By: NTT INDYCAR SERIES (Photo Courtesy INDYCAR)
Race weekend: Friday, Aug. 23-Sunday, Aug. 25
Track: Portland International Raceway, a 12-turn, 1.964-mile road course in Portland, Oregon
Race distance:
NTT INDYCAR SERIES
BITNILE.COM Grand Prix of Portland 110 laps / 216.04 miles
INDY NXT by Firestone
INDY NXT by Firestone Grand Prix of Portland 35 laps / 68.74 miles / 55 minutes
Push to Pass parameters:
NTT INDYCAR SERIES
150 seconds of total time with a maximum time of 15 seconds per activation
INDY NXT by Firestone
150 seconds of total time with a maximum time of 15 seconds per activation
Hybrid energy deployment parameters:
NTT INDYCAR SERIES
Unlimited activation with a maximum deployment of 260 kilojoules (kj) per lap
Firestone tire allotment:
NTT INDYCAR SERIES
Six sets primary, four sets alternate to be used during the event weekend. Teams must use one set of primary and one new set of alternate tires unless wet conditions are declared. One additional set is available for the weekend’s first session to teams fielding a rookie driver.
INDY NXT by Firestone
Three new sets to be used during the event weekend. Two carryover sets from the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course event may be used during pre-qualifying practice sessions on Friday and Saturday.
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YouTube: @INDYCAR
Event website: www.raceportland.com
INDYCAR website: www.IndyCar.com
2023 race winners:
NTT INDYCAR SERIES
Alex Palou (No. 10 The American Legion Honda)
INDY NXT by Firestone
Louis Foster (No. 26 Andretti Autosport)
2023 NTT P1 Award winner: Graham Rahal (No. 15 PeopleReady Honda), 58.3195 seconds, 121.236 mph
2023 INDY NXT by Firestone pole winner: Louis Foster (No. 26 Andretti Autosport), 1 minute, 2.6302 seconds, 112.891 mph
Qualifying records:
NTT INDYCAR SERIES
Will Power, 57.2143 seconds, 123.577 mph, Sept. 1, 2018 (Set in Round 1 of knockout qualifying)
INDY NXT by Firestone
Louis Foster, 1 minute, 2.6302 seconds, 112.891 mph, Sept. 2, 2023
USA Network race telecast: BITNILE.COM Grand Prix of Portland, 3 p.m. ET Sunday, Aug. 25, USA Network (live). Kevin Lee is the play-by-play announcer for USA Network’s coverage of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, alongside analysts Townsend Bell and James Hinchcliffe. Georgia Henneberry and Dillon Welch are the pit reporters.
Peacock live streaming: All NTT INDYCAR SERIES practice sessions and qualifying will stream live on Peacock, NBC’s direct-to-consumer livestreaming product, while NBC’s race telecast of the BITNILE.COM Grand Prix of Portland will be simulcast on the streaming service. The INDY NXT by Firestone Grand Prix of Portland will be streamed on Peacock, with practice and qualifying being shown on INDYCAR LIVE.
INDYCAR Radio Network broadcasts: Mark Jaynes is the anchor alongside analyst Davey Hamilton. Jake Query and Nick Yeoman are the turn announcers. DJ Clark, Ryan Myrehn and Michael Young are the pit reporters. The BITNILE.COM Grand Prix of Portland race (3 p.m. ET Sunday), INDY NXT by Firestone Grand Prix of Portland (1:05 p.m. ET Sunday) and all NTT INDYCAR SERIES and INDY NXT by Firestone practices and qualifying sessions air live on network affiliates, SiriusXM 218, racecontrol.indycar.com and the INDYCAR App powered by NTT DATA.
At-track schedule (all times local):
Friday, Aug. 23
1:45-2:30 p.m. – INDY NXT by Firestone practice 1, INDYCAR LIVE
2:55-4:10 p.m. – NTT INDYCAR SERIES practice 1 (45 minutes for all cars, followed by two groups for 10 minutes each), Peacock
Saturday, Aug. 24
9-10 a.m. – NTT INDYCAR SERIES practice 2 (45 minutes green flag or 1 hour total), Peacock
11:20 a.m.-12:05 p.m. – INDY NXT by Firestone practice 2, INDYCAR LIVE
12:30 p.m. – BITNILE.COM Grand Prix of Portland NTT P1 Award qualifying (three rounds of knockout qualifying), Peacock
4:20 p.m. – INDY NXT by Firestone qualifying (two groups/12 minutes each), INDYCAR LIVE
5:15-5:45 p.m. – NTT INDYCAR SERIES final practice, Peacock
Sunday, Aug. 25
10:15 a.m. – INDY NXT by Firestone Grand Prix of Portland “Drivers, start your engines”
10:20 a.m. – INDY NXT by Firestone Grand Prix of Portland (35 laps / 68.74 miles / 55 minutes), Peacock (live)
Noon – USA Network on air
12:23 p.m. – BITNILE.COM Grand Prix of Portland “Drivers, start your engines”
12:30 p.m. – BITNILE.COM Grand Prix of Portland (110 laps/216.04 miles), USA Network (live)
NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship facts:
· Alex Palou leads the NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship with four races to go for the third time in his INDYCAR SERIES career. Palou also led the championship with four races to go in 2021 and 2023, when he won the title. Palou, who has led the point standings after eight of the 13 rounds this season, took the point lead at the Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey in June.
· There are 14 drivers still mathematically eligible for the 2024 NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship: Alex Palou, Colton Herta, Scott Dixon, Will Power, Scott McLaughlin, Pato O’Ward, Kyle Kirkwood, Josef Newgarden, Alexander Rossi, Felix Rosenqvist, Santino Ferrucci, Christian Lundgaard, Marcus Ericsson and Marcus Armstrong. Any driver who trails the points leader by 163 points or more following this race will be eliminated from contention.
· Since the first INDYCAR SERIES race at Portland International Raceway, the winning driver has won the INDYCAR SERIES championship in the same season 12 times: Bobby Rahal (1987), Danny Sullivan (1988), Emerson Fittipaldi (1989), Michael Andretti (1991), Al Unser Jr. (1994), Alex Zanardi (1998), Gil de Ferran (2000), Cristiano da Matta (2002), Sebastien Bourdais (2004, 2007) and Alex Palou (2021, 2023).
· Since 2008 when INDYCAR SERIES racing unified under the NTT INDYCAR SERIES banner, the eventual series champion has won the 14th race of the season four times. The most recent occurrence was in 2021 when Alex Palou won at Portland. Other drivers to win the 14th race of their championship season were Ryan Hunter-Reay (2012), Dario Franchitti (2009, 2010) and Scott Dixon (2008).
Key championship point statistic: Since 2008, the largest deficit overcome by the eventual champion was 59 points by Dario Franchitti in 2010. Scott Dixon overcame Juan Pablo Montoya’s 54-point lead in 2015. Fifty-nine (59) points separate the top two drivers in the 2024 NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship standings.
Point differential: The 59 points separating Alex Palou and Colton Herta is tied for the fourth-largest point margin with four races remaining since 2008. During that span, the average lead with four races remaining is 38.75 points.
| CHAMPIONSHIP WITH 4 TO GO (2008-2024) | |||||
| YEAR | LEADER | SECOND | LEAD | CHAMPION | |
| 2008 | Scott Dixon | Helio Castroneves | 65 | Scott Dixon | |
| 2009 | Scott Dixon | Ryan Briscoe | 3 | Dario Franchitti (-20) | |
| 2010 | Will Power | Dario Franchitti | 59 | Dario Franchitti | |
| 2011 | Dario Franchitti | Will Power | 47 | Dario Franchitti | |
| 2012 | Ryan Hunter-Reay | Helio Castroneves | 23 | Ryan Hunter-Reay | |
| 2013 | Helio Castroneves | Scott Dixon | 39 | Scott Dixon | |
| 2014 | Helio Castroneves | Will Power | 13 | Will Power | |
| 2015 | Juan Pablo Montoya | Scott Dixon | 54 | Scott Dixon | |
| 2016 | Simon Pagenaud | Will Power | 58 | Simon Pagenaud | |
| 2017 | Josef Newgarden | Helio Castroneves | 7 | Josef Newgarden | |
| 2018 | Scott Dixon | Alexander Rossi | 46 | Scott Dixon | |
| 2019 | Josef Newgarden | Alexander Rossi | 16 | Josef Newgarden | |
| 2020 | Scott Dixon | Josef Newgarden | 76 | Scott Dixon | |
| 2021 | Alex Palou | Pato O’Ward | 21 | Alex Palou | |
| 2022 | Will Power | Marcus Ericsson | 9 | Will Power | |
| 2023 | Alex Palou | Josef Newgarden | 84 | Alex Palou | |
| 2024 | Alex Palou | Colton Herta | 59 | ? | |
Race notes:
- There have been seven winners in 13 NTT INDYCAR SERIES races in the 2024 season. Pato O’Ward (Streets of St. Petersburg, Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course), Scott Dixon (Streets of Long Beach, Streets of Detroit), Scott McLaughlin (Barber Motorsports Park, Iowa Speedway-1), Alex Palou (Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course, WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca), Josef Newgarden (Indianapolis 500, World Wide Technology Raceway), Will Power (Road America, Iowa Speedway-2) and Colton Herta (Streets of Toronto) have all won in 2024. The modern record (1946-present) for the most different winners in a season is 11 in 2000, 2001 and 2014.
- The BITNILE.COM Grand Prix of Portland will be the 30th INDYCAR SERIES race at Portland International Raceway and the sixth since the NTT INDYCAR SERIES returned in 2018. Al Unser Jr. won the first INDYCAR SERIES race at Portland in 1984, while Alex Palou won last season. Alex Palou, Scott McLaughlin and Will Power are the only former winners entered in this year’s race.
| ACTIVE RACE WINNER | WINS | SEASONS |
| Alex Palou | 2 | 2021, 2023 |
| Scott McLaughlin | 1 | 2022 |
| Will Power | 1 | 2019 |
- Eight INDYCAR SERIES drivers have won at Portland International Raceway from the pole – Danny Sullivan (1988), Al Unser Jr. (1994), Alex Zanardi (1996), Max Papis (2001), Cristiano da Matta (2002), Sebastien Bourdais (2004), Alex Palou (2021) and Scott McLaughlin (2022).
| ACTIVE POLE WINNER | POLES | SEASONS |
| Graham Rahal | 1 | 2023 |
| Scott McLaughlin | 1 | 2022 |
| Alex Palou | 1 | 2021 |
| Colton Herta | 1 | 2019 |
| Will Power | 1 | 2018 |
- Team Penske has won seven times at Portland International Raceway. Penske’s winning INDYCAR SERIES drivers are Danny Sullivan (1988), Emerson Fittipaldi (1993), Al Unser Jr. (1994, 1995), Gil de Ferran (2000), Will Power (2019) and Scott McLaughlin (2022). Chip Ganassi Racing has four wins at Portland with Alex Zanardi in 1996 and 1998 and Alex Palou in 2021 and 2023. Newman/Haas Racing won a record eight times at Portland.
- Twenty-three drivers entered in the event have competed in past INDYCAR SERIES races at Portland International Raceway. Scott Dixon and Will Power each have seven starts, most among the entered drivers. Twelve entered drivers have led laps at the track (Scott McLaughlin 109, Alex Palou 98, Power 68, Graham Rahal 59, Colton Herta 36, Alexander Rossi 32, Dixon 30, Pato O’Ward 28, Josef Newgarden 8, Felix Rosenqvist 6, David Malukas 2, Marcus Ericsson 1 and Christian Lundgaard 1).
- Five drivers have won INDY NXT by Firestone races at Portland before moving up to the NTT INDYCAR SERIES. Pato O’Ward won both races at Portland in 2018 on his way to the INDY NXT by Firestone championship. Rinus VeeKay and Toby Sowery split the doubleheader races in 2019, and Kyle Kirkwood and David Malukas split the doubleheader races in 2021 … Graham Rahal scored the first win of his professional racing career at Portland, winning the Star Mazda (now USF Pro 2000 championship) race in 2005.
- Milestones: Scott Dixon will attempt to make his 336th consecutive start, extending his INDYCAR SERIES record streak … With his next podium finish, Dixon will break a tie with Mario Andretti for the INDYCAR SERIES’ all-time record with 142 podium finishes.
INDY NXT by Firestone notes:
- Andretti Global’s Louis Foster is enjoying a historically dominant season, leading the series in wins (six), poles (four), laps led (207 of 450), top-five finishes (10) and top-10 finishes (11) through 11 races. Foster, a native of England, owns a 91-point lead over second-place Jacob Abel of Abel Motorsports. Foster can clinch the season championship by leading by at least 108 points after this event.
- The INDY NXT by Firestone Grand Prix of Portland will be the series’ 23rd race at Portland International Raceway. Previous Indy NXT by Firestone winners at Portland include Paul Tracy, Andre Ribeiro, Greg Moore, Pato O’Ward, Rinus VeeKay, Toby Sowery, David Malukas, Kyle Kirkwood and Benjamin Pedersen. Current INDY NXT by Firestone point leader Louis Foster won the INDY NXT Grand Prix of Portland in 2023.
