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BITNILE.com Grand Prix of Portland
Portland, Oregon
August 25, 2024

JOSEF NEWGARDEN No. 2 TIRE RACK CHEVROLET

START: 5TH  
FINISH: 3RD  
POINTS: 7TH (-131)
 

RACE RUNDOWN: Josef Newgarden drove his No. 2 Tire Rack Chevrolet from a fifth place starting position to a podium finish in Sunday's BITNILE.com Grand Prix of Portland. After producing the seventh-fastest lap in the Saturday qualifying session, Newgarden moved up to the fifth position before the green flag waved due to grid penalties levied against other competitors. On what is always a chaotic opening lap at Portland International Raceway, Newgarden dropped to seventh as drivers navigated the tricky opening corner. A call to slightly overcut the opening pit cycle gained Newgarden three positions during the sequence on Lap 33 to cycle to the fourth position. Adjustments to the front wing were applied on the first two pit stops of the day to give Newgarden a handling platform needed to push for his second consecutive NTT INDYCAR SERIES victory, but a dearth of yellow flags kept the field spread apart over the second half of the race. After taking the third position, Newgarden could climb no higher before crossing the finish line for his sixth top-five finish of 2024.

NEWGARDEN'S THOUGHTS: "Good day for us, Team Penske. Obviously, a great team win for Will (Power). We could use that after the last weekend we had. It's really great. He's our highest car, so we need to make sure we finish this thing off right. I think the No. 2 car was great today. Finishing third is a great result. You always want more. I want to win every race we're in. It's stinks to not win it, but it was a good result for our team. Having Tire Rack on this weekend was great. They've been a great partner of ours especially with acquisition from Discount Tire. So, it's fun to have them on the INDYCAR program. Team Chevy doing a great job today with two on the podium."

SCOTT MCLAUGHLIN No. 3 FREIGHTLINER CHEVROLET

START: 20TH  
FINISH: 7TH 
POINTS: 4TH (-88)
 

RACE RUNDOWN: Scott McLaughlin and the No. 3 Freightliner Chevrolet team brought one of the strongest cars to Portland International Raceway, but a slight mishap in qualifying - and a subsequent grid penalty - placed them in a deep track-position hole before rallying to finish seventh on Sunday afternoon. The New Zealander led both practice sessions before qualifying but did not leave himself enough of a gap on his flying lap during the first round of time trials, missing out on the second round and given credit for qualifying 14th. Prior to final practice, the decision was made to change the Chevrolet power plant in the No. 3 machine, which triggered a grid penalty of six additional positions. When the green flag flew, McLaughlin immediately began to improve his 20th place starting position and quickly moved into the top 15 within the first 40 laps. With the handling much to his liking, McLaughlin made it into the top 10 following his second pit stop of the day. In a race that featured minimal caution periods, McLaughlin was unable to make up the difference between he and the leaders without the assistance of a yellow flag, but he was named the series' Hard Charger of the Race by improving 13 positions to finish seventh. 

MCLAUGHLIN'S THOUGHTS: "I'm buggered. I'm tired. It was a hard charge but our Freightliner Chevy was good and the Thirsty Three's were rapid on the pit stops. Really proud of the crew. I said to my wife who's watching at home, hello Karly. I said top-seven today would be like a podium. I'm proud of that one and can't wait to get home and then head to the final three races where on ovals we've proven we've been pretty good this year. We'll see how we go." 

WILL POWER No. 12 VERIZON CHEVROLET

START: 2ND 
FINISH: 1ST 
POINTS: 2ND (-54)
 

RACE RUNDOWN: Will Power showed again in Sunday's BITNILE.com Grand Prix of Portland that he going to take this championship fight right down to the wire as he picked up his third victory of 2024. It is the first time he has won three or more races in a season since 2018, and his three points-paying victories lead that statistic this year. Power's 42nd career win with Team Penske came virtue of another dominant run with the 2018 Indianapolis 500 winner leading 101 of 110 laps and taking the checkered flag nearly 10 seconds ahead of Alex Palou. Power nearly notched another NTT P1 Award during Saturday afternoon's qualifying session before rolling off from the outside of the front row. He quickly dispatched of pole winner Santino Ferrucci in the first set of corners and never looked back despite briefly giving up the lead during pit cycles. The victory is the 44th of Power's career, further strengthening the hold he has on fourth place on the all-time wins list. 

POWER'S THOUGHTS: "Just working hard. I'm enjoying the craft. Feel very lucky to be in this series and with this Verizon Chevy team. Days like this are hard to do. So many good drivers, so many good teams. To execute like that feels very good." 

The 15th and 16th rounds of the 2024 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season will take over the course of next weekend's Hy-Vee Race Weekend doubleheader at The Milwaukee Mile