Alex Palou does it again. Not only did the Chip Ganassi Racing driver win Sunday’s BITNILE.com Grand Prix of Portland, but by doing so, the Spaniard also clinched his second NTT INDYCAR SERIES title in the last 3 years in the process.
All he had to do was finish on the podium. He did two spots better.
“Yeah, absolutely, obviously. As you describe it, it’s been an amazing season,” Palou said. “We just had fast cars everywhere, and we’ve been able to maximize our results even on the bad weekends, and to finish here at Portland with a win feels amazing.
“We have one race left that we won there last year, so feeling pretty confident. And obviously, yeah, clinching the championship makes you feel a little bit more relaxed obviously.”
Chip Ganassi said that Palou called his shot and said that he not only was going to deliver a championship on Sunday, that he was going to win the race too.
He’d back those words up.
“Honestly, I thought we had a really, really fast car,” Palou said of calling his shot. “I would say fast six, the result we got there wasn’t what we could have achieved. I didn’t think we extracted 100% from it, so I knew after warmup that we could go for it and win the race.
“So we didn’t really go on safe mode of just staying with the 9 because we thought we could win the race today, and we did. So happy that everything worked out.”
Palou becomes the first driver since 2007 to clinch the title early as he scored his ninth career win on an overcast day in the Pacific Northwest including 5 of the 9 coming this season.
He was on the right strategy early. The debate was whether the Firestone primary tires would be the preferred ones for Sunday’s 110 lap race. Normally, this is a red (alternate tire) race. However, most thought it would flip this weekend.
Still, the top three starters kept it safe. They started on reds. Palou was behind Scott Dixon who also started on blacks.
That was the race winning move.
Colton Herta couldn’t hold on and pit on Lap 18. Scott McLaughlin bailed on Lap 21 and Graham Rahal a lap later. Palou went until Lap 31. Dixon on Lap 32.
“Yeah, we knew we wanted to do at least 18 laps, and it was right about the time that the 9 and the 6 caught us where we didn’t want to lose the lead,” Palou said on the strategy.
“We could have been a little more aggressive and just be, like, from P-3 from three laps after to just have a bit more space, but we didn’t. We just wanted to be a bit conservative on that call. I think it was the right call, but we had traffic at the same time.
“So, yeah, it was, I would say, the stint that I suffered the most on reds.”
Palou would cycle to the lead on Lap 34. It was now his race and championship to lose. For a driver as flawless as him, that wasn’t going to happen.
It didn’t.
Dixon went on the Firestone primary tires again while Palou was on reds. Palou would take it until Lap 47. Dixon went until Lap 60 before pitting for reds himself.
It never was enough to close the gap. Palou pit for the final time on Lap 79. Dixon did so two laps later.
Felix Rosenqvist was in control but had to pit. When Agustin Canapino got off course on Lap 83 in Turn 12, it brought Rosenqvist down. INDYCAR threw the yellow. Palou was first, Rosenqvist second, Dixon in third.
On the Lap 88 restart, Palou would pull away and never look back as he topped Rosenqvist by 5.4353-seconds.
Rosenqvist settled for runner-up for his sixth career podium while Dixon, Pato O’Ward and Josef Newgarden rounded out the top five of an eventful day.
Rahal Has To Wonder What Went Wrong Again
Graham Rahal scored his 2nd pole in three races on Saturday. He felt good about his chances to end his 106-race winless drought. With each of the last 2 pole winners having won the races a day later here in Portland, this was going to be Rahal’s race to lose, right?
Unfortunately for him, tire strategy got away.
Rahal started on the Firestone alternate tires just as the strategy was last year. He went to Lap 22 before pitting for the first time. Unfortunately for him, the strategy was the wrong one. Alex Palou, Scott Dixon, Felix Rosenqvist and Pato O’Ward each did the opposite at the start. They elected to begin with the Firestone primary tires.
That was the winning move.
Rosenqvist and O’Ward both pit on Lap 29. Palou on Lap 31 and Dixon Lap 32. They cycled ahead of Rahal after that first stint and it was a ho-hum day from there.
Rahal pit for a second time on Lap 51 and went with black tires on the next two stops but he could only muster an 12th place result despite not being passed really on track.
It was pit strategy that kept him out of victory lane just as it did in Indy a few weeks ago for which he had the field covered but Dixon who was collected in an opening lap fracas pit for fuel only under that caution and was able to use it to his advantage to narrowly nip Rahal to the finish.
Rosenqvist, Newgarden Come From Row 6 To Top 5’s
Felix Rosenqvist’s car quit on him late in Q2 on Saturday. He had to settle for an 11th place start as a result. The only reason that it wasn’t 12th was because Josef Newgarden found the Turn 12 wall moments prior.
The two had faster cars than qualifying led on. That’s why both rebounded to score top five finishes on Sunday.
Each were on the right tire strategy at the start and went to Lap 29 (Rosenqvist) and Lap 30 (Newgarden) before pitting. Rosenqvist exited the pits now in the top five. Newgarden was battling for 6th and 7th with Rahal and Scott McLaughlin.
From then on out, they had top five pace.
Rosenqvist found himself knocking on the podium door with Newgarden for the top five.
In the end, they’d finish P2 (Rosenqvist) and P5 (Newgarden).
Rosenqvist ran the Firestone primary tires for every lap until his final pit stop on Lap 84 when he slapped on the reds. He ducked down pit road when Agustin Canapino got off course in Turn 12. He led the three laps prior.
He’d exit P2 when the caution was displayed and would restart there with 22 to go.
It’s not a shock in a sense that Rosenqvist was 5th, 10th, 11th in practice. Newgarden was 2nd and 1st in Saturday’s pair of practice sessions.
This was Newgarden’s 5th top 10 finish in as many tries here but ironically enough, none of which have been better than 5th.
Rosenqvist has finished 2nd, 6th, 19th, 3rd now here.
Ganassi Does It Again Clinches Top 2 Points Finish Too
Was this the race that was going to see Penske and Ganassi’s reign on natural road courses come to an end. 11 of the last 12 Portland races were won from the top 3 starters and RLL and Andretti had 2 of the top 3 starters this weekend.
However, it was Ganassi doing it again. This was their 5th straight natural road course and combined with Penske they’ve won all 6 races on these tracks this season. They have also won the last 4 here too.
For podiums, Ganassi has 6, Penske and Andretti each have 3 while DCR and RLL both have 1. Penske and Ganassi swept the podium last year and had 2 of the 3 in the 2 races prior.
At Mid-Ohio, the podium read Ganassi-Ganassi-Penske. In Road America, it was Ganassi-Penske-McLaren. Today, Ganassi-McLaren-Ganassi.
As a result of that too, Palou not only clinched the title, but Dixon clinched 2nd in points too. Palou is 91 points up on Dixon while Dixon is 57 up on Newgarden.
It’s the first time since 2009 that Ganassi went 1-2 in points.
Rookie Of The Year Implications
Marcus Armstrong was well on his way to gaining massively in the Rookie of the Year race. He entered 20 points ahead of Agustin Canapino and had a top 10 run going before his final pit stop. It was then on Lap 80 that his right rear tire fell off when trying to exit his pit stall. That dropped him down to 19th (-1).
Canapino was in 16th and was set to capitalize massively on that. Then, he got off track on Lap 83 and stalled bringing out the second caution. That would drop him down to 26th.
That 3 lap sequence altered the rookie of the year race drastically as it could have been a massive lead for Armstrong leaving here to Canapino potentially closing the gap to it basically being back in Armstrong’s hands heading to next Sunday’s season finale.
Armstrong leads Canapino by 26.
Rough Outing For Andretti
Kyle Kirkwood got off course on the opening lap in Turn 1 and ran through one of those marketing signage boards. A few turns later, Romain Grosjean had nowhere to go but into Callum Ilott’s car on track too. It cost Grosjean 10 laps for repairs and relegated him to a last place finish.
Colton Herta then had a car capable of a podium finish but once again, pit road kept him from it. Herta was speeding on his first pit stop which forced a pass through penalty a lap later. That dropped him from third at the time to a 14th place result in his No. 26 Dallara-Honda. Even when he got back inside the top 10, he spun with 3 laps remaining.
Herta was called down pit road a lap too soon which cost him a win in Road America. A race later in Mid-Ohio, he was speeding once again on pit road.
Devlin DeFrancesco had an uneventful day but was only 17th in the end.
PORTLAND, Ore. (Sunday, Sept. 3, 2003) – Results Sunday of the BITNILE.COM Grand Prix of Portland NTT INDYCAR SERIES event on the 1.964-mile Portland International Raceway, with order of finish, starting position in parentheses, driver, engine, laps completed and reason out (if any):
1. (5) Alex Palou, Honda, 110, Running
2. (11) Felix Rosenqvist, Chevrolet, 110, Running
3. (4) Scott Dixon, Honda, 110, Running
4. (6) Pato O’Ward, Chevrolet, 110, Running
5. (12) Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet, 110, Running
6. (13) Rinus VeeKay, Chevrolet, 110, Running
7. (10) Marcus Ericsson, Honda, 110, Running
8. (23) David Malukas, Honda, 110, Running
9. (2) Scott McLaughlin, Chevrolet, 110, Running
10. (16) Kyle Kirkwood, Honda, 110, Running
11. (17) Christian Lundgaard, Honda, 110, Running
12. (1) Graham Rahal, Honda, 110, Running
13. (3) Colton Herta, Honda, 110, Running
14. (21) Helio Castroneves, Honda, 110, Running
15. (8) Callum Ilott, Chevrolet, 110, Running
16. (22) Santino Ferrucci, Chevrolet, 110, Running
17. (20) Devlin DeFrancesco, Honda, 110, Running
18. (18) Juri Vips, Honda, 109, Running
19. (14) Marcus Armstrong, Honda, 109, Running
20. (9) Alexander Rossi, Chevrolet, 109, Running
21. (25) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Chevrolet, 109, Running
22. (26) Benjamin Pedersen, Chevrolet, 109, Running
23. (24) Sting Ray Robb, Honda, 109, Running
24. (27) Tom Blomqvist, Honda, 109, Running
25. (7) Will Power, Chevrolet, 108, Running
26. (19) Agustin Canapino, Chevrolet, 82, Mechanical
27. (15) Romain Grosjean, Honda, 31, Contact
Race Statistics
Winner’s average speed: 110.758 mph
Time of Race: 01:57:01.9814
Margin of victory: 5.4353 seconds
Cautions: 2 for 6 laps
Lead changes: 9 among 5 drivers
Lap Leaders:
Rahal, Graham 1 – 21
Palou, Alex 22 – 30
Dixon, Scott 31
Malukas, David 32 – 33
Palou, Alex 34 – 47
Dixon, Scott 48 – 59
Palou, Alex 60 – 78
Dixon, Scott 79 – 80
Rosenqvist, Felix 81 – 83
Palou, Alex 84 – 110
NTT INDYCAR SERIES Point Standings:
Palou 618, Dixon 527, Newgarden 470, O’Ward 461, McLaughlin 448, Ericsson 423, Power 393, Lundgaard 362, Rossi 349, Herta 348, Kirkwood 347, Rosenqvist 311, Grosjean 276, Rahal 271, VeeKay 265, Malukas 255, Ilott 236, Ferrucci 201, Castroneves 200, Armstrong 190, DeFrancesco 169, Canapino 164, Jack Harvey 146, Conor Daly 134, Robb 129, Pedersen 115, Hunter-Reay 111, Simon Pagenaud 88, Takuma Sato 70, Ed Carpenter 46, Linus Lundqvist 35, Tony Kanaan 18, Marco Andretti 13, Vips 12, Blomqvist 11, RC Enerson 5, Katherine Legge 5
Race Review Online 