Will Power Tag

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer PORTLAND, Oregon — The nature of track room and practice laps didn’t reflect qualifying at Portland International Raceway, and defending Verizon IndyCar Series champion Josef Newgarden acknowledged it before and after the session. Newgarden is among the 18 drivers who have never competed in an INDYCAR race at the 1.964-mile circuit, but among the more consistent top drivers on the leader board, ending up in third, sixth and ninth in the three practice sessions. He backed up his consistency by making it to the FirestoneRead More

By INDYCAR PORTLAND, Oregon – Might as well add Portland International Raceway to the list of Indy car tracks where Will Power has dominated qualifying. Power had qualified seventh in his two previous races at this track – in 2006 and ’07 – and blitzing today’s Verizon IndyCar Series field gave him 25 tracks where he has won a pole. Power set a new track record in the first round of knockout qualifying of 57.2143 seconds, eclipsing the previous record of 57.597 seconds set by Justin Wilson in 2005. InRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer PORTLAND, Oregon — With speculation about 2019 becoming more and more frequent by the day, Chip Ganassi Racing driver Ed Jones managed to shut all of that off to qualify in eighth position for Sunday’s Grand Prix of Portland – the penultimate race in the 2018 Verizon IndyCar Series season. Jones went around the 1.964-mile road course with a quick time of 57.6499 seconds to average 122.644 mph. Teammate and points leader Scott Dixon went around in 57.8554 seconds to qualify 11th fastest. Jones has beenRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer PORTLAND, Oregon — Friday practice has come and gone for the Verizon IndyCar Series ahead of Sunday’s Grand Prix of Portland and the time sheets saw numerous names flying up and down in unexpected places. While it’s expected to see Sebastien Bourdais near the top and he in fact led the opening session, the midfield was full of happy surprises. Santino Ferrucci was 12th fastest in the opening session in his first IndyCar race since the Chevrolet Duel in Detroit. Ahead of Ferrucci was Jack HarveyRead More

By INDYCAR PORTLAND, Oregon – Will Power continued to show he’s serious about getting back into Verizon IndyCar Series title contention by posting the fastest lap of Friday’s second practice session at Portland International Raceway. The winner of last week’s race at Gateway Motorsports Park turned a lap of 57.4053 seconds (123.166 mph) in the No. 12 Team Penske Verizon Chevrolet to best the field of 25 entrants in that session. Power will head to Saturday’s qualifications seeking his fourth pole of the season and the 54th of his career. PowerRead More

By INDYCAR PORTLAND, Oregon – Sebastien Bourdais has raced at Portland International Raceway five times in his Indy car career, winning Champ Car races in 2004 and 2007. But after his first laps in the 2018 Indy car at Portland, he felt like he was visiting for the first time. “It’s narrower than I remember it,” the four-time Indy car champion said during a break Thursday at INDYCAR’s Open Test at the track. “The width goes from super-wide to very narrow. It’s probably the narrowest place we go all season.Read More

By Josh Farmer, Contributing Journalist MADISON, Illinois – A late fuel gamble in Saturday’s Bommarito Automotive Group 500 allowed Alexander Rossi to close the championship fight with Scott Dixon to 26 points. The driver of the No. 27 Napa Auto Parts Honda finished second behind Will Power by going 71 laps on his final tank of Sunoco E85 fuel. Having won the 100th Running of the Indianapolis 500 on fuel strategy, Rossi is no stranger to making fuel gambles work. While he didn’t pull off the win, he found a silverRead More

By Aaron Bearden, Open Wheel Editor MADISON, Ill. — Post-race review and analysis from the Verizon IndyCar Series race at Gateway Motorsports Park. Who Won?  Will Power. The Australian surged around pole-sitter Scott Dixon on Lap 150 and overcame Alexander Rossi’s late fuel strategy play to earn his third win of 2018. Top Stories Minor Gains The summer’s IndyCar championship battle between veteran leader Scott Dixon and scrappy challenger Alexander Rossi hasn’t been a tale of big swings or surprises. It’s been a battle in the trenches, and in recent weeks Rossi’s had the upperRead More

By INDYCAR MADISON, Illinois – Will Power went from worst to first at Gateway Motorsports Park in the span of a year and moved into closer contention for the 2018 Verizon IndyCar Series championship in the process. BOMMARITO AUTOMOTIVE GROUP 500: Official results Charging hard from the start, Power took control over the final 100 laps of the Bommarito Automotive Group 500 presented by Axalta and Valvoline on Saturday night to pick up his third win of the season. He guided the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet across the finishRead More

By INDYCAR MADISON, Illinois  – It’s not the way he wanted to earn the top starting position, but Scott Dixon will gladly lead the field to the green flag in Saturday night’s Bommarito Automotive Group 500 presented by Axalta & Valvoline. Verizon P1 Award qualifying was canceled Friday at Gateway Motorsports Park after periodic rain throughout the day in the St. Louis region played havoc with the track schedule. Two Verizon IndyCar Series practice sessions were completed on the 1.25-mile oval. The first yielded just 22 minutes of green-flag time,Read More