NTT INDYCAR SERIES Qualifying Report - Portland

September 3, 2023

TRACK: PORTLAND INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY
RACE: BITNILE.COM GRAND PRIX OF PORTLAND        
DATE: SEPTEMBER 2, 2023

JOSEF NEWGARDEN
No. 2 HITACHI DALLARA/CHEVROLET
SECOND PRACTICE - 2ND
QUALIFYING - 12TH
FINAL PRACTICE - 1ST

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN
No. 3 FREIGHTLINER DALLARA/CHEVROLET
SECOND PRACTICE - 1ST
QUALIFYING - 2ND
FINAL PRACTICE - 21ST

WILL POWER
No. 12 VERIZON 5G DALLARA/CHEVROLET
SECOND PRACTICE - 12TH
QUALIFYING - 7TH
FINAL PRACTICE - 9TH 

Portland International Raceway (PIR) is a short, 1.964-mile road course that provides the quickest lap times of any such circuit on the NTT INDYCAR SERIES schedule. Qualifying is of the utmost importance, reflected in the stats that show three of the last four winners - since the 2018 return to the Pacific Northwest facility - have started on the front row. On Saturday afternoon at PIR, the field was set for the 29th INDYCAR SERIES race in the track's history. 

After experimenting with setups on Friday afternoon, Team Penske started the day showing the speed that resulted in three top-10 finishes at PIR in 2022, including McLaughlin's dominating win. McLaughlin finished with the quickest speed of the session in the No. 3 Freightliner Chevy, with Josef Newgarden just behind in the No. 2 Hitachi Chevy. Will Power just missed out on the top 10 in the No. 12 Verizon 5G Chevy. Qualifying proved to be a bit more dramatic after all three drivers placed their Chevrolets into the second round. In that round both, Newgarden and Power were involved in incidents that kept them from transferring to the Firestone Fast Six, with Newgarden's resulting in a heavily damaged Chevy. McLaughlin, however, finished with an all-important front-row starting position, rolling off from the second position tomorrow. Power will start seventh and Newgarden 12th. 

WHAT THEY SAID - "We have a really good Freightliner Chevy. We basically went back to something very close to our setup from last year, which worked out well. Graham (Rahal) just put down an amazing lap so congrats to him. I feel very good going into the race tomorrow and we'll see what happens."- Scott McLaughlin

WHAT'S NEXT - Coverage of the BITNILE.com Grand Prix of Portland begins tomorrow at 3:00 pm ET on NBC, Peacock, Sirius XM Channel 209 and INDYCAR Radio