PORTLAND, Ore. (Sunday, Aug. 25, 2024) – Will Power and Team Penske made their point Sunday by winning the BITNILE.COM Grand Prix of Portland: The race for the Astor Challenge Cup is far from over.
Power earned his series-leading third victory of the 2024 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season in the No. 12 Verizon Business Team Penske Chevrolet and gained ground on championship leader Alex Palou with three races remaining. He drove to a 9.8267-second victory over the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda of Palou on the 12-turn, 1.964-mile road course at Portland International Raceway.
Two-time series champion Power, who started second, earned the 44th win of his Hall of Fame career on the heels of disappointing consecutive finishes of 12th in July at Toronto and 18th last weekend at World Wide Technology Raceway.
“Very rewarding,” Power said. “I came here determined, so did the whole team. We wanted to get qualifying right and then execute in the race. It’s not a last-ditch effort, but really if Palou finished ahead of us today, it was going to be very difficult.
“We’re going to keep fighting ahead here. A couple of bad races before this, but let’s see if we can get a championship.”
Josef Newgarden completed the podium by finishing third in the No. 2 TireRack.com Team Penske Chevrolet, with Colton Herta fourth in the No. 26 Gainbridge Honda of Andretti Global with Curb-Agajanian. Marcus Armstrong rounded out the top five in the No. 11 American Legion Chip Ganassi Racing Honda.
Two-time and defending series champion Palou leads Power by 54 points – the maximum number a driver can earn in one race. Herta slipped from second to third, 67 points behind Palou, after finishing fourth in the No. 26 Gainbridge Honda of Andretti Global with Curb-Agajanian.
The three remaining races are all on ovals – the Hy-Vee Milwaukee Mile 250s doubleheader Aug. 31-Sept. 1 at the Milwaukee Mile and the Big Machine Music City Grand Prix on Sept. 15 at Nashville Superspeedway. The INDYCAR SERIES hasn’t raced at the Milwaukee Mile since 2015 or Nashville Superspeedway since 2008.
Power has 10 career victories on ovals, including in 2014 at Milwaukee and last month at Iowa Speedway; Palou has none among his 11 career wins.
“We’ve been very, very good on ovals – very solid,” Power said. “Obviously, they’re two ovals that we haven’t raced at in a long time, so it’s anyone’s game. I hope we get it right. We’ll do our best and take the fight to Alex.”
Power wasted no time taking the fight to Palou at the drop of the green flag. He passed NTT P1 Award winner Santino Ferrucci entering Turn 1 on the first lap and was out front and in control for the rest of the 110-lap race except for pit stops. Power led a race-high 101 laps.
Palou passed Ferrucci for second on Lap 8 and, like Power, stayed in that spot for most of the remainder of the race except for pit stops. Ferrucci, who earned AJ Foyt Racing’s emotional first pole since 2014, finished eighth in the No. 14 Phoenix Investors Chevrolet.
Two-time and defending series champion Palou’s best chance to pass Power came on Lap 26 when Pietro Fittipaldi exited the pits in the No. 30 Localiza Rent a Car Honda of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing directly in front of Power after serving a drive-through penalty. That slowed Power and allowed Palou to pull right up to Power’s gearbox in Turn 7, but Power parried the move and kept the lead.
Quick work by the Team Penske pit crew on Power’s first stop all but sealed the win, especially since there were no caution periods after a first-lap fracas involving Kyle Kirkwood, Scott Dixon and Fittipaldi. Power’s first stop, at the end of Lap 32, lasted 6.9 seconds. Palou made his first stop one lap later, but it took 9.2 seconds.
From there, Palou slipped back as varying tire strategies unfolded over the final two pit stops. Power started on the Firestone Firehawk primary tires and was able to use the quicker Firestone alternate red-sidewall tires in all three pit stops. Palou aggressively used a set of alternate tires in NTT P1 Award qualifying Saturday and was forced to the less-grippy primary tires for his final stint, ensuring Power’s cruise to victory.
“Maybe we were a bit wrong with the strategy there,” Palou said. “Went too aggressive in qualifying yesterday and really didn’t have any good used alternates. It was tough work there on primaries having to catch Will, but the 12 deserved it today. They were very, very fast. Happy with the P2 today.”
The top eight drivers in the standings are still mathematically eligible to win the Astor Challenge Cup as season champion, but it’s looking more and more like a three-driver race for the title between Palou, Power and Herta.
The drive for a seventh title by Dixon probably was derailed when he crashed the No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda into the guardrail on Lap 1 after contact from Fittipaldi. Dixon was forced into the dirt earlier in the lap amid tight traffic by the No. 27 AutoNation Honda of Andretti Global’s Kirkwood, and Dixon was hip-checked by Fittipaldi’s car shortly after returning to the racing surface.
Dixon finished last in the 28-car field – his lowest finish since being taken out in a crash and placing 32nd in the 2017 Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge. He is fifth in points, 101 behind Palou.
The first race of the Hy-Vee Milwaukee Mile 250s doubleheader is at 6 p.m. ET Saturday, Aug. 31, with live coverage on Peacock and the INDYCAR Radio Network. The second race is at 2:30 p.m. ET Sunday, Sept. 1, with USA Network, Peacock and the INDYCAR Radio Network providing live coverage.
