PORTLAND, Ore. (Friday, Aug. 23, 2024) – Scott McLaughlin continued his strong recent form by leading practice Friday for the BITNILE.COM Grand Prix of Portland at Portland International Raceway, but there still was one problem.
So did Alex Palou.
McLaughlin led with a top lap of 58.3669 seconds in the No. 3 Freightliner Team Penske Chevrolet in the 75-minute practice that featured an open session and then two groups. Palou was second at 58.4337 in the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda on the 12-turn, 1.964-mile circuit that hosts the last road course event of this season.
2021 series Rookie of the Year McLaughlin is fifth in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES standings with four races remaining, 73 points behind series leader and two-time champion Palou. McLaughlin has five top-three finishes in the last seven races, including a victory July 13 at Iowa Speedway.
But that hasn’t put much of a dent into two-time Portland winner Palou, who has six top-four finishes in his last seven starts, including a win June 23 at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.
“Portland, it’s not an easy place to put together a full lap,” 2022 Portland winner McLaughlin said. “These corners take precision, and that is something that takes a few laps to work up to because there are slow corners but also some of the quickest corners we see all year long. It’s super important to think about how each corner sets up for the next section.
“It’s a fun challenge, and it’s a place we’ve had some success on already in my career. I think most people would assume that we have the last three races on ovals circled as places to capitalize on, but we are confident here at Portland, as well.”
Up next is practice at noon ET Saturday, followed by NTT P1 Award qualifying at 3:30 p.m. ET and final practice at 8:15 p.m. ET, all broadcast live by Peacock and the INDYCAR Radio Network. Live coverage of the 110-lap race starts at 3 p.m. ET Sunday on USA Network, Peacock and the INDYCAR Radio Network.
Marcus Armstrong also was impressive in the session, ending up third at 58.6095 in the No. 11 American Legion Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. Alexander Rossi was fourth overall at 58.6705 in the No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet, the top time in the all-cars portion that started the practice.
Six-time series champion Scott Dixon rounded out the top five at 58.7043 in the No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, as the Ganassi team put three drivers in the top five.
Colton Herta, Palou’s closest pursuer at 59 points behind, was eighth at 58.7565 in the No. 26 Gainbridge Honda fielded by Andretti Global with Curb-Agajanian.
The top six drivers in points – Palou, Herta, Dixon, Will Power, McLaughlin and Pato O’Ward, respectively – all ended up in the top nine overall on the time sheets Friday.
