Palou turns strategy into victory in Portland

Credit: Joe Skibinski

Álex Palou continued his dominant 2026 NTT IndyCar Series campaign with victory at the Grand Prix of Portland, overtaking polesitter Felix Rosenqvist through strategy to secure his sixth win of the season.

Portland marked the first weekend of an important triple header as the championship entered another demanding stretch. Palou arrived with a comfortable points advantage and left with an even larger one, extending his championship lead to 110 points after another great performance.

How it happened

Rosenqvist lined up on pole alongside Palou, with Power starting third after another strong qualifying performance. Further down the order, Josef Newgarden faced a more difficult afternoon after qualifying 15th on Saturday, though he moved up one position on the starting grid to 14th and topped the morning warm-up.

The opening lap has always been one of the biggest challenges of this circuit. Portland has regularly produced incidents at the start, with a first-lap caution appearing in six of the previous seven races at the circuit, making a clean run through the opening corners particularly important.

For once, the field made it through without an immediate caution. Rosenqvist maintained the lead from Palou, while Marcus Ericsson made an early move past Power to take third. Christian Lundgaard was another major mover, gaining six positions on the opening lap to climb to 19th after starting from the back of the grid.

Kirkwood provided the first big moment on lap two when he made slight contact with the wall, though the Andretti Global driver escaped without damage and continued. One lap later, Ericsson continued his aggressive start, braking late to pass Palou and move into second behind Rosenqvist.

The first caution arrived on lap seven when Graham Rahal made contact with the barriers at Turn One. Rahal managed to continue but dropped to 24th after starting eighth, bringing out the first full-course yellow and opening an early opportunity for drivers further down the field to change strategy.

Newgarden was the first driver to take advantage, coming into the pits on lap eight before several other drivers towards the back followed. The early stop moved Newgarden away from the leaders' strategy and set up an afternoon built around pit strategy.

Racing resumed on lap 10, with Lundgaard continuing his recovery through the field. The Arrow McLaren driver had climbed to 13th by that point after starting last.

As the first stint settled down, Rosenqvist remained in control at the front while the pit cycle slowly began behind him. Louis Foster and Pato O’Ward made their first stops on lap 20, beginning the sequence among those who had stayed out through the early caution.

Ericsson stopped on lap 24, with teammate Kirkwood following him into the pits. Andretti delivered two clean stops, with Ericsson at 6.7 seconds and Kirkwood at 7.1 as both attempted to maintain their positions through the opening cycle.

Ericsson’s strong opening stint suffered a setback on lap 31 when he went off into the run-off area. He kept the car running and returned to the circuit, avoiding another caution but losing valuable time.

Credit: Chris Owens

Rosenqvist and Power both stopped on lap 31, emerging fourth and sixth respectively as the order continued to shuffle. Palou stayed out for another lap, giving himself a chance to use clear air and extend the stint before making his first stop.

Palou pitted one lap later as the final frontrunner to stop and completed the overcut on Rosenqvist, emerging in third ahead of the Meyer Shank Racing driver once the strategies began to settle.

Marcus Armstrong became the first retirement of the race on lap 33 after suffering an engine failure. The mechanical problem continued a difficult run for Armstrong, who has now suffered mechanical failures in three of the previous four races.

With the first pit cycle complete, Palou began to establish himself at the front. Newgarden made his second stop on lap 38 and returned to the circuit in 11th, while the Chip Ganassi Racing driver continued building pace at the front of the field.

Palou began taking time out of Rosenqvist, finding around three tenths of a second per lap during parts of the stint. His lap times remained below the 61-second mark as he stretched his advantage, only moving back above 61 seconds on lap 52 as the second pit window approached.

Palou became the first of the frontrunners to make his second stop on lap 56, returning to the circuit in sixth. The early stop placed pressure on Rosenqvist to respond while giving Palou fresh tyres and an opportunity to gain time.

Rosenqvist waited until lap 59 before making his second stop. He returned in fifth, one position behind Palou, who had already climbed to fourth as the rest of the field continued through the cycle.

Power and Kyffin Simpson completed their stops on lap 60. Power returned in fourth behind Rosenqvist, while a slower stop dropped Simpson to tenth as the second pit cycle came to an end.

Newgarden returned to pit lane for a third time on lap 67, rejoining in eighth and handing the lead back to Palou. One lap later, Lundgaard and Simpson made contact at Turn 4 while fighting for position, though both continued without significant damage after a close battle.

While battles developed throughout the midfield, Rosenqvist began applying pressure at the front. The Swede found strong pace on the softer tyre and started eating into what had previously been a comfortable advantage for Palou.

By lap 72, Rosenqvist had reduced a gap of more than seven seconds to only 2.5 seconds. His pace on the softer compound brought the fight for victory back to life as the final pit cycle approached.

Kirkwood became the first frontrunner to make his third stop on lap 78, returning to the circuit in 15th before beginning his recovery through the field. Rosenqvist stayed out until lap 81 before making his final stop and rejoining in eighth.

Palou responded one lap later. His stop returned him to the track in fifth, directly ahead of Rosenqvist in sixth, denying Rosenqvist an undercut.

That sequence placed the advantage back with Palou. Rosenqvist remained close enough to apply pressure, but overtaking the championship leader on track presented a different challenge.

Power extended his final stint longer than the leading pair, remaining out until lap 87 before making his last stop. He returned in third but lost much of the gap he had previously gained on Palou, leaving him with work to do during the closing stages.

Power was running the softer tyre while both Palou and Rosenqvist were on the harder compound, giving him greater outright speed as the race entered its final phase.

By lap 93, Power had reduced Rosenqvist’s advantage to 1.8 seconds while setting some of the fastest laps on track. His pace quickly transformed the fight for second into the main battle during the closing stages.

Credit: Chris Owens

Power eventually closed to within half a second of Rosenqvist, placing himself within striking distance. Rosenqvist held the gap under pressure, though, and Power eventually dropped back to more than two seconds behind as his challenge began to fade.

Further back, Lundgaard continued one of the strongest recovery drives of the afternoon. After starting from the rear of the field and gaining six positions on the opening lap, he passed Simpson for ninth on lap 108 to secure another place before the finish.

With Power unable to maintain his attack on Rosenqvist, the leading positions settled during the final laps. Palou managed his advantage at the front and crossed the line 4.1 seconds clear to secure another victory.

The win marked Palou’s sixth of the 2026 season and strengthened his lead in the championship. His advantage now stands at 110 points over Kirkwood with five races remaining.

Rosenqvist finished second after starting from pole and leading the opening stages, securing another strong result for Meyer Shank Racing. Power completed the podium after his late charge on the soft tyre fell short of overtaking the Swede.

VeeKay finished fourth after an impressive weekend, while Kirkwood completed the top five. Ericsson crossed the line sixth after his early charge and later trip through the run-off area.

Scott McLaughlin finished seventh ahead of Newgarden, who recovered from 14th on the grid through an alternate strategy to take eighth. Lundgaard completed a remarkable drive from the back of the field to finish ninth, while Simpson rounded out the top ten.