IndyCar Preview: Grand Prix of Portland
- Dan Jones
- Aug 8
- 7 min read
Updated: Aug 9
Who's ready to crown a champion?
After 14 races in 2025, Álex Palou finds himself on the cusp of a fourth championship in five years with the Grand Prix of Portland being his first title-sealing opportunity. With the title in play, in addition to plenty of other storylines in the field, it could be a thrilling last road course rodeo in 2025. It's time to head to the Pacific North-West to Portland International Raceway, which hosts Round 15 of 17 in the 2025 IndyCar season.
What happened at Laguna Seca?
As has been the storyline for the entirety of 2025 - the weekend's action at Laguna Seca were all about one man.
Palou took his eighth victory of the season in just 14 races, including his fifth on a road course in just six races. The Spaniard took a dominant pole ahead of his closest championship challenger Pato O'Ward but made sure there would be no challenge on Sunday. Palou dominated proceedings despite being pegged back by multiple yellows and felt untouchable on his way to his third victory at Laguna Seca.
Christian Lundgaard claimed his fifth podium of the season after an excellent mid-race move on Colton Herta, with the American having to settle for third. O'Ward finished fourth - effectively ending any small glimmer of hope that he had of winning a maiden IndyCar championship.
The race would be a controversial affair, with the series' deliberately delaying the timing of cautions in order to benefit the leaders who had not stopped. This was of huge benefit to Palou and Herta but much to the disadvantage of O'Ward. Race control came under more fire when they took several minutes to display the yellow flag after Marcus Ericson spun exiting Turn 6.
FOX averaged 734,000 viewers for the race despite a clash with NASCAR's Brickyard 400 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
You can read the full race report here, the DIVEBOMB IndyCar Podcast's race review here and my gradebook here.
Palou's victory has opened up his points lead further to 121, which puts him on the verge of claiming a fourth championship this weekend - we will run over the permutations shortly. O'Ward now holds a comfortable 77 point gap to third in the standings, whilst the battle is certainly on for third in points between Scott Dixon, Kyle Kirkwood and Lundgaard. Top 10 are as follows:
Palou - 590
O'Ward - 469
Dixon - 392
Kirkwood - 377
Lundgaard - 357
Rosenqvist - 315
Herta - 313
Armstrong - 307
Power - 289
Malukas - 276
All you need to know about Portland
It may be short, but that's no reason to underestimate the challenge of Portland International Raceway for the 27 drivers this weekend in the final road/street course race of 2025 around the 1.967 mile (3.166 km) circuit.
The pit straight is particularly wide, but narrows dramatically into a tight chicane which has been the scene of numerous opening lap accidents since the circuit returned to the schedule in 2018. It has been significantly cleaner in recent seasons though, but is always a danger zone for any driver in the field.
The Turns 4-7 complex are a complex of tricky medium-speed corners all very long and deceiving in nature, with it very easy to drop a loose wheel. Drivers than have an excellent overtaking opportunity down into the high-speed chicane at Turn 10, although an extreme amount of bravery may be required!
Turn 10 is a high-speed left-hander as drivers decelerate through the second part of the chicane at Turn 11 and the tighter left-hander at Turn 12 to bring them back down the main straight - the best overtaking opportunity on the circuit.
Will Power is the defending winner at Portland after overtaking surprise polesitter Santino Ferrucci into Turn 1 before leading 101 laps on his quest to keep his title hopes alive against Palou last season. It added to Power's success at Portland that he had in 2019.
As is the case at so many circuits on the schedule though, Portland has been 'the Palou show.' The Spaniard clinched his second championship with a dominant victory drive in 2023 - his second win at the circuit after a hectic race in 2021. Palou finished second to Power last season too and could well have won every road course race this season if not for a rare error at Mid-Ohio.
Scott McLaughlin is the other active race winner at the circuit after he dominated events in 2022, leading 104 laps. McLaughlin remains winless this season and Portland represents one of three chances left for the New Zealander.
Drivers will compete on Sunday's race over 110 laps totalling a race distance of 216.04 miles (347.68 km). Push-to-pass will be available for 200 seconds with a maximum deployment of 20 seconds per activation. Five sets of the primary tyre and five sets of the alternate tyre will be available throughout the weekend.
How can Palou win the championship?
Palou holds a gap of 121 points to O'Ward and will seal the championship if he holds a gap of 108 points or more leaving Portland.
O'Ward will need to outscore Palou by 14 points to keep his hopes of a championship alive. Due to the endless permutations created through bonus points, we'll exclude them for the sake of simplicity but it is worth remembering bonus points can be achieved in the following ways:
Most laps led - 2 points
Lead a lap - 1 point
Pole position - 1 point
If O'Ward finishes first, Palou must finish second to win the championship
If O'Ward finishes second, Palou must finish sixth or better to win the championship
If O'Ward finishes third, Palou must finish ninth or better to win the championship
If O'Ward finishes fourth, Palou must finish 11th or better to win the championship
If O'Ward finishes fifth, Palou must finish 13th or better to win the championship
If O'Ward finishes sixth, Palou must finish 15th or better to win the championship
If O'Ward finishes seventh, Palou must finish 17th or better to win the championship
If O'Ward finishes eighth, Palou must finish 19th or better to win the championship
If O'Ward finishes ninth, Palou must finish 21st or better to win the championship
If O'Ward finishes 10th, Palou must finish 23rd or better to win the championship
If O'Ward finishes 11th, Palou must finish 24th or better to win the championship
If O'Ward finishes 12th, Palou needs to start the race to win the championship
You'll be updated throughout the weekend - particularly after a series of potential combinations can be eliminated after the pole position point is awarded on Saturday.
What to look out for in Portland
Palou sealing a fourth championship in five seasons is the main talking point heading into the weekend with it being a very real possibility that the title is sealed this weekend.
Palou has only finishes lower than second at Portland once whilst O'Ward has never step foot on the podium at the circuit. A reminder that if Palou beats O'Ward on track, the title is his. It will be an uphill challenge for the Arrow McLaren driver to keep himself in title contention, but neither Palou or O'Ward believe it is over until the maths say so.
Team Penske are now on a 15 race winless streak, their longest since their disastrous 1999 season. It has been an awful season for 'the Captain,' with his outfit at serious risk of going winless for the first time since that 1999 season. However, they have won two of the last three races with two different drivers.
Power has the best record within the team at Portland, with two victories and a further second-place finish. His future at the team remains undecided at this point in time despite being the lead Penske car in the championship.
Newgarden has not gone winless in a season since 2014 - which includes his entire stint at Penske. He did find the podium at Portland last season though and desperately wants a result after a particularly frustrating season.
Watch out for the battle for third in points between Dixon, Kirkwood and Lundgaard. The good news for Dixon is that Chip Ganassi Racing have a much stronger record than both Andretti Global and McLaren at Portland, but the trio remain separated by 35 points with three rounds to go. Lundgaard will need a strong weekend due to his perceived inferiority against Kirkwood and Dixon on the two ovals to close out the season at Milwaukee and Nashville.
Ferrucci stole the headlines at Portland last season with a stunning pole position and will be looking to replicate that form again. After a strong mid-season surge, AJ Foyt Racing have struggled in recent rounds but aim to stun as they did last season. Watch out for David Malukas sponsored by Gallagher Insurance this weekend - who have sponsored McLaughlin multiple times this season.
Arrow McLaren had an awful outing at Portland last season, with their best car finishing in 12th. They (and predecessors Schmidt Peterson Motorsports) have just one podium at the venue since its return to the schedule with Felix Rosenqvist on the rostrum in 2023. However, Lundgaard as turned the teams fortunes around on road courses this season and has five podiums on road/street course events. O'Ward also remains the only Chevrolet winner of 2025.
It is worth looking out for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing at Portland too. Graham Rahal has reached the Fast Six in each of the last two seasons, including taking a surprise pole position in 2023. Louis Foster has also reached the Fast 12 in each road course race this season in his rookie year.
He is now four points ahead of Robert Shwartzman in the tense Rookie of the Year battle, with both drivers vying for the prestigious award. Foster is expected to have the edge at Portland, but the Briton remains without a top 10 finish this season.
Timings
Practice 1: 14:35 PT (22:35 BST) Friday
Practice 2: 09:10 PT (17:10 BST) Saturday
Qualifying: 11:35 PT (19:35 BST) Saturday
Warm-up: 16:32 PT (00:32 BST Sunday) Saturday
Race: 12:22 PT (20:22 BST) Sunday
Can a championship be clinched this weekend? Can Penske finally be victorious in 2025? Will we see another pole-sitter surprise? Will we see more Turn 1 chaos? DIVEBOMB will bring you all the news and updates throughout the weekend as well as post-race analysis - but will that include a championship crowning once again?
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