Graham Rahal qualified on pole position for the second time this season with a lap at 58.3195 seconds around Portland International Raceway. It is only the second time Rahal has won multiple pole positions in a season. The other season was 2009. The Ohioan is now one of six drivers with two pole positions this season, tied for the most in 2023. Rahal’s previous best starting position at Portland was fifth two seasons ago. Rahal has finished in the top five of the penultimate round of the last two seasons. It has been 105 starts since Rahal’s most recent victory.
Scott McLaughlin fell 0.033 seconds shy of a second consecutive Portland pole position. This is the fifth time McLaughlin has started second this season. McLaughlin led 104 laps on his way to victory in last year's Portland race. It was the 19th time in IndyCar history a driver led at least 100 laps in a road/street course race. McLaughlin could become the first driver to win consecutive Portland races since Gil de Ferran in 1999 and 2000.
Colton Herta ended up 0.1381 seconds off Rahal, and Herta will start third, the fourth time in the last five races he has started in the top five. He has never started worse than seventh at Portland. The Californian seen his finish improve on each visit to Portland. Herta was ninth in 2019 before finishing eighth in 2021 and sixth in 2022.
Scott Dixon was over a quarter second slower than Rahal and Dixon starts fourth. Dixon is going for his third consecutive victory. Dixon has won three consecutive races on three prior occasions. In two of those previous three occasions, Dixon won the championship that season. In the other, he ran out of fuel while leading the race and championship on the final lap at Chicagoland and lost the 2007 championship in the finale to Dario Franchitti.
Patricio O'Ward rounds out the Fast Six. O’Ward has four runner-up finishes this season but no victories. Tom Sneva holds the record for most runner-up finishes in a winless season. Sneva was second in six races in 1978, a year in which Sneva won the championship. On only two other occasion has a driver had five runner-up finishes in a winless season. Those were Al Unser in 1967 and Bobby Rahal in 1990.
For the third time this season, Will Power qualified seventh, missing the final round by 0.0531 seconds. Power went from seventh to second at Detroit and seventh to third at Mid-Ohio. Power has two more chances to avoid becoming the first defending champion to go winless since Scott Dixon in 2004. Power has won the penultimate race in a season three times, Houston in 2013, Portland in 2019 and the second race of the 2020 Harvest Grand Prix doubleheader from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.
Callum Ilott made it out of the first round of qualifying for the first time this season, and Ilott has his best start of the season in eighth. It is the second consecutive race he has started in the top ten. Ilott was ninth in last year's Portland race. His most recent top ten finish was ninth at Texas in April. He made his IndyCar debut at Portland two years ago.
Alexander Rossi slots into ninth position. Portland is Alexander Rossi's best track on average finish. Among the tracks where Rossi has made at least three starts, his average finish at Portland is fifth. He has two podium finishes here and his worst finish was eighth in 2018, a race where he led 32 laps.
Marcus Ericsson rounds out the top ten starters. Ericsson has five consecutive top ten finishes. In his first 78 starts, Ericsson has had five streaks with at least five consecutive top ten finishes, including three streaks that lasted at least eight consecutive races. He has 49 top ten finishes.
Felix Rosenqvist suffered a mechanical issue in the second round of qualifying, placing Rosenqvist 11th on the grid. The Swede has three top ten finishes in three Portland starts. Portland is level with Toronto as Rosenqvist's best track, as Rosenqvist has an average finish of sixth at both.
Josef Newgarden brought out a red flag in qualifying and he will start 12th. Newgarden has finished 25th in the last two races. It is the first time since the 2015 season finale and 2016 season opener that Newgarden has finished outside the top twenty in consecutive races. Newgarden is 17 laps led away from becoming the 12th driver to reach 4,000 laps led in a career. Newgarden could become just the third driver to win the Indianapolis 500 and Portland in the same season. He would join Emerson Fittipaldi, who did it in 1993, and Al Unser, Jr., who did it in 1994.
Rinus VeeKay fell 0.0156 seconds short of advancing to the second round of qualifying. This is VeeKay’s best start on a permanent road course this season. VeeKay never finished worse than second in four Road to Indy starts. In his first two IndyCar starts at Portland, he finished 17th and 20th.
Marcus Armstrong is the top rookie in the championship, and Armstrong is the top rookie starter in Portland, starting 14th. He was 0.0700 seconds away from the second round. The New Zealander has finished better than his starting position in seven of ten starts this season.
Romain Grosjean rolls off from 15th starting position. Grosjean is making his 46th career start this weekend. Only one driver in IndyCar history has had a first career victory come in a 46th career start. That was Hélio Castroneves at Belle Isle in 2000.
Kyle Kirkwood makes it an all-Andretti Autosport row eight. This is the fifth time in the last six races Kirkwood has started outside the top ten. The American won at Portland in five of six Road to Indy starts with his worst finish being second. He was 13th in last year's IndyCar race, the second best result of his rookie season.
Christian Lundgaard was fastest in Friday practice, but he was 0.0603 second shy of advancing to from group one, and Lundgaard will start 17th. The Dane is one of four drivers to be running at the finish of every race this season. Lundgaard has completed 2,044 of 2,055 laps. He has finished on the lead lap of every road and street course race, but he finished off the lead lap in all five oval races.
Jüri Vips makes his IndyCar debut from the same row as his Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing teammate Lundgaard in 18th. Vips will become the second Estonian driver to compete in IndyCar. Tõnis Kasemets started five races in 2006. Kasemets won at Portland in the Atlantic Championship in 2005.
Agustín Canapino has his best starting position since Toronto, as Canapino finds himself in 19th. This is the second time Canapino has started 19th this season. He went from 19th to 12th in Texas. The Argentine's best finish on a natural-terrain road course was 19th at Road America.
Devlin DeFrancesco takes 20th starting position. DeFrancesco has finished 19th in the last two races. The Canadian was 16th in this race last year. He has finished off the lead lap in six consecutive races after finishing on the lead lap in six of the prior seven races.
Hélio Castroneves will be making his 390th start at Portland, moving Castroneves ahead of Tony Kanaan for second all-time. Castroneves started 22nd on debut at Homestead in 1998. Start #390 from Portland is from 21st starting position, gaining a position after Ryan Hunter-Reay took a grid penalty. Mario Andretti is the all-time leader on 407 starts.
Santino Ferrucci is in 22nd on the grid. This is the seventh time in 11 road and street course races Ferrucci is starting outside the top twenty. The Nutmegger was 13th at Gateway. Ferrucci has not had consecutive top fifteen finishes this season.
David Malukas ended up 23rd. In the last six races, Malukas has started in the top ten four times and outside the top twenty twice. The Illinoian has finished in the top ten at only one natural-terrain road course in his IndyCar career. It is Mid-Ohio, where he finished ninth last year and sixth this past July.
Ryan Hunter-Reay had a six-spot grid penalty for using a fifth engine in the #20 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet, knocking him down to 24th starting position. Hunter-Reay has finished 18th and 15th in his last two Portland starts after finishing second in the 2018 race.
Sting Ray Robb starts a directly behind his Dale Coyne Racing teammate Malukas in 25th. Robb made seven Road to Indy starts at Portland. Robb was second in the second Indy Pro 2000 race in 2019. That was his only top five finish at the track in Road to Indy competition.
Benjamin Pedersen had a spin in qualifying, and Pedersen finds himself 26th, his eight consecutive race starting 25th or worse. Pedersen won last year's Indy Lights race at Portland, his one and only Indy Lights victory over two seasons.
Tom Blomqvist makes his second IndyCar appearance this weekend, and it comes from 27th, last in the starting order. Blomqvist was always going to start last, but the #60 Meyer Shank Racing Honda made an unapproved engine change after qualifying as well. MSR's best finish on a natural-terrain road course this season was Linus Lundqvist finishing 12th on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course last month.
NBC's coverage of the BitNile.com Grand Prix of Portland begins at 3:00 p.m. ET with green flag scheduled for 3:30 p.m. ET. The race is scheduled for 110 laps.
