Oilpressure

I will admit that until a couple of weeks ago, I thought the Bitnile.com Grand Prix of Portland was later. I am used to it being the next of the last race of the season, and I thought it was sandwiched in between Milwaukee and Nashville. I was listening to Trackside and Curt Cavin said something about Portland immediately after Gateway. I chuckled because I was certain he was wrong. When nothing else was said about it, I checked the schedule and realized who was wrong – me.

So to my surprise the last non-oval of the season takes place this weekend, while we will still have three oval races to determine the championship after this weekend. But first things first.

Portland is one of those races I have generally enjoyed watching on television, but I never had any real desire to go there. It’s way too far from Nashville, and I may be wrong – but it never appeared to be a great track to watch a race from. Aside from the main stands across from the pits and another small set of stands in front of the Shelton Chicane (Turns One, Two & Three); there doesn’t appear to be any viewing areas along the sweeping backstretch.

But I always enjoy this race on television. The twelve-turn, 1.964-mile natural terrain road course is scenic and has provided more than its share of exciting races. Mario Andretti’s Father’s day win over son Michael in 1986 comes to mind, as does the three-way battle in 1997, when Mark Blundell edged out Gil de Ferran and Raul Boesel at the line.

In past years, this race was run during the Portland Rose Festival – normally over Father’s Day Weekend. I didn’t know it at the time, but that is the rainy season. Looking back, that might explain why many of those races were run in downpours (1995 comes to mind). Races in the wet are always good for a few surprises. Since IndyCar returned in 2018 – this race has been run in September, which is certainly not the rainy season.

I’ll never forget the site of the opening lap in 2018, as the field tried to make it through the chicane. Marco Andretti ended up upside down as several cars sat there helpless. The dry conditions of September produced a giant cloud of brown dust that engulfed the entire chicane area. When the clouds cleared, championship contender Scott Dixon had somehow kept his engine running, and he was able to pick his way through the disabled cars. Most figured Dixon had suffered a blow to his championship hopes. He finished fifth that day, and went on to win the championship two weeks later at Sonoma.

That sounds eerily like Alex Palou’s weekend at Gateway last week. Palou was issued a 9-spot grid penalty for an unapproved engine change, and started sixteenth. He was surrounded by chaos most of the night, yet somehow ended up finishing fourth and actually extended his lead in the championship to fifty-nine points. Was that skill or luck? Probably both. The same could have been said for Dixon in 2018.

Aside from Palou actually increasing his lead last week, the other legitimate title contenders all had a rough weekend last week at Gateway – except for Colton Herta. Herta crashed on his qualifying lap, and started twenty-fifth. But he quickly fought his way toward the front and salvaged a fifth place finish. When Herta left Gateway, he had vaulted up to second in the championship – fifty-nine points behind Palou.

By finishing second at Gateway, Scott McLaughlin has inserted himself into the championship discussion. Herta, Dixon, Will Power and McLaughlin are all within fourteen points of each other. Any of them are in play for second place.

Palou is actually under pressure this weekend, because being a road course – he is expected to win and build up a big cushion, before hitting three ovals in a row to close out the season. Palou has won two of the last three races in Portland, including last year. But guess who won the one he didn’t win – Scott McLaughlin, who is lurking seventy-three points behind. If Palou has a rough weekend at Portland and McLaughlin wins – all bets are off going into the last three races. Don’t forget who won Portland in 2019 – Will Power, who is only sixty-six points behind.

I’m not saying that Palou is in trouble, because he’s not. He has a comfortable lead heading into the weekend. But if he falters and a contender wins, he will probably feel a little discomfort heading into Milwaukee – a track he has never raced on. Needless to say, there is a lot of intrigue going into this weekend. The fact it is on a road course that can have surprises makes it even more so.

The weekend kicks off with Practice One at 5:55 pm EDT on Peacock. Practice Two gets underway on Saturday at Noon EDT. Qualifying will be shown live on Peacock beginning at 3:30 pm EDT. The final practice will actually take place on Saturday evening at 8:15 EDT, and not Sunday morning. Sunday’s race broadcast begins at 3:00 pm EDT on USA Network (not Big NBC).

Who will win this weekend? I am halfway going with my heart on this one. Alex Palou has been too lucky this season. Things just always seem to work out for him. A lot of that is sheer skill, but some of it is pure dumb luck. If he doesn’t win the pole or at least start on the front row, I have a gut feeling that he is going to get caught up in a first-lap mishap in the chicane, and he will be an early out. It will be his teammate, Scott Dixon to finally win a race on a circuit he has never won on before. Scott Dixon will win Sunday’s Bitnile.com Grand Prix of Portland and will tighten up the championship battle. We’ll see.

George Phillips

This entry was posted on August 23, 2024 at 4:04 am and is filed under IndyCar. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.