Hot News IndyCar Main Categories

IndyCar: Palou Storms to GP of Portland Pole

Brian Carroccio

Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou edged Alexander Rossi for pole position in tomorrow’s Grand Prix of Portland. The Spaniard, who sits 9 points behind NTT INDYCAR Series championship leader Pato O’Ward hopes to hopes to parlay his strong qualifying effort into a renewed title charge.

“I’m super happy with my first pole in INDYCAR,” Palou said. “We’re starting on the best position tomorrow, and we know we have a really fast car. I cannot wait for tomorrow’s race.”

Scott Dixon made it two CGR Hondas in the top-3, while Felix Rosenqvist was the fastest Chevy in fourth. Graham Rahal and Colton Herta rounded out the top-6. In his best qualifying performance of the season, Rossi will start 2nd, and missed pole by just 0.08s

The PNC Ganassi Hondas of Palou and Dixon were fast

The pole was the first for Palou in his second season of INDYCAR competition, and the fifth for Honda in 2021.  Since winning the season-opening Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama, Palou has either led or run second in the championship points standings, and is currently second, nine points out of first, with three races remaining.

Palou will earn one point for the pole, valuable as he entered this event 10 points behind championship leader Pato O’Ward. Palou started on pole for the Genesys 300 in early May at Texas Motor Speedway, but qualifying for that event was canceled due to weather delays, with the starting lineup set by entrant points.

The strong performance at Portland was a powerful rebound from Palou’s two worst finishes of the season in the last two races, 27th at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course with a mechanical problem and 20th at World Wide Technology Raceway after being taken out in a crash.

“This motivates us, but we were already fully motivated,” Palou said. “We all know that the last two race weekends we had, it was out of our control. So, we’re fully laser-focused on these three races we have to get that championship home, and we’ll try to get that.”

Of particular interest is the fact Team Penske failed to get any 4 of its cars out of Round 1 qualifying. Josef Newgarden, who sits third in the standings following his recent win at Gateway, will start 18th tomorrow.

Championship leader O’Ward qualified seventh in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet after being eliminated by teammate Rosenqvist by .0103 of a second on the last lap of the second qualifying session. Marcus Ericsson, 60 points behind O’Ward in fifth, qualified 10th in the No. 8 Huski Chocolate Chip Ganassi Racing Honda.

Two-time series champion Josef Newgarden, 22 points behind O’Ward in third, will start 18th in the 27-car field in the No. 2 Hitachi Team Penske Chevrolet.

Newgarden’s qualifying troubles were a symptom of larger woes for Team Penske. All four Penske drivers – Newgarden, 2019 Portland winner Will Power, Simon Pagenaud and rookie Scott McLaughlin – were eliminated in the first round of road or street course qualifying for the first time this season.

British driver Callum Ilott qualified 19th for his NTT INDYCAR SERIES debut in the No. 77 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet. Ferrari Formula One test driver Ilott was the second-quickest of the four series rookies in the field, behind only McLaughlin, who qualified 15th in the No. 3 PPG Team Penske Chevrolet.

Dale Coyne Racing with RWR driver Romain Grosjean had the speed during Saturday’s qualifying for the Grand Prix of Portland, but a qualifying penalty for interference sent him down the time charts and 21st on the starting grid for Sunday’s race.

Romain Grosjean

Grosjean went out in Group 1 of qualifying and maintained a position in the top six throughout most of the session but after getting caught in some traffic and while trying to build a gap from the other cars ahead of him it was judged he had impeded the lap of another competitor.

Coverage for tomorrow’s race begins at 3 p.m. ET on NBC.

Starting Lineup 

Pos No Name Time Diff Gap Speed Engine Team Round
1 10 Alex Palou 58.7701 58.7701 0.000 120.306 Honda Chip Ganassi Racing Firestone Fast Six
2 27 Alexander Rossi 58.8573 0.0872 0.0872 120.128 Honda Andretti Autosport Firestone Fast Six
3 9 Scott Dixon 58.8673 0.0972 0.0100 120.107 Honda Chip Ganassi Racing Firestone Fast Six
4 7 Felix Rosenqvist 58.9505 0.1804 0.0832 119.938 Chevy Arrow McLaren SP Firestone Fast Six
5 15 Graham Rahal 59.0067 0.2366 0.0562 119.824 Honda Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Firestone Fast Six
6 26 Colton Herta 59.2796 0.5095 0.2729 119.272 Honda Andretti Autosport Firestone Fast Six
7 5 Pato O’Ward 58.9732 0.2041 0.0103 119.892 Chevy Arrow McLaren SP Round 2
8 18 Ed Jones 59.0247 0.2556 0.0515 119.787 Honda Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser Sullivan Round 2
9 45 Oliver Askew 59.0837 0.3146 0.0590 119.668 Honda Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Round 2
10 8 Marcus Ericsson 59.0901 0.3210 0.0064 119.655 Honda Chip Ganassi Racing Round 2
11 59 Max Chilton 59.2346 0.4655 0.1445 119.363 Chevy Carlin Round 2
12 14 Sebastien Bourdais 59.2419 0.4728 0.0073 119.348 Chevy AJ Foyt Enterprises
13 51 Romain Grosjean 59.2231 0.4137 0.0089 119.386 Honda Dale Coyne Racing w/RWR Round 1, Group 1
14 12 Will Power 59.0032 0.3120 0.0642 119.831 Chevy Team Penske Round 1, Group 2
15 29 James Hinchcliffe 59.2537 0.4443 0.0306 119.324 Honda Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport Round 1, Group 1
16 20 Conor Daly 59.0974 0.4062 0.0942 119.640 Chevy Ed Carpenter Racing Round 1, Group 2
17 3 Scott McLaughlin 59.3563 0.5469 0.1026 119.118 Chevy Team Penske Round 1, Group 1
18 2 Josef Newgarden 59.1371 0.4459 0.0397 119.559 Chevy Team Penske Round 1, Group 2
19 06 Helio Castroneves 59.4190 0.6096 0.0627 118.992 Honda Meyer Shank Racing Round 1, Group 1
20 60 Jack Harvey 59.1463 0.4551 0.0092 119.541 Honda Meyer Shank Racing Round 1, Group 2
21 77 Callum Ilott 59.5008 0.6914 0.0818 118.829 Chevy Juncos Hollinger Racing Round 1, Group 1
22 21 Rinus VeeKay 59.1885 0.4973 0.0422 119.456 Chevy Ed Carpenter Racing Round 1, Group 2
23 48 Jimmie Johnson 59.7120 0.9026 0.2112 118.408 Honda Chip Ganassi Racing Round 1, Group 1
24 30 Takuma Sato 59.1953 0.5041 0.0068 119.442 Honda Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Round 1, Group 2
25 28 Ryan Hunter-Reay No Time — — — Honda Andretti Autosport Round 1, Group 1
26 22 Simon Pagenaud 59.6591 0.9679 0.4638 118.513 Chevy Team Penske Round 1, Group 2
27 4 Dalton Kellett 59.7438 1.0526 0.0847 118.345 Chevy AJ Foyt Enterprises Round 1, Group 2


Firestone Fast Six

P No Name FTime Diff Gap FL Laps FSpeed Engine Team
1 10 Alex Palou 58.7701 58.7701 0.000 4 4 120.306 Honda Chip Ganassi Racing
2 27 Alexander Rossi 58.8573 0.0872 0.0872 3 3 120.128 Honda Andretti Autosport
3 9 Scott Dixon 58.8673 0.0972 0.0100 3 4 120.107 Honda Chip Ganassi Racing
4 7 Felix Rosenqvist 58.9505 0.1804 0.0832 3 3 119.938 Chevy Arrow McLaren SP
5 15 Graham Rahal 59.0067 0.2366 0.0562 4 4 119.824 Honda Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
6 26 Colton Herta 59.2796 0.5095 0.2729 4 4 119.272 Honda Andretti Autosport


Round 2

P No Name FTime Diff Gap FL Laps FSpeed Engine Team
1 10 Alex Palou 58.7691 58.7691 0.000 8 8 120.308 Honda Chip Ganassi Racing
2 9 Scott Dixon 58.8200 0.0509 0.0509 8 8 120.204 Honda Chip Ganassi Racing
3 15 Graham Rahal 58.9338 0.1647 0.1138 8 8 119.972 Honda Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
4 26 Colton Herta 58.9459 0.1768 0.0121 6 7 119.947 Honda Andretti Autosport
5 27 Alexander Rossi 58.9571 0.1880 0.0112 8 8 119.924 Honda Andretti Autosport
6 7 Felix Rosenqvist 58.9629 0.1938 0.0058 8 8 119.913 Chevy Arrow McLaren SP
7 5 Pato O’Ward 58.9732 0.2041 0.0103 7 8 119.892 Chevy Arrow McLaren SP
8 18 Ed Jones 59.0247 0.2556 0.0515 8 8 119.787 Honda Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser Sullivan
9 45 Oliver Askew 59.0837 0.3146 0.0590 7 8 119.668 Honda Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
10 8 Marcus Ericsson 59.0901 0.3210 0.0064 8 8 119.655 Honda Chip Ganassi Racing
11 59 Max Chilton 59.2346 0.4655 0.1445 5 8 119.363 Chevy Carlin
12 14 Sebastien Bourdais 59.2419 0.4728 0.0073 7 8 119.348 Chevy AJ Foyt Enterprises

Round 1, Group 2

P No Name FTime Diff Gap FL Laps FSpeed Engine Team
1 7 Felix Rosenqvist 58.6912 58.6912 0.000 8 8 120.468 Chevy Arrow McLaren SP
2 10 Alex Palou 58.7971 0.1059 0.1059 8 8 120.251 Honda Chip Ganassi Racing
3 26 Colton Herta 58.8450 0.1538 0.0479 7 8 120.153 Honda Andretti Autosport
4 9 Scott Dixon 58.8684 0.1772 0.0234 8 8 120.105 Honda Chip Ganassi Racing
5 18 Ed Jones 58.9330 0.2418 0.0646 7 8 119.974 Honda Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser Sullivan
6 14 Sebastien Bourdais 58.9390 0.2478 0.0060 8 8 119.961 Chevy AJ Foyt Enterprises
7 12 Will Power 59.0032 0.3120 0.0642 8 8 119.831 Chevy Team Penske
8 20 Conor Daly 59.0974 0.4062 0.0942 7 8 119.640 Chevy Ed Carpenter Racing
9 2 Josef Newgarden 59.1371 0.4459 0.0397 9 9 119.559 Chevy Team Penske
10 60 Jack Harvey 59.1463 0.4551 0.0092 6 8 119.541 Honda Meyer Shank Racing
11 21 Rinus VeeKay 59.1885 0.4973 0.0422 7 8 119.456 Chevy Ed Carpenter Racing
12 30 Takuma Sato 59.1953 0.5041 0.0068 8 8 119.442 Honda Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
13 22 Simon Pagenaud 59.6591 0.9679 0.4638 8 8 118.513 Chevy Team Penske
14 4 Dalton Kellett 59.7438 1.0526 0.0847 8 8 118.345 Chevy AJ Foyt Enterprises


Round 1, Group 1

P No. Name FTime Diff Gap FL Laps FSpeed Engine Team
1 8 Marcus Ericsson 58.8094 58.8094 0.000 7 8 120.226 Honda Chip Ganassi Racing
2 15 Graham Rahal 58.9369 0.1275 0.1275 8 8 119.966 Honda Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
3 27 Alexander Rossi 59.0177 0.2083 0.0808 8 8 119.801 Honda Andretti Autosport
4 59 Max Chilton 59.0735 0.2641 0.0558 5 8 119.688 Chevy Carlin
5 45 Oliver Askew 59.1960 0.3866 0.1225 8 8 119.441 Honda Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
6 5 Pato O’Ward 59.2142 0.4048 0.0182 8 8 119.404 Chevy Arrow McLaren SP
7 51 Romain Grosjean 59.2231 0.4137 0.0089 8 8 119.386 Honda Dale Coyne Racing w/RWR
8 29 James Hinchcliffe 59.2537 0.4443 0.0306 4 8 119.324 Honda Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport
9 3 Scott McLaughlin 59.3563 0.5469 0.1026 7 8 119.118 Chevy Team Penske
10 06 Helio Castroneves 59.4190 0.6096 0.0627 8 8 118.992 Honda Meyer Shank Racing
11 77 Callum Ilott 59.5008 0.6914 0.0818 7 7 118.829 Chevy Juncos Hollinger Racing
12 48 Jimmie Johnson 59.7120 0.9026 0.2112 8 8 118.408 Honda Chip Ganassi Racing
13 28 Ryan Hunter-Reay No Time — — — — — Honda Andretti Autosport