Will Power stays in title fight with a dominant win in Portland

Will Power did exactly what he needed to do to remain in the title fight. (Photo: Travis Hinkle | Penske Entertainment)

PORTLAND, Ore. — For the third time during the 2024 NTT IndyCar Series season, Team Penske’s Will Power went to Victory Lane, following a dominant performance in the BitNile.com Grand Prix of Portland at Portland International Raceway.

The driver of the No. 12 Verizon Chevrolet left Portland second in the standings as the two-time series champion had a masterclass of a race, putting nearly 10 seconds on the competition. He led 101 of 110 laps.

At a track known for chaos, the contest at Portland may have been one of the quietest races of the entire season. Starting from second place, Power won the holeshot, taking the lead from polesitter Santino Ferrucci in the Shelton Chicane on Lap 1, which was well organized between the two drivers.

“Santino and I talked about the start,” Power explained. He was not going to block or anything. He braked earlier than expected, because (if) I braked earlier, I was going to let him lead.”

Now, Power sits tied for 11th in the GRID Ranking with Formula E’s Pascal Wehrlein. The odds of him ultimately winning the IndyCar championship remain against him, but he will enter the final three races of the year still in the fight against points leader Alex Palou.

“They picked the strategy really well,” Power said. “I just did my job and got them fuel numbers. Kept my eye on (Alex) Palou behind me. I could see the gap opening on Palou’s but I knew we had a better car. It was just a matter of getting through that traffic. That last stint, we were on new tires. We were very strong.” 

Palou managed to keep the bleeding minimal in the hunt for his third championship and second in a row. After finishing in the runner-up position, he proved that the No. 10 DHL Honda was fast, but the risk of a second consecutive win victory at Portland far outweighed the rewards. 

“A shame we couldn’t really battle much,” Palou said. “Happy, but obviously, a little bit frustrating that we couldn’t really get there. It was tough. Like, our pace was not at his (Power’s) level today.”

Alex Palou survived Portland, with a healthy championship points lead. (Photo: Joe Samaniego | GRID Network)

54 points ahead of Power in the championship, Palou heads to The Milwaukee Mile doubleheader weekend with yet another opportunity to clinch the Astor Cup before the finale at Nashville Superspeedway. 

In the GRID Ranking, the Chip Ganassi Racing driver overtook Formula 1’s Max Verstappen, tying for third with World Rally Championship’s Sebastien Ogier.

Josef Newgarden ended up finishing third in Portland behind Power and Palou as the two-time Indianapolis 500 champion had a quiet but competitive weekend. After being bumped out of qualifying by Penske-affiliated driver Ferrucci, Newgarden got back past him on his way to a cool, consistently driven podium run. 

“It was a good day for us,” Newgarden said. “I think in a lot of ways close to our potential. Looking at it from a far distance, it looked like we were a second-place car today. I think the third is really close to what we could have achieved.”

Off The Steps

Will Power got around Santino Ferrucci in the Shelton Chicane and never looked back. (Photo: Joe Samaniego | GRID Network)

Santino Ferrucci was hoping to turn his first career IndyCar pole into his maiden win. After forfeiting the lead to Will Power entering Turn 1, the driver of the No. 14 Phoenix Investors Chevrolet did not find the lead again. 

After dropping out of the top five, Ferrucci dug deep and held pace to bring AJ Foyt Racing its eighth top 10 of the 2024 season. He currently sits impressively 10th in points.

Colton Herta remains in the championship fight, but like Power, he is hoping to have the odds in his favor. Like his performance at Gateway, Herta showed pace early on in the No. 26 Gainbridge Honda, then quickly moved up the running order after starting eighth. 

The potential pace for a podium finish was interrupted when Romain Grosjean checked Herta off track. However, the drama would continue when he stalled during the final pit stop of the race. 

Despite showing good speed, Romain Grosjean had an eventful weekend in the Pacific Northwest. (Photo: Joe Samaniego | GRID Network)

Using his hybrid unit to re-fire his Honda powertrain, the unapproved hybrid start made Herta yield one position to Grosjean. However, he still brought the Andretti Global entry home in fourth place for his eighth top-five result of the year.

A top five was also in the cards for Grosjean. The driver nicknamed “The Phoenix” was confident going into the weekend and rolled off sixth on Sunday. 

Trouble struck on Lap 62, when the Frenchman carried too much speed into the Shelton Chicane, sending his No. 77 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet into a spin. 

Still on track, now looking back at Turn 1, Grosjean spun around in the right direction. However, poor timing put him in the direct path of Ed Carpenter Racing’s Christian Rasmussen, who was making his final IndyCar start of the year. 

With nowhere to go, Rasmussen made contact with Grosjean. A puncture for Grosjean and a broken front wing for Rasmussen resulted in them finishing 26th and 27th, respectively.

As a result of Grosjean’s maneuver, he received a drive-through penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct.

Scott Dixon and Pietro Fittipaldi brought out the lone caution of the race on Lap 1. Making it through the Shelton Chicane unscathed, Dixon got pushed wide off Turn 7 by Kyle Kirkwood. 

Fittipaldi launched himself over the Turn 8 curb which caused him to get into Dixon, putting the six-time IndyCar champion into the outside wall. This effectively ended Dixon’s hopes of a seventh title.

Following the incident, Fittipaldi received a penalty from race control for avoidable contact. He also got into Conor Daly later in the race, putting him well outside of the lead lap. 

All drivers but Dixon managed to take the checkered flag. Fittipaldi finished 25th.

Overall, it was a stellar weekend for IndyCar drivers in the GRID Ranking, with Alex Palou leapfrogging Max Verstappen and all five drivers in the ranking’s top 20.

GRID Ranking

The 2024 GRID Ranking is the eighth year of the world’s premier motorsport ranking and was initially released on Sunday, April 7.

For the first time since 2015, the NTT IndyCar Series returns to The Milwaukee Mile for a doubleheader weekend on the 1-mile short oval.

The first race on Saturday, Aug. 31 gets underway at 6 p.m. ET on Peacock. Meanwhile, the second and final race on Sunday, Sept. 1 begins at 2:30 p.m. ET on USA Network.

Results: 2024 BitNile.com Grand Prix of Portland at Portland International Raceway