Santino Ferrucci took a stunning pole position at Portland International Raceway on Saturday, and with a lap at 58.2046 seconds, Ferrucci will lead the field to the green flag for the Grand Prix of Portland. It is Ferrucci's first career pole position and A.J. Foyt Racing's first pole position since the second race of the 2014 Belle Isle doubleheader, 172 races ago. After opening the season with seven top ten finishes from the first ten races, Ferrucci has finished outside the top ten in three consecutive races. His average finish at Portland is 17.667. This will be Ferrucci's 74th career start. Only ten drivers have taken at least 74 starts to get a first career victory. Only two drivers have had their first career victory come at Portland, Al Unser, Jr. in 1984 and Mark Blundell in 1997.
Will Power was 0.1074 seconds off the top qualifying time in the final round of qualifying, and Power will start second. This is his best starting position since he started second in the Indianapolis 500. Power has still yet to win a pole position in 2024. The last time he did not win a pole position in a season was 2008. Power has finished outside the top ten in the last two races. Power is looking to avoid three consecutive finishes outside the top ten since a five-race stretch over the 2021 season.
Álex Palou will be third on the grid after falling 0.2270 seconds off pole position. Palou could match Michael Andretti and Al Unser, Jr. for most Portland victories at three. It would be the 20th time in IndyCar history a driver would have won three of his first four starts at a circuit. The most recent driver to do it was Will Power at São Paulo, who won the first three editions of the Brazilian race from 2010 through 2012.
Christian Lundgaard starts fourth, his best starting position since he started second in the Grand Prix of Indianapolis. Lundgaard had started outside the top fifteen in four consecutive races prior to Portland. After opening the season with two top ten finishes in the first four races, Lundgaard has two top ten finishes in the last nine races.
Josef Newgarden fell 0.0097 seconds short of making the final round of qualifying, but a pair of engine penalties and elevated Newgarden to a top five starting position. Newgarden is looking for consecutive victories for the fourth time in his career. He has won consecutive races in each of the last two seasons. Newgarden has finished fifth in three of five Portland starts, and he has never finished worse than tenth at the track.
Romain Grosjean also benefits from those pair of engine penalties, and Grosjean will start to Newgarden's outside on row three. Grosjean was 0.0428 seconds off making the final round. Prior to this year's race, the Frenchman's best starting position at Portland was 15th. Grosjean's average finish at Portland is 22.667. Out of 330 possible laps, he has completed only 236 laps in his three starts here. This will be Grosjean's 61st career start. Only 17 drivers have taken at least 61 starts to get a first career victory.
Marcus Armstrong moves up to seventh starting position. After starting the season with four consecutive races starting in the top ten, this is only the fourth time in ten races Armstrong has started in the top ten. Armstrong is looking for his third consecutive top ten finish. He has had two consecutive top ten finishes on three occasions in his career.
Colton Herta will be on the outside of row four. This is Herta's worst starting position ever at Portland. Entering Portland with three consecutive top five finishes, Herta has never had four consecutive top five finishes in his IndyCar career. His best finish at Portland was fourth in his first start at the track in 2019. Herta led 36 laps in that race.
Scott Dixon has car #9 in ninth starting position. Dixon has won the 14th race of the season the last two years, and he has finished on the podium in the 14th race in six consecutive seasons. He has finished third in the last three Portland races. Dixon has won from ninth starting position twice in his career. The first time was the 2015 Sonoma race, which won him the championship. The other was the first race of the 2020 Road America doubleheader, another season where Dixon won the title.
Marcus Ericsson rounds out the top ten. Ericcson was the slowest in the second round of qualifying, but he was only 0.0978 seconds from making it to the Fast Six. Ericsson enters Portland having failed to finish in the top ten in the last three races. It is the second time this season the Swede has gone three consecutive races without a top ten result. Prior to 2024, he had not gone at least three consecutive starts without a top ten finish since an eight-race that covered seven starts in 2019 and the 2020 season opener at Texas.
Row three will actually be row six, as Kyle Kirkwood and Graham Rahal each have six-spot grid penalties for taking on his fifth engine this season despite Kirkwood and Rahal qualifting fifth and sixth respectively in the final round of qualifying. Despite the penalty, 11th is Kirkwood's best starting position ever at Portland. Kirkwood's average finish on permanent road courses this season is 7.8.
This was the first time Graham Rahal made the Fast Six this season. Rahal's best starting position this season on a road or street course was seventh at Barber Motorsports Park. It has been been 16 races since Rahal's most recent top five finish, second in the August 2023 Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course race.
Pietro Fittipaldi was 0.0182 seconds off advancing from the first group of qualifying to the second round. This is Fittipaldi's best starting position since he started 11th for the Grand Prix of Indianapolis in May. Fittipaldi's only top ten finish in his IndyCar career came at Portland six years ago. He was ninth in the 2018 race. It was the fifth race of his IndyCar career.
Rinus VeeKay takes the outside of row seven. This is the ninth consecutive race VeeKay is starting outside the top ten. VeeKay is going for his fifth consecutive top ten finish. Ed Carpenter Racing has had a car finish in the top six in three of the last five Portland races, including with VeeKay last year after starting 13th. Prior to that, the Dutchman had finished 17th and 20th in his first two trips to Portland.
Jüri Vips is back for his first race of the 2024 after competing in two races last season, and he will start 15th. He made his IndyCar debut last year at Portland, starting and finishing 18th. He started 13th at Laguna Seca last year, but ended up 24th after being caught in the opening lap accident and completing only 71 of 95 laps in a glorified test session for the Estonian.
Christian Rasmussen starts directly behind his Ed Carpenter Racing teammate VeeKay in 16th. This is scheduled to be Rasmussen's final start of the IndyCar season. In the first ten races together as teammates, VeeKay holds the head-to-head advantage, beating Rasmussen six times.
Alexander Rossi has his worst starting position ever at Portland in 17th. Rossi had started in the top nine in his first five trips to Portland. In the 14th race of the season, Rossi has three podium and five top five finishes, but he has finished outside the top ten in the other three races.
Felix Rosenqvist makes it two drivers on row nine with their worst Portland starting positions as the Swede is in 18th. Rosenqvist had started in the top 11 in his first four Portland appearances. Rosenqvist has finished second twice in four Portland starts, and he has finished in the top ten in all four of his Portland appearances.
Toby Sowery has his best career starting position, as Sowery will start 19th for his third career start. Sowery is responsible for the #51 Dale Coyne Racing Honda's two best finishes this season. He was 13th at Mid-Ohio and 15th at Toronto. The other eight drivers for DCR in 2024 have combined for one top fifteen finish.
Scott McLaughlin had ended up seventh in group two, 0.0413 seconds off making the second round of qualifying, but a six-spot grid penalty for taking on a fifth engine this season drops McLaughlin to 20th starting position. McLaughlin has a pattern of finishes at Portland, ninth, first and ninth through his first three starts. Last year was the first time he did not lead at Portland.
Linus Lundqvist takes 21st starting position. This is the fifth consecutive race Lundqvist has started outside the top ten. He enters Portland with a 71-point advantage in the rookie of the year battle. However, he has been the best finishing rookie in only four races this season.
Patricio O'Ward has his worst starting position of the season in 22nd. O'Ward had started in the top twenty in 21 consecutive races. His last time starting outside the top twenty was 25th at Mid-Ohio last year. He went on to finish eighth in the race. O'Ward has finished fourth in the last two Portland races. He has at least three top five finishes at eight different circuits.
Nolan Siegel makes it two consecutive Arrow McLaren drivers on the grid with Siegel in 23rd. Siegel was second in last year's Indy Lights race from Portland and he picked up fastest lap in the process. He has been the top finishing rookie twice this season. On both occasions, Siegel finished 12th.
Sting Ray Robb improves on his average starting position as 24th on the grid betters Robb's average of 24.461 entering this weekend. His average drops to 24.428. Robb has finished outside the top twenty in five of nine road/street course races this season.
David Malukas has a six-spot grid penalty in the #66 Honda taking on its fifth engine of the season. This drops Malukas down to 25th, his worst starting position of the season. He was averaging a 7.667 starting position in his first six starts this season. Malukas was eighth in last year's Portland race. The only road or street course where he has multiple top ten finishes is Mid-Ohio.
Conor Daly was the slowest in group one, but he will start 26th after all grid penalties are applied. Daly has not had a top ten finish in his last 14 road/street course starts. His most recent top ten on a road or street course was fifth in the 2022 Grand Prix of Indianapolis.
Jack Harvey will start from 27th. This is Harvey's sixth time starting outside the top 25 in 11 appearances this season. Harvey had failed to finished in three of his last four starts, and he has finished off the lead lap in five consecutive starts.
Kyffin Simpson's six-spot grid penalty for taking a fifth engine this season drops him to 28th, last on the grid. Simpson has finished outside the top twenty in five consecutive road/street course races after having finished in the top fifteen in three of the first four road/street course races this season.
USA's coverage of the Grand Prix of Portland begins at 3:00 p.m. ET with green flag scheduled for 3:30 p.m. The race is scheduled for 110 laps.
