CHEVROLET IN NTT INDYCAR SERIES
BITNILE.COM GRAND PRIX OF PORTLAND
PORTLAND INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY
PORTLAND, OREGON
TEAM CHEVY PRACTICE ONE
AUGUST 23, 2024
SCOTT MCLAUGHLIN LEADS FIELD IN DIVIDED PRACTICE ONE AT PORTLAND INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY
- Scott McLaughlin, No. 3 Freightliner Team Penske Chevrolet, turned the fastest time in a three-session practice period at Portland International Raceway
- On his final circuit of session one, McLaughlin lapped the 1.964-mile/12-turn road course in 58.3669 seconds/121.137 mph
- With 28 cars ready to compete in Sunday’s 110-lap/216-mile race, the officials of the NTT INDYCAR Series divided Friday’s practice into three sessions to give teams and drivers the opportunity to run in race conditions, but also a shorter half-field session to work on qualifying setup with the coveted red tires (softer of the tire choices)
- The first was a 45-minute full-field session followed by two 10-minute half-field sessions with rookies allowed to participate in all three
- A total of five Team Chevy drivers posted times in the top-10 of the final order
- The schedule on Saturday will commence with a 9:00 AM PT Practice Two followed by Firestone Fast Six Qualifying at 12:30 PM PT and final 30-minute practice at 5:15 PM PT. All practice and qualifying sessions broadcast with Peacock, INDYCAR Radio, and SiriusXM Channel 218. Sunday’s race will be live of USA and Peacock starting at noon PT, 3:00 PM ET.
TEAM CHEVY TOP-10 PRACTICE RESULT:
Pos. Driver
1st Scott McLaughlin (58.3669)
4th Alexander Rossi (58.6705)
6th Will Power (58.7289)
9th Pato O’Ward (58.82.69)
10th Santino Ferrucci (58.8234)
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING (QUOTES)
Scott McLaughlin, No. 3 Team Penske Chevrolet:
On Practice:
“Just going through the process. There’s a couple of things we tried on the engine front, a couple of things on the chassis front. So we talked the chassis with the engineer, and the engineer out the back. So far the Freightliner Chevy feels good. It’s Freightliner’s home ground so you always want to go fast here and we have the last few years. Starting off strong.”
About Turns 1, 2, 3 and this course in general, there’s a lot of give and take. How far do you know how to push it?
“I only hit it as good as my last lap. My best time was my last lap through there. It takes time to build up how you use the curbs, the way you hit the curbs, it’s not just going in as deep as you can, it’s how you use them and where you put your car. Obviously, you’ve got to think of the long exit and the straight up to turn four. There’s a lot to think about. That’s why I love this track because you have to set up for tight hairpins, big braking stops, and you’ve got some super quick corners, some of the quickest we go to on the circuit. Really fun and tricky for all of us.”
You’ve already worn the sides of your shoes off. Explain how tight it is in the car. You’re really kind of wedging yourself in there, your feet. How much room do you have in the cockpit of an NTT INDYCAR SERIES Indy car?
“I’m a little different than some guys. I run cups underneath my pedals. It holds my ankles in place. Someone like Josef (Newgarden), he doesn’t run those and his shoes are pristine when he gets out of the car. Mine are torched because you’re going through four or five G’s and then your ankles are going to and fro. Everything in there is built for me. No one can fit in there as good as I can. But that’s what you want and that’s how you drive fast.”
Romain Grojean, No. 77 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet
On Practice
“Not an easy session for us today. A lot to learn. Still figuring out the hybrid system. I think we have some easy things to do for tomorrow. The car ran well, just the balance wasn’t quite there yet. We aren’t too far off. So hopefully we make a step forward tomorrow and it should be a good weekend.”
Conor Daly, No. 78 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet
“Today didn’t really start for us. We had a fuel pressure issue. But tomorrow looks great, so we will definitely get started tomorrow. It’s tough being on the back foot because I need all the laps I can get. It hurts us, but we are going to be great tomorrow.”
Pato O’Ward, No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet
“We started the day on the back foot. Rolling off the truck, we were just not in the window in terms of what we needed the car to be doing. We made a lot of changes throughout the session, which improved things quite a bit and we definitely ended in a way better spot than where we started the session. All things considered, I think it was a productive and positive day.”
Nolan Siegel, No. 6 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet
“It was a strong start to the Portland race weekend. There is a bit of learning to do with this being my first NTT INDYCAR SERIES race weekend at the track, but things went quite well. The No. 6 SmartStop Arrow McLaren Chevrolet rolled off as good as it has on a road course that I have been at this year, so overall I think we’re in a good spot. If I can clean a few things up in Practice 2 and put together a decent lap in qualifying, then we can certainly fight for the top-12 and hopefully the Firestone Fast 6.”
Alexander Rossi, No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet
“It was a good start to the weekend. The No. 7 VELO Arrow McLaren Chevrolet is in the window, and everything felt comfortable and easy. We’ll just need to keep that going with the track progression overnight, and work on a strong qualifying tomorrow.”
NTT INDYCAR SERIES News Conference
Friday, August 23, 2024
Pato O’Ward
Press Conference Transcript
PATO O’WARD: — we basically got to where we needed at least in terms of where our teammate was. There’s still some work to do, but I think we’ve definitely cut it down at least a 50% gap to what we started the session with.
THE MODERATOR: We’ll start with questions.
Q. Sporadic weather here today.
PATO O’WARD: Yeah. That was unexpected. I kept seeing it on the radar, hoping we would get our group two run in, which we did. Perfect timing.
Q. It may not hold up tomorrow.
PATO O’WARD: Tomorrow similar to this?
Q. It’s possible.
PATO O’WARD: I mean, I guess we’re in a position where if it rains, it rains. If it doesn’t rain, well, it doesn’t rain. I don’t really care. I’ll enjoy it whatever it is.
Q. What are you looking for here that might be different? Is it getting off of corners? What are you trying to do to make time here?
PATO O’WARD: Was just plowing like a pig. It was important to just get a decent amount of rotation in the car for me today.
Q. Pato, we’ve seen this split practice format kind of trialed over street courses this year. Obviously now in Portland as well. What is your take on this idea from INDYCAR? Is it something you’d like to continue with next year in the practice sessions?
PATO O’WARD: Yeah, I think it’s fantastic, this idea of two groups in practice one. Obviously the first part of it is all together, but it’s good to have a chance with the reds, at least get a few laps together where you know that you’ll get the track distance or track respect that you would want.
The reality is 27 cars just don’t fit around a 58-second lap. Everybody wants a two- or three-second gap. The math just doesn’t do it. The grid is way too big for the track lengths we race at during the calendar.
This is a necessity I would say for 80% of the tracks. Obviously at Road America we don’t need it. But in places like this, all the street courses, it’s 100% must.
Q. Do you still have any remaining thoughts of the championship in these closing few rounds or a priority to get some race wins?
PATO O’WARD: I would love to get back on the podium and win before the end of the season. It would be I feel like a very strong close.
In terms of championship, if we’re scoring that in the next four races, I think we’ll be looking good. Obviously probably out of reach for first. The mishap in Toronto and then in Gateway, that just kind of put us out of the fight, if we want to be realistic.
It definitely is a possibility to fight at the front and win races and be on the podium. That’s what we want to push for ’cause I really don’t care if I’m fourth, sixth, seventh, eighth in the championship. For me it makes no difference. We want to be in the top three. If we can’t do that, we’ll do our best to position ourselves to win the race.
Q. Five races into the hybrid integration, are you where it’s second nature and you are adapted to it?
PATO O’WARD: I would say even in Mid-Ohio, it’s a simple system. You can push to past. Instead of using the boost from the engine, it’s using it from the battery pack.
I would say it hasn’t been a massive change in terms of what we need to do in the car. Obviously there’s more times we need to click this button.
I think it’s been more of a factor for the racing. I think the racing has taken a big step down just looking in Mid-Ohio, Toronto. People don’t need to use their push to pass anymore to defend sometimes. That’s ultimately just opened doors to less fights on track. At least that’s what I feel.
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