Track Walk: Portland 2018

With two races left, Scott Dixon heads to the Pacific Northwest leading the championship

The 16th and penultimate round of the 2018 Verizon IndyCar Series season takes place at Portland International Raceway and it is the first time IndyCar has been to Portland since 2007. This will be the 25th Grand Prix of Portland. Portland is the tenth venue on the 2018 schedule to have hosted at least 25 IndyCar races. This will be the first time the Grand Prix of Portland has not taken place in the month of June. Twenty-five cars are entered for this year's race. The six previous Portland races had fewer than 20 starters. This will be the 16th Portland race to feature at least 25 starters. 

Coverage:
Time: Coverage begins at 2:30 p.m. ET on Sunday September 2nd with green flag scheduled for 3:10 p.m. ET.
TV Channel: NBCSN
Announcers: Leigh Diffey, Townsend Bell and Paul Tracy will be in the booth. Kevin Lee, Jon Beekhuis, Katie Hargitt and Robin Miller will work pit lane.

IndyCar Weekend Schedule
Friday:
First Practice: 1:45 p.m. ET (45-minute session)
Second Practice: 5:35 p.m. ET (60-minute session)
Saturday:
Third Practice: 2:10 p.m. ET (45-minute session)
Qualifying: 6:20 p.m. ET (NBCSN will have tape-delayed coverage at 7:30 p.m. ET)
Sunday:
Race: 3:10 p.m. ET (105 laps)

Setting the Title Contending Field

We know at least two men will be contending for the Astor Cup at Sonoma in a fortnight after Portland. Regardless of the results of Sunday's race Scott Dixon and Alexander Rossi will be battling for the championships in Northern California. 

Dixon leads Rossi by 26 points heading into Portland and even if Rossi were not to race and Dixon were to score the maximum number of points, the New Zealander's championship lead would only be 80 points and with possibly 25 cars entering Sonoma, the gap necessary to clinch the championship with a race to go would be 94 points. 

Dixon and Rossi have each finished in the top ten in the last four races, the top five in the last three races and on the podium in the last two races. Rossi has finished ahead of Dixon in three consecutive races but Dixon holds the head-to-head advantage over the entire season 8-7. Both drivers have finished in the top five together in eight races and four of those have seen each driver on the podium together. Rossi finished third in each of Dixon's victories at Belle Isle and Texas and Dixon finished third at Pocono while Rossi won while Rossi finished second last week at Gateway, one position ahead of Dixon. 

Dixon and Rossi have each won three races this season. Two other drivers with three victories this season are Team Penske teammates Will Power and Josef Newgarden. This is the first season with at least four drivers with at least three victories since 2010 when Power won five races while Dario Franchitti, Dixon and Hélio Castroneves each won three races.

Power and Newgarden sit third and fourth in the championship respectively. Power's Gateway victory has the Australian 68 points behind Dixon while Newgarden's third seventh-place finish of the season has him 78 points back with two races to go.

Power's three consecutive podium finishes is his best run of form since he had six consecutive in the summer of 2016. Power has been the top Team Penske finisher in three consecutive races and in eight of 15 races this season. Newgarden has not finished on the podium in the last five races and all three of Newgarden's podium finishes this season were his three victories. 

Both Power and Newgarden could end up eliminated from championship contention after Portland but some work has to be done. Power has about a 26-point cushion while his teammate has ten fewer points to play with. A maximum points day for Dixon would mean Power would have to finish at least sixth with at least one lap led to stay within 94 points because Dixon would hold the tiebreaker. Dixon and Power both have three victories, one runner-up finish and four third-place finishes. Dixon holds the advantage with two fourth-place finishes to Power's one. 

A maximum points day for Dixon would mean Newgarden would have to finish at least second to keep his championship hopes alive. 

Ryan Hunter-Reay has a slim shot at the championship. How slim? With Hunter-Reay trailing by 147 points with 158 points left on the table Hunter-Reay would need to score maximum points this weekend at Portland and have Dixon score 11 points or fewer and then he would need Dixon not to race at Sonoma and also score the maximum 104 points in the season finale. 

Will Experience Pay Off?

Portland has not been on the IndyCar schedule since 2007 but some drivers have experience at the track from the days of CART/Champ Car and some have experience from junior series. 

Seven drivers have run at Portland in CART or Champ Car and the most notable of the seven is the only active driver to have won this race: Sébastien Bourdais. 

The Frenchman made five starts at the track from 2003-2007 and Bourdais won in 2004 and 2007. He stood on the podium four times and he has led a lap in all five of his Portland starts. He retired from his Portland debut after a rear wing issue. He has completed 498 of 507 laps in his five starts and started in the top five in all five of his starts. 

The next most experienced driver at Portland is Tony Kanaan, who made four starts at Portland from 1998-2002. Kanaan never started better than 12th at Portland, though he finished fourth in that race from 12th in 1998. He also finished eighth from 14th in 2002. Kanaan has never led a lap at Portland. This will be the first time A.J. Foyt Racing has competed at Portland since Eddie Cheever finished 25th in 1995. The team has only two top ten finishes at Portland. Robby Gordon finished eighth in the 1993 race and A.J. Foyt finished tenth at the track in 1990. 

Hunter-Reay made three Portland starts but there might not be a worse track for Hunter-Reay to head to coming off his recent run of form. Hunter-Reay's best finish at the track was 12th in 2004. He started seventh in his first Portland appearance but started tenth and 16th the next two years. He retired in his Portland debut after 21 laps due to a clutch failure and he finished two laps down in his other two starts. 

Dixon and Power each have made two Portland starts but Dixon's two starts came four years before Power's first start at the track. The New Zealander finished seventh in both his Portland appearances and he started fourth in 2001 and 11th the following year. Power had a mechanical issue cost him 13 laps in the 2006 race but Power did set fastest lap, the first fastest lap of his IndyCar career. The following year Power led three laps during a pit cycle and he finished fourth after starting seventh. Power started seventh in both his Portland starts. 

Simon Pagenaud and Graham Rahal both participated in the 2007 Portland race. Pagenaud started sixth and finished eighth while Rahal started eighth and finished ninth. Pagenaud and Rahal both have experience at Portland in the Atlantic Championship. In 2006, both Pagenaud and Rahal retired from the race. Rahal started on pole position with Pagenaud next to him on row one and Pagenaud spun Rahal in the chicane at the start. Rahal was done after a lap while Pagenaud retired due to a mechanical issue after 35 laps. 

With Pagenaud and Rahal both out, James Hinchcliffe went on to win that Atlantic race in 2006 from eighth on the grid after Rahal's teammate Ryan Lewis had a gearbox failure on the final lap. It was Hinchcliffe's first career Atlantic victory. The following year Hinchcliffe would start on pole position for both races in a Portland doubleheader and he would finish second in both races behind Canadians Robert Wickens and Kevin Lacroix.

Hinchcliffe could make history this weekend. No driver has won at Portland in IndyCar and Atlantics or Indy Lights. 

Whose Hot Streak Ends?

Six drivers enter Portland with consecutive top ten finishes and all six of those drivers have streaks that are at least three races in length. 

The top four in the championship have all been covered above. Rossi and Power keep finishing on the podium, Dixon is frequently on the podium and at least in the top five and Newgarden has been a top ten driver but not been able to best the top three on a consistent basis. 

Pagenaud picked up his third top five finish of the season at Gateway last week and he has eight consecutive top ten finishes. 

The one surprise might be rookie Zach Veach. The Ohioan has come on strong with four consecutive top ten finishes including a fifth place finish at Gateway and he led the first two laps of his IndyCar career. Veach started seventh at Pocono and finished sixth in a race where he spent most of the day in or around the top five. He was seventh fastest in practice at Gateway. Fellow competitors have noted Veach's performance over the last few races. Many thought he would have been a contender for pole position at Gateway. Alexander Rossi credited Veach to his dominant run at Pocono two weeks ago.

Veach needs to finish 13th or better at Portland to remain alive for 2018 Rookie of the Year honors. 

Who Needs a Result?

While six drivers are heading to the Pacific Northwest on a hot streak, there are plenty looking to string together a few results.

Hunter-Reay has finished outside the top fifteen in four of the last five races while Hinchcliffe's best finish in the last three races is 14th and Kanaan's best finish in the last three races is 13th. 

Marco Andretti is fighting to finish in the top ten of the championship and he is seven points behind Bourdais after a top ten run at Gateway was ruined when a caution occurred after he made a pit stop and trapped him two laps down. 

Ed Jones picked up his seventh top ten finish of the year at Gateway and he was making moves late while running flat out but what appeared to be a top five night ended in an eighth place finish. With rumblings that Swedish driver Felix Rosenqvist is likely to replace Jones in the #10 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda getting louder it is imperative Jones picks up results to either save his seat or elevate his stock before he hits the market. 

Matheus Leist and Max Chilton are the only two drivers to have started every race this season and not finish in the top ten yet this season. Both drivers have an 11th place finish this season. Chilton finished 11th in the second Belle Isle race while Leist finished 11th at Pocono two weeks ago. Leist and Chilton are also the only two drivers in the top twenty of the championship not to lead a lap this season.

While Harding Racing has yet to have a top ten finish this season. The team's best result was 13th at Toronto with Conor Daly. Gabby Chaves will be back in the car at Portland. Chaves' three natural terrain road course races saw him start 20th at Barber, 22nd at the Grand Prix of Indianapolis and 23rd at Road America.

Who is Returning?

Four drivers are returning this weekend after extended periods off and one is a substitute.

Carlos Muñoz will drive the #6 Lucas Oil Honda for Schmidt Peterson Motorsports at Portland, as Robert Wickens continues his recovery from injuries suffered at Pocono Raceway. This is Muñoz's first road course start of the season. He finished seventh in the Indianapolis 500 in May driving for Andretti Autosport. Muñoz finished tenth last year at Watkins Glen and seventh at Long Beach. He has not had a top five finish on a road/street course race since he finished third at Mid-Ohio in 2016.

Jack Harvey is back for his fifth start of the season in the #60 Honda for Meyer Shank Racing. Harvey started and finished 20th at Mid-Ohio, his most recent start. His best finish this season is 12th at Long Beach. Harvey has yet to start better than row nine in his IndyCar career.

Alfonso Celis, Jr. will drive the #32 Juncos Racing Chevrolet for the second time this season. He made his debut at Road America. He started 21st and finished a lap down in 20th. This is Juncos Racing's 12th race this season. The team's best finish was 16th at Long Beach with Kyle Kaiser and 16th at Barber with René Binder. Kaiser qualified 14th at Phoenix, the team's best qualifying performance.

Santino Ferrucci returns to IndyCar driving the #39 Honda for Dale Coyne Racing. He made his debut at Belle Isle. He started 13th in the second Belle Isle race and finished 20th. His first race ended in an accident after 55 of 70 laps. Ferrucci will become the first driver to run car #39 in a IndyCar race since Bryan Clauson ran it in the 2012 Indianapolis 500.

Road to Indy

Portland marks the final round for all three Road to Indy series. One championship is already decided but two are on the line. 

It is a two-horse race in Indy Lights and both contenders come from the same barn. Patricio O'Ward heads into the final round of the Indy Lights season with 428 points and he leads his Andretti Autosport teammate Colton Herta by 25 points. With eight cars entered for the finale, O'Ward needs to score 39 points this weekend to clinch the championship. If O'Ward wins the first race or finishes second and picks up a bonus point in the first race he will clinch the championship on Saturday. O'Ward owns the tiebreaker over Herta with seven victories while the most Herta can end with is six. 

O'Ward heads into the final with six consecutive podium finishes while Herta has three consecutive runner-up finishes and five runner-up finishes in the last seven races. Regardless of who takes the championship it will be Andretti Autosport's third Indy Lights title and first since J.R. Hildebrand won in 2009.

Santiago Urrutia will likely finish third in the championship with the Uruguayan on 354 points, 40 points clear of Gateway winner Ryan Norman. Victor Franzoni rounds out the top five on 302 points. Aaron Telitz is sixth in the championship on 276 points, five ahead of Dalton Kellett. 

There is one additional entry for Portland. Heamin Choi will drive the #7 Mazda for Juncos Racing. Choi has made seven Indy Lights starts with his most recent being at Laguna Seca in 2016. Choi's best Indy Lights finish was tenth at Iowa in 2016.

This is the first Indy Lights race at Portland since 2001. Damien Faulkner won that race. An American driver has never won in Indy Lights at Portland. The Indy Lights winners at Portland are Tommy Byrne (twice), Paul Tracy, Éric Bachelart, Franck Fréon (twice), André Ribeiro, Greg Moore, Gualter Salles, Hideki Noda, Guy Smith, Philipp Peter, Jason Bright and Faulkner. American drivers won eight of 15 Atlantic races at Portland with the most recent being Jon Fogarty, who swept the 2004 doubleheader.

Indy Lights will race at 5:05 p.m. ET on Saturday September 1st and the final race of the season will take place at 12:55 p.m. ET on Sunday September 2nd.

Two drivers are alive for the Pro Mazda championship but it appears it will be heading to Rinus VeeKay. The Dutchman has won five consecutive races and he holds a 47-point lead over Canadian Parker Thompson. While VeeKay has five consecutive victories, Thompson has finished outside the top five in four of those five races and he has not finished on the podium since he won at Indianapolis Raceway Park in May.

VeeKay taking the title would be Juncos Racing's second consecutive Pro Mazda championship and the team's fourth in the series. 

After four top five finishes in the last five races, Oliver Askew has jumped up to third in the championship on 258 points but fellow American David Malukas is only six points behind Askew. Carlos Cunha is also six points back of Askew but Cunha will not be at Portland and was not at the Gateway race. Robert Megennis has four consecutive podium finishes and he is on 243 points and will be at Portland. Harrison Scott finished third at Gateway after starting on pole position in his first race Toronto after he skipped the Mid-Ohio round. Scott sits on 223 points in seventh and will not be at Portland.

Eight drivers entered for Portland and they are VeeKay, Thompson, Askew, Malukas, Megennis, Sting Ray Robb, Nikita Lastochkin and Moisés de la Vara.

Pro Mazda will race at 7:50 p.m. ET on Saturday September 1st and 5:15 p.m. ET on Sunday September 2nd. 

Kyle Kirkwood has already locked up the U.S. F2000 Championship but the American is looking to end the season with 12 victories this year. Kirkwood could match J.R. Hildebrand's record for most victories in a season. Hildebrand won 12 races in 2006 and Hildebrand won 12 out of 14 races. Kirkwood has won nine consecutive races. Kirkwood is the seventh consecutive Cape Motorsports driver to win the U.S. F2000 Championship. 

The battle will be for second in the championship. Rasmus Lindh sits on 194 points, six points ahead of Igor Fraga and 13 points ahead of teammate Lucas Kohl. Lindh has four podium finishes but his best result is third. Fraga has twice finished runner-up this season while Kohl finished second in two of the three Mid-Ohio races. 

Calvin Ming rounds out the top five on 166 points. Kaylen Frederick dropped to sixth in the championship on 153 points after his best finish at Mid-Ohio was 19th. Keith Donegan has four top five finishes in the last seven races and he is on 139 points. Julian van der Watt rounds out the top eight on 128 points.

The final two U.S. F2000 races of the season will be at 4:10 p.m. ET on Saturday September 1st and 6:20 p.m. ET on Sunday September 2nd. 

Fast Facts

This will be the 22nd IndyCar race to occur on September 2nd and the first since 2012 when Ryan Hunter-Reay won at Baltimore. 

The only driver to have won multiple times on September 2nd is Mario Andretti. Andretti won at DuQuoin in 1968 and Mid-Ohio in 1984.

An American driver won ten of the first 12 Portland races. An American driver won only one of the last 12 Portland races. A.J. Allmendinger won the 2006 race. 

A.J. Allmendinger is one of four drivers to have scored their first IndyCar victory at Portland. The other three are Al Unser, Jr., Alex Zanardi and Mark Blundell.

Chevrolet has won five Portland races while Honda has four Portland victories. Chevrolet's most recent Portland victory was with Emerson Fittipaldi in 1993. Honda's most recent Portland victory was with Gil de Ferran in 2000. Both drivers won driving for Team Penske. 

Cosworth is the most successful engine manufacture at Portland with 11 victories.

Newman-Haas Racing has more Portland victories than any other team with eight. Team Penske has five Portland victories. Chip Ganassi Racing won two Portland races. No other active IndyCar team has won at Portland.

Newman-Haas Racing and Team Penske each have had four different drivers win at Portland. Every other victorious team at Portland only had one driver win at the track. 

A Dallara chassis has never won at Portland. Lola is the most successful chassis manufacture at Portland with 12 victories. 

All Portland winners from the Southern Hemisphere were Brazilian. 

All three Brazilian Portland winners won at the track twice. Emerson Fittipaldi won in 1989 and 1993. Gil de Ferran won in 1999 and 2000. Cristiano da Matta won in 2002 and 2005.

The average starting position for a Portland winner is 3.5 with a median of 2.5.

The pole-sitter has won six Portland races. The winner has started on the front row 12 times. 

Nineteen of 24 Portland races have been won from within the top four. 

Mark Blundell's victory in 1997 from 11th on the grid is the only time the race has been won from outside the top ten. 

Takuma Sato has seven top ten finishes this season, tied for his most in a single season with 2011 and 2017. In 2011, Sato picked up his seventh top ten finish in the 16th race and in 2017 he picked up his seventh top ten in the 13th race.

Spencer Pigot has started outside the top fifteen in the last four races.

Jordan King has three consecutive lead lap finishes after having two lead lap finishes in his first six starts.

This will be Pietro Fittipaldi's fifth start of his IndyCar career. His grandfather Emerson and his cousin Christian each finished 20th in their fifth career starts. Emerson finished 20th in the 1984 Cleveland race after retiring due to overheating and Christian finished 20th after retiring due to an electrical issue at Nazareth in 1995. Pietro's uncle Max Papis finished 14th in his fifth career start at Surfers Paradise in 1997.

Charlie Kimball has finished in the top ten in the 16th race of the season for three consecutive seasons and he has finished in the top ten in the 16th race of the season in four of six seasons.

The average number of lead changes in a Portland race is 5.541 with a median of five. 

The fewest number of lead changes was two in 2001. The most number of lead changes was nine in 1988.

Seventeen of 24 Portland races featured more than five lead changes including the last three races. 

The average number of cautions in a Portland race is two with a median of one. The average number of caution laps is 7.041 with a median of five. 

Fourteen of 24 Portland races have featured one caution or fewer.

Six of 24 Portland races have feature more than two cautions.

Through nine road/street course races this IndyCar seasons, the average number of passes in a race is 195 and the average number of passes for position is 142.444.

Only two road/street course races have had fewer than 100 passes for position this season and those were both Belle Isle races with 82 passes for position and 60 passes for position respectively. The first Belle Isle race is the only one to have fewer than 100 total passes, as the race had 96 passes.

The first four road/street course races had at least 200 passes. The last five road/street course races have had fewer than 200 passes. 

Possible Milestones:

Chip Ganassi Racing is one victory away from tying Newman-Haas Racing for second all-time in team victories in IndyCar with 107 victories.

Ryan Hunter-Reay needs to lead eight laps to surpass Tomas Scheckter for 31st all-time in laps led.

Simon Pagenaud needs to lead 64 laps to reach the 1,000 laps led milestone.

Takuma Sato needs to lead 23 laps to reach the 500 laps led milestone.

Graham Rahal needs to lead 21 laps to reach the 400 laps led milestone.

Charlie Kimball needs to lead 37 laps to reach the 200 laps led milestone.

Predictions

I am going to the well one more time. Alexander Rossi continues his top form and picks up his third victory in four races and fourth podium finish in four races but Scott Dixon does not make it easy and finishes second. Josef Newgarden rounds out the podium. Ryan Hunter-Reay does not have a mechanical retirement. Jordan King does not hit a barrier but has an off-track excursion. There will be eight different teams that get out of the first round of qualifying but only three teams make it to the final round of qualifying. This race will have fewer than the average number of passes and average number of passes for position through the first nine road/street course races of the season. Santino Ferrucci qualifies and finishes ahead of one of his Dale Coyne Racing teammates. Sleeper: Jordan King.