IndyCar Preview: Grand Prix of Portland
- Dan Jones
- 1 day ago
- 9 min read
There has been a well-deserved two weekend break for IndyCar drivers and teams alike since IndyCar's last race at Nashvile Superspeedway, but there's no such opportunity from this point forward as the series hosts six races in five weeks as they close out the 2026 IndyCar season and hand out the Astor Challenge Cup to the championship victor. That roadshow starts in the Pacific Northwest at Portland International Raceway, the host of Race 13 of 18 in the 2026 IndyCar season.
What happened at Nashville?
Outside of the Indianapolis 500, the Music City Grand Prix was the first date circled on everybody's calendar. A lead-in following the 2026 FIFA World Cup Final with an opportunity to bring a huge audience to IndyCar on one of the best stops on the calendar to showcase that product was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, until it went wrong.
A thunderstorm just minutes before the green flag caused significant delay and although FOX and the series did all the could to run the race on Sunday, it was not possible with the race delayed until Monday.
It was a new day of the week to be racing, but it was the same Álex Palou who romped home for his fifth win of 2026, and his first at Nashville Superspeedway, after two fortuitously-timed cautions cycled him to the front where he was able to defend against the triple Penske charge from Josef Newgarden, David Malukas and Scott McLaughlin.
Newgarden was visibly frustrated after missing out on a third oval win of the year, whilst Malukas completed a remarkable comeback after missing qualifying following a crash in practice, where he went from last on the grid to the podium.
FOX Sports averaged 775,000 viewers throughout Monday's race, unsurprisingly being a 32% on last years figure. The pre-race had averaged 2.878 million viewers before the broadcast was ended due to the further. FOX remain 17% up on the average figure achieved in 2025.
You can read the full race report here, the DIVEBOMB IndyCar Podcast's race review here and my gradebook here.
Palou's victory further extended his championship lead to a rather comfortable 83 point gap, as Malukas leapfrogged back past Kyle Kirkwood into second in the standings after Kirkwood was caught out under the final caution. The full top 10 are as follows:
Palou - 457
Malukas - 374
Kirkwood - 370
Lundgaard - 353
O'Ward - 336
Newgarden - 310
Rosenqvist - 296
McLaughlin - 295
Ericsson - 250
VeeKay - 237
All you need to know about Portland
After two off-weekends for the paddock to re-charge their batteries (barring Palou and Alexander Rossi who were on-track at Indianapolis Motor Speedway testing the new IR-28), the frenetic sequence of races to round-out the 2026 season begins at Portland International Raceway, a 1.967 mile (3.166 km) road course nestled in the heartland of Portland, just south of the Colombia river.
The circuit has been hosting IndyCar racing since 1984 and returned to the IndyCar schedule in 2018 after an 11-year hiatus, where it has hosted the series every year since (barring the COVID-affected year of 2020). The circuit is one of the shortest on the calendar, with lap times around the 60-second mark and the layout featuring just 12 corners, four to the left and eight to the right.
The most notable of those corners is the Turn 1-2 chicane, which has been notable over the years for the chaos caused on the opening lap as cars funnel into the tight complex after the particularly wide main straight. However, the carnage has not been as prominent in recent years but with many drivers fighting for their future, it could well be a factor in 2026.
The following Turns of 3, 4, 5 and 6 are all single file, before an opportunistic overtaking spot opens up at Turn 7 as the track opens up on the inside before narrowing on exit. Drivers then fly down the backstretch into the high-speed chicane of Turns 10 and 11 with the right-hander at Turn 12 bringing them back to the main straight and the best overtaking spot on the circuit. It's a circuit which features grass on either side of the circuit (barring the opening chicane) which leads to little margin for error, as shown over the years.
Since it's return to the calendar, Portland has all been about Palou and Will Power, who have won five of the seven races since it's comeback. Power comes in as the double-defending race winner, after holding off Palou in 2024 as the duo fought for a championship and doing the same again in 2025, this time with Christian Lundgaard in the mix. It marked a last Team Penske win for Power on the weekend he told Roger Penske of his intentions to leave the team for 2026 and with the Australian remaining winless since he joined Andretti, this may pose the perfect chance to become a four-time winner, as he aims to add to his 2019, 2024 and 2025 successes.
There's no surprise that Palou and road course success go hand-in-hand, with Palou having won at Portland in 2021 and 2023, the latter being the location where he sealed his second series championship. It goes far beyond the victories for Palou though, with the Spaniard having four podiums in his five Portland trips, with his 12th place in 2022 being the last time he finished outside the top 10 on a road course.
McLaughlin is the only other active Portland winner, having triumphed in 2022 with himself, Power, Palou, Lundgaard, Graham Rahal and Santino Ferrucci being the active polesitters at the circuit. Each year has seen a different polesitter at the circuit, could the streak continue this season?
Sunday's race will take place over 110 laps, with drivers having their usual allocation of 200 seconds of push-to-pass. Five sets of primary tyres and five sets of alternate tyres will be available, with rookies having access to an additional set in opening practice.
Chip Ganassi Racing and Juncos Hollinger Racing have been the only two teams to test at Portland, having done so in the weeks since Nashville.
What to look out for in Portland
The chase for a championship truly starts at Portland as the likes of Malukas and Kirkwood look to hunt down Palou in the standings. That said, it is not a venue where Palou is likely to lose much ground, given his track record at the circuit. Further so when considering that Kirkwood's best Portland finish remains just 10th, with Malukas' being just eighth.
The good news for Malukas is that Penske have been strong at Portland, having taken four of the seven victories since the circuit's return to the calendar, as well as a further two podium finishes. Andretti on the other hand have not cracked the podium at Portland since 2021, and had two cars in the 20s last season. Portland has also been a happy hunting ground for Chip Ganassi Racing, even outside of Palou's success with the team having claimed eight podiums in seven races.
It has been a hit-and-miss venue for Arrow McLaren, where like many other venues, they have failed to have year-on-year consistency. However, last year saw papaya cars qualify 1-2, with Pato O'Ward leading the race on strategy at the time of his mechanical failure whilst Lundgaard made a strong recovery to second after an engine penalty. Both drivers remain in a distant shot of claiming their first championship.
Portland has been known to spring a surprise though, as seen in the previous poles taken by Rahal and Ferrucci, as well as several drivers having taken a surprising top five finish in recent seasons.
Every weekend at this end of the season also holds added significance as several drivers look to confirm their futures as teams look to formalise their line-ups ahead of 2027. With several top seats available, including at Chip Ganassi Racing and their partnered team, Meyer Shank Racing, drivers are running out of time to make an impression to team owners meaning every weekend is critical. For Marcus Ericsson, he heads into the weekend as one of those drivers with that pressure removed after signing a new one-year deal to return to Andretti Global in 2027.
Shifting to the Rookie of the Year battle, an intriguing Nashville result has brought all three rookies within just 25 points with six races to go. As he has done all season, Dennis Hauger continued to lead the trio, marginally extending his lead exiting Nashville to 20 points over Caio Collet. Whilst both his fellow rookies crashed, Mick Schumacher earned a maiden top 10 finish, which pulls him within just five points of Collet. Schumacher's employers in Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing have generally had the advantage on road courses this season but it is worth noting that Hauger and Collet finished 1-2 in last year's Indy NXT race at Portland.
Indy NXT Preview
Whilst Indy NXT's final stretch is not as chaotic as IndyCar's, as they miss the races at Markham and Washington, there are just four races to decide a champion with three contenders still very much in play.
That was the result of a fascinating Nashville weekend, which saw Cape Motorsports' Matteo Nannini victorious for the second time this season as he led home teammate Nikita Johnson for a Cape 1-2. Oval specialist Myles Rowe had to settle for just third ahead of Abel teammate Max Garcia. It was an even better day for Johnson considering the struggles of his title rivals. Enzo Fittipaldi could only manage 11th whilst his teammate Tymek Kucharczyk limped to 18th after sustaining front-wing damage midway through.
The result of that was Johnson re-taking the championship lead from Fittipaldi, with the gap between the season-long title rivals standing at just a singular point. Kucharczyk is not out of play either, but needs a strong weekend given his 25 point gap to Johnson. The full top 10 are as follows (driver denoted with an R are eligble for Rookie of the Year):
Johnson (R) - 451
Fittipaldi (R) - 450
Kucharczyk (R) - 426
Taylor - 361
Hughes - 345
Rowe - 336
de Tullio (R) - 324
Beeton (R) - 299
Nannini - 297
Pierson - 282
With the championship so tight, it makes every weekend crucial for Johnson, Fittipaldi and Kucharczyk. In USF Pro 2000, the step below Indy NXT, Johnson won in three of his four trips to Portland, coming second in the final one of those races. That may be ominous for the HMD Motorsports pair, but given their road course form this season, they will almost certainly be in play. HMD have won four of the eight road course races this season, including both races at Mid-Ohio - the last road course race, where the team finished 1-2-3-4 in Race 1. It provides a tantalising prospect for the penultimate road course round of the year.
However, what may throw yet another spanner into the works is the fact they will likely have somebody who can easily disrupt their pecking order. Following a significant crash at Nashville, the cost of the repair bill has left Jordan Missig unable to complete his season at Abel Motorsports. In steps Jacob Abel, son of team owner Bill Abel and the 2024 series vice-champion to race the No.48 this weekend. Abel won the Indy NXT race at Portland in 2024 and has since spent a season racing in IndyCar as well as in the Indianapolis 500 this year. Abel has spent this season coaching the Abel Indy NXT stable and has a vast amount of experience racing in the series.
Abel is not the only driver change this weekend. As previously announced, Nolan Allaer will return to the No.76 Juncos entry, as he will in Laguna Seca later this season. The entry was absent from the last race in Nashville after Ricardo Escotto left the series to focus on his duties in FIA F3.
A driver change also occurs in HMD's line-up, with Eurocup-3 driver Bart Harrison stepping into the No.17 entry which has been occupied by Salvador de Alba so far this season. De Alba will return for the final oval race in Milwaukee, where he is the defending race winner, before Harrison takes the wheel again at the double-header season finale at Laguna Seca.
Since Indy NXT returned to Portland in 2018 all race winners have reached IndyCar including Hauger, Abel, Louis Foster, Benjamin Pedersen, Kirkwood, Malukas, Toby Sowery, Rinus VeeKay and O'Ward. Hauger, Kirkwood and O'Ward all went on to become Indy NXT champions later that season.
Portland marks the only single-header road course race of the year, where drivers will compete over 35 laps on Sunday, or to a maximum of 55 minutes. Drivers will have 65 seconds of push-to-pass to deploy, and three new sets of tyres. It also marks a home race for Andretti Global's Josh Pierson.
Timings
Indy NXT Practice 1: 13:30 PT (21:30 BST) Friday
IndyCar Practice 1: 14:35 PT (22:35 BST) Friday
Indy NXT Practice 2: 09:00 PT (17:00 BST) Saturday
IndyCar Practice 2: 10:05 PT (18:05 BST) Saturday
Indy NXT Qualifying: 12:00 PT (20:00 BST) Saturday
IndyCar Qualifying: 16:05 PT (00:05 BST Sunday) Saturday
IndyCar Warm-up: 10:05 PT (18:05 BST) Sunday
Indy NXT Race: 11:01 PT (19:01 BST) Sunday
Grand Prix of Portland: 13:27 PT (21:27 BST) Sunday
Can Palou edge one step closer to a fifth series championship? Can Malukas or Kirkwood stay in championship touch? Will we get another surprise Portland result? Can Power make it a Portland three-peat? Will drivers get desperate as they try to secure their futures?
The wild five-week IndyCar stretch begins and throughout DIVEBOMB will bring you all the news and updates throughout the weekend as well as post-race analysis. The chase for a championship begins.
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