moment on track, Scott McLaughlin was seen flipping off Devlin DeFrancesco, likely a reaction to traffic and the ongoing challenge drivers faced in trying to find clean space for laps. It was a recurring theme throughout the session and became a talking point.
Despite earlier struggles, all three McLaren cars eventually landed inside the top ten, showing a late recovery in form. The session closed with Herta on top, followed by Alex Palou in second and Scott Dixon in third. Rounding out a strong showing for Andretti and Chip Ganassi Racing.
As qualifying commences in a few hours, the top 2 Championship contenders will be under the spotlight. However, several midfield drivers like Reenus Veekay and Alexander Rossi showed pace which can be potentially translated into their qualifying performance.
Missed Practice 1? Read the practice report here.