The NTT IndyCar Series arrived in Portland this weekend for the final road course of the season. There are just three race weekends remaining in the championship fight. All eyes are on Alex Palou, who edges ever closer to securing a fourth series title. He has already proven his ability to win across every type of circuit on the calendar. “It would be super sweet! I’m just excited to fight in the race,” the Chip Ganassi Racing driver said ahead of Sunday’s showdown.
Early Running and First Benchmarks
Following the initial installation laps, the first practice began on the tight, twisty, and largely flat Portland International Raceway—with the apex of Turn 1 proving particularly challenging. After six minutes of an empty track, Kyffin Simpson was first to emerge for Chip Ganassi Racing. It was announced today that he’d serve a six-place grid penalty from his first-lap contact at Monterey. His opening lap of 1:01.6018 was soon beaten by Christian Lundgaard, who posted a 1:00.1853 before Alexander Rossi moved to the top ten minutes into the session.
As tyres came up to temperature, times fell rapidly. Fifteen minutes in, Lundgaard had reclaimed P1 with a 59.2198, just 0.1159 ahead of Pato O’Ward.
Red Flags and Reshuffles
The first red flag came 16 minutes into the session after a car part was spotted at Turn 3. The stoppage lasted under two minutes before action resumed. Twenty minutes in, the top ten read: Lundgaard, O’Ward, Kirkwood, VeeKay, Foster, Daly, Rossi, Armstrong, DeFrancesco, and Rosenqvist.
Moments later, Scott Dixon went off track after looking away, triggering a second red flag. He managed to return to the pits five minutes later, leaving 14 minutes for a final push.
Final Push
With eight minutes to go, the top five remained unchanged until Josef Newgarden climbed to sixth. The closing minutes brought more changes as tyres heated and rubber built up on the surface. With five minutes left on the clock, the top three were Lundgaard (59.1037), Palou (+0.1023), and Armstrong (+0.1145). Colton Herta only managed his first flying lap with three minutes to go, eventually slotting into eighth with just five laps completed.
The Group 1 session later ended with Lundgaard ahead of Rosenqvist and Rahal, the latter briefly taking second before being nudged back by Rosenqvist’s 58.6840. Newgarden, Dixon, Daly, Herta, Will Power, Rossi (with a new race engineer this weekend), and DeFrancesco rounded out the top ten. “Go back, do our homework and find some power,” commented Power about his performance after the run.
Palou’s Late Surge
Group 2 got underway with Lundgaard’s benchmark from Group 1 still untouched. After seven minutes, Newgarden came closest, within 0.1806 seconds, but only up to P4 on the overall chart. With just two minutes remaining, Palou jumped to P2, a mere 0.061 behind Lundgaard. In the Group 2 classification, Palou, Malukas, and Armstrong formed the top three.
At the chequered flag, the overall order for Practice 1 was:
With picture-perfect weather and temperatures climbing to 115°F on track, tyre management proved crucial – the soft compound lasting just three laps before dropping off. With Palou hot on Lundgaard’s heels in Practice 1 and the championship within touching distance, Sunday promises to be another fierce Portland battle.