Category: NTT Indy

Malukas posts fastest lap of the race and only driver to break into the 0:59-second lap time

Portland, Ore. (25 August 2024) – Meyer Shank Racing’s (MSR) 150th NTT INDYCAR SERIES start likely won’t have its own chapter in team history books, but the two-car squad bounced back from a tough qualifying session to improve several positions in Sunday’s Bitnile.com Grand Prix of Portland.

Felix Rosenqvist (No. 60 AutoNation / SiriusXM Honda) kept himself in the hunt for a top-10 finish in the season championship as he came from 18th on the grid to finish 14th in the 110-lap event.

David Malukas (No. 66 AutoNation / Arctic Wolf Honda) started 25th after dropping six positions due to an unapproved engine change and ran strong in the early stints before the need to save fuel and a penalty for exceeding track limits left him to finish 20th.

Malukas was one of the early movers in navigating the 1.964-mile, 12-turn Portland International Raceway after trying an alternate pit strategy early in the race that gave him open track to lay down some fast laps. He climbed to 13th toward the end of the first round of pit stops and turned the fastest lap of the race (the only 59-second lap) before problems in his second stint dropped him back in the order.

Rosenqvist was steady all day, gaining a few stops in the early part of the race and holding serve throughout his three pit stops to stay within shouting distance of the top 10. The Swedish driver finished just six seconds out of that top-10 berth to take the 14th spot at the checkered.

The series heads to the famed Milwaukee Mile oval in West Allis, Wisconsin next weekend for the first time since 2015 for a double-header race weekend.

Meyer Shank Racing Driver Quotes:

Felix Rosenqvist: “Hard-fought P14, that was kind of all that I had. It just hasn’t been an great weekend for us. I feel like we have just been average and our finish lined up with that. It’s crazy now in INDYCAR, if you don’t have the perfect car in the race, you’re not going to really go anywhere. Only left turns from here on out, and we’ve been good on ovals, so let’s move on.”

David Malukas: “A weekend of mistakes and errors. It was another character building weekend. I made the mistake in qualifying which put us in the position to start in the back. We chose a risky strategy to come in early and use a bunch of overtake and jump as many cars as we could and then fuel save the rest of the race, but it didn’t pay out in the end. It’s always a 50/50 gamble in these situations and I still back the team in the decision. I really wanted another good result here with the team, but at least few get to turn left, which those races are normally better for me anyways.”

• Jacob Abel captures his third victory and ninth podium of the season in the INDY NXT by Firestone Grand Prix of Portland
• Yuven Sundaramoorthy stays hot, brings home his sixth top 10 in the past seven races

PORTLAND, Ore. (August 25, 2024) – Jacob Abel and ABEL Motorsports INDY NXT by Firestone championship hopes live on, after a fiercely hard-fought victory in Sunday’s 35-lap Grand Prix of Portland.

Abel, 23, powered his No. 51 ABEL Construction Dallara into the lead going into the first turn and held off championship leader Louis Foster for the remainder of the of the race for his third win and ninth podium in 12 races. Teammate Yuven Sundaramoorthy, driving the No. 22 S Team Motorsports/ABEL Motorsports entry, came back from early difficulties to capture an eighth-place finish on Portland International Raceway’s tricky 12-turn, 1.967-mile road course.

The win keeps Abel 79 points back in the title chase, with two races remaining in the season.

Abel took the green in second position, with Sundaramoorthy fifth. Abel tucked behind the pole sitter going down the front straight then slid to the inside as the field headed into the notoriously tight Festival Curves. Abel timed the move perfectly, taking the lead into Turn 1, as Sundaramoorthy avoided contact between cars to take fourth.

Abel held the lead through the first lap, as Sundaramoorthy lost a bit of footing early, putting him back in ninth. Focusing forward, Abel consistently set faster lap times as he began to gain an advantage.

On lap nine, contact between two cars in Turn 9 brought out a full course caution, pausing the action. Back to green on lap 12, Abel refused to relent, fighting off a charge from behind through Turns 3 and 4, and again in Turn 9, to hold the lead. Meanwhile, Sundaramoorthy won a drag race down the front straight to take eighth position.

The action settled in through the race’s midpoint, with Abel holding a half second lead over second, as Sundaramoorthy looked for an opportunity to make a move – and laying down lap times among the leaders.

At the checkered flag, Abel had captured the victory by four-tenths of a second – and immediately thanked the ABEL Motorsports crew that had worked so hard to give him a solid race car.

“We didn’t roll off the trailer that well this weekend, but we were able to make up a ton of ground and ultimately win the race,” said Abel. “So huge congrats to the ABEL Motorsports team, they did a fantastic job. With Louis on pole, I knew I wasn’t going to let him have it easy. But it was a good battle, good racing.

“My goal for the end of the season is to enjoy my last few races in the series and end this year on a high note. It’s been a super strong year for the ABEL team and for me personally. I’m really happy with it. So even if the championship isn’t totally still in play, to get back to victory lane late in the season as both the team and I position ourselves for next year, it’s huge. I want to be in INDYCAR next year so hopefully that helps.”

For Sundaramoorthy, the difficulties early in the race made the difference, but a strong finish showed the mettle of the Wisconsin driver.

“The car was good, I just had difficulty getting it going early,” said Sundaramoorthy. “We collected it mid-race and got it going. I just tried to put a couple of laps together but then, you know, once people started using push-to-pass so it is what it is. We put it together in the end and got another top 10 finish, which is tough given how competitive this series is.”

ABEL Motorsports thanks partners ABEL Construction Company, Advance Ready Mix, Boyd Cat®, S Team Motorsports, Quest Global and OMP for their continued support.

Next up for ABEL Motorsports and the INDY NXT by Firestone will be the Milwaukee 100, Sunday, August 31 at 3:50 p.m. ET at the Milwaukee Mile. The race will be streamed live in the U.S. on Peacock, while international viewers can watch via INDYCARLIVE, with INDYCAR Radio available at indycar.com and on Sirius XM.

About ABEL Motorsports: Team principal Bill Abel began racing motocross in 1972, earning numerous championship titles as he continued the family racing tradition. In 2015, ABEL Motorsports was launched, starting in the USF2000 series and building up the junior open wheel ladder. The team captured the inaugural Formula Regional Americas Championship with driver Kyle Kirkwood in 2018.

ABEL Motorsports currently competes in the INDY NXT by Firestone series, the official development series for the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, led by third-generation driver Jacob Abel. The team made its INDYCAR debut in 2023 with driver RC Enerson in the Indianapolis 500. For more information visit the official team website at abelmotorsports.com.

About Abel Construction Company: ABEL Construction is one of the largest general contractors in Kentucky, holding licenses in thirteen states. The company has offices in Lexington, Kentucky and Indianapolis, Indiana, with the corporate office in Louisville. Their expertise spans many areas, including general contracting, construction management, design-build, Integrated Project Delivery (IPD), and facilities maintenance.

Abel Construction has helped build some of the region’s most recognizable landmarks. Their projects cover diverse sectors, including automotive, healthcare, post-secondary education, commercial, food/beverage, tech, and industrial/manufacturing. They prioritize client satisfaction, focusing on efficient project delivery regardless of size or cost. The company’s skilled professionals utilize cutting-edge technology and software to ensure successful outcomes. abelconstruct.com/.

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PORTLAND, Ore. (Sunday, Aug. 25, 2024) – Jacob Abel knew the task and completed it perfectly.

Abel kept alive his faint hopes for the INDY NXT by Firestone championship by passing points leader Louis Foster on the first lap and winning the Grand Prix of Portland on Sunday at Portland International Raceway. Abel drove his No. 51 Abel Construction entry of Abel Motorsports to victory by .4103 of a second over Foster’s No. 26 Copart/Novara Technologies car of Andretti Global.

“We didn’t roll off the trailer that well at all,” Abel said. “We were really struggling there the first practice session, especially going against someone like Louis, who won here last year and rolled off and just made his stuff better and better. Huge shoutout to the Abel Motorsports crew.”

Abel’s third victory of the season and in his career – his first since early May on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course – pulled him to within 79 points of Foster with two races remaining. Foster only needs to lead by 54 points after the next race, the INDY NXT by Firestone Milwaukee 100 on Saturday, Aug. 31 at the Milwaukee Mile, to clinch his first title in the INDYCAR development series. Foster and Abel are the only drivers still eligible for the championship, which includes a financial package to run selected NTT INDYCAR SERIES races.

“We’re really just trying to go out and win some races,” Abel said. “We lost a little bit of ground there in the middle of the season, so just trying to go out and have some fun and enjoy my last few races in INDY NXT and hopefully make the jump to INDYCAR next year.”

Rookie Bryce Aron of Andretti Global completed the podium finishers today on the 12-turn, 1.964-mile road course in the No. 27 Jaguar Land Rover Chesterfield machine after starting sixth. That finish tied his career best set in June at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.

Rookie Caio Collet finished fourth in the No. 18 HMD Motorsports car, followed by fellow rookie and teammate Christian Brooks in the No. 39 HMD Motorsports machine. Brooks tied a career best with his fifth place.

Abel wasted no time pouncing on an opportunity to pass Foster and keep the championship race alive. Abel, who started second, dove inside pole sitter Foster in the precarious, right-hand Turn 1 on the first lap and led all 35 laps.

But Foster didn’t make it easy on Abel. Foster stayed within a half-second of Abel’s gearbox for the entire race, often closing to within a car length.

Foster, who leads the series with six wins this season, pulled close enough to challenge on Lap 12 but was rebuffed by Abel in a near-calamity for both drivers.

British driver Foster pulled inside of Abel entering the left-hand Turn 10, with Foster’s right front tire making light contact with Abel’s left-rear tire. Foster backed off, and both drivers continued, with Foster applying pressure on leader Abel for the rest of the race.

INDY NXT by Firestone Grand Prix of Portland Race Results

PORTLAND, Ore. – Results Sunday of the INDY NXT by Firestone Grand Prix of Portland INDY NXT by Firestone event on the 1.964-mile Portland International Raceway, with order of finish, starting position in parentheses, driver, laps completed and reason out (if any):

1. (2) Jacob Abel, 35, Running
2. (1) Louis Foster, 35, Running
3. (6) Bryce Aron, 35, Running
4. (8) Caio Collet, 35, Running
5. (7) Christian Brooks, 35, Running
6. (4) Reece Gold, 35, Running
7. (15) Myles Rowe, 35, Running
8. (5) Yuven Sundaramoorthy, 35, Running
9. (11) Josh Pierson, 35, Running
10. (12) Jonathan Browne, 35, Running
11. (14) Christian Bogle, 35, Running
12. (9) Salvador de Alba Jr., 35, Running
13. (13) Callum Hedge, 35, Running
14. (10) Jamie Chadwick, 35, Running
15. (16) Jack William Miller, 35, Running
16. (3) James Roe, 32, Running
17. (17) Ricardo Escotto, 7, Contact

Race Statistics
Winner’s average speed: 106.713 mph
Time of race: 38:38.9698
Margin of victory: 0.4103 of a second
Cautions: 1 for 2 laps
Lead changes: 0

Lap Leaders:
Abel, Jacob 1 – 35

Jacob Abel will start on the outside pole for Sunday’s race, while Yuven Sundaramoorthy will start on row three, the best starting position of his rookie INDY NXT season

PORTLAND, Ore. (August 24, 2024) – ABEL Motorsports put its pair of drivers in position to contend for victory on Sunday, working hard through the weekend to put two solid race cars on the grid for the 35-lap INDY NXT by Firestone Grand Prix of Portland.

At the end of the pair of 15-minute qualifying sessions on the tricky 12-turn, 1.967-mile road course, Jacob Abel had placed the No. 51 ABEL Construction Dallara in second position, with Yuven Sundaramoorthy (No. 22 S Team Motorsports/ABEL Motorsports) earning his best qualifying position of his rookie season, starting in fifth (after a penalty to a car ahead).

The ABEL crews and drivers worked together through two 45-minute practice sessions to optimize setups, balancing having both a stable platform and fast pair of race cars in Friday afternoon’s practice. Then in Saturday morning’s session, both drivers came out of the box hot, with Abel P1 and Sundaramoorthy P2 in the early going. The team continued to fine tune each car and on the combined session time sheet, Abel held the third quickest time and Sundaramoorthy the 12th fastest.

Qualifying took the green flag later in the afternoon, after NTT INDYCAR qualifying and two USF Pro Championships races leaving plenty of rubber on the racetrack. The 17-car INDY NXT field was split for qualifying, with Sundaramoorthy in the first session and Abel in the second, with 15 minutes for each group.

With ambient temperatures in the high 60s and track temps in the high 80s, Sundaramoorthy took the green flag, and immediately put the lessons from the practice sessions to use, putting himself P1 on his fourth lap. At the checkered flag, he held the third quickest in group one, but knowing that P1 would have a six-place grid penalty that would move Sundaramoorthy forward.

Abel headed out moments later, setting the group’s second quickest time on his third lap. As time wound down, Abel set a quick lap of 1:02.4418 to earn his sixth front row start of the season (allowing for the penalty to the car ahead of him).

“We had a lot more pace in the car than I brought out,” said Sundaramoorthy. “I just didn’t quite maximize the lap. I think our theoretical lap was pretty good there, but I didn’t get the most out of it. I think we had pace for third or fourth, but I’ll take P5 at the start. The start is just all about surviving. P5 means we have the inside, and that’s a little better, but we have to hope for less chaos than it’s been in the past.”

“We worked hard to get the cars well prepared for qualifying,” said Abel. “In a series that’s this close, you need everything you can get. We might be a little behind but big props to the crew for working on it all weekend long. We’ll see, we’ll see how the race goes – obviously, it’s always an interesting Turn 1 so we’ll see how it goes for the front row. I’d rather be on the inside of the front row but outside is the next best thing so hopefully we’ll be able to go for it.”

ABEL Motorsports thanks partners ABEL Construction Company, Advance Ready Mix, Boyd Cat®, S Team Motorsports, Quest Global and OMP for their continued support.

The INDY NXT by Firestone Grand Prix of Portland takes the green flag Sunday, August 25 at 1:10 p.m. ET. The race will be streamed live in the U.S. on Peacock, while international viewers can watch via INDYCARLIVE, with INDYCAR Radio available at indycar.com and on Sirius XM.

About ABEL Motorsports: Team principal Bill Abel began racing motocross in 1972, earning numerous championship titles as he continued the family racing tradition. In 2015, ABEL Motorsports was launched, starting in the USF2000 series and building up the junior open wheel ladder. The team captured the inaugural Formula Regional Americas Championship with driver Kyle Kirkwood in 2018.

ABEL Motorsports currently competes in the INDY NXT by Firestone series, the official development series for the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, led by third-generation driver Jacob Abel. The team made its INDYCAR debut in 2023 with driver RC Enerson in the Indianapolis 500. For more information visit the official team website at abelmotorsports.com.

About Abel Construction Company: ABEL Construction is one of the largest general contractors in Kentucky, holding licenses in thirteen states. The company has offices in Lexington, Kentucky and Indianapolis, Indiana, with the corporate office in Louisville. Their expertise spans many areas, including general contracting, construction management, design-build, Integrated Project Delivery (IPD), and facilities maintenance.

Abel Construction has helped build some of the region’s most recognizable landmarks. Their projects cover diverse sectors, including automotive, healthcare, post-secondary education, commercial, food/beverage, tech, and industrial/manufacturing. They prioritize client satisfaction, focusing on efficient project delivery regardless of size or cost. The company’s skilled professionals utilize cutting-edge technology and software to ensure successful outcomes. abelconstruct.com/.

ABEL Motorsports social media

Facebook: ABEL Motorsports
Twitter/X: ABEL Motorsports
Instagram: ABEL Motorsports

CHEVROLET IN NTT INDYCAR SERIES
BITNILE.COM GRAND PRIX OF PORTLAND
PORTLAND INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY
PORTLAND, OREGON
TEAM CHEVY ALL CHEVY FRONT ROW
AUGUST 24, 2024

SANTINO FERRUCCI SCORES CAREER-FIRST NTT P1 AWARD AT PORTLAND
WILL POWER QUALIFIES SECOND TO LOCK-IN ALL CHEVROLET FRONT ROW FOR THE BITNILE.COM GRAND PRIX OF PORTLAND

• Santino Ferrucci put his No. 14 Phoenix Investors AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet on pole for the BiTNILE.COM Grand Prix of Portland with a lap of 58.2046 seconds
• It is Ferrucci’s career-first NTT P1 Award, and the first pole for AJ Foyt Racing since Detroit, 2014
• Will Power, INDYCAR’S all-time pole winner, qualified second to lock-in an all-Chevy power front row behind the wheel of his familiar No. 12 Verizon Business Team Penske Chevrolet with a lap of 58.3120 seconds
• Two Team Chevy drivers-Ferruci and Power-progressed to the Firestone Fast Six to run for the pole
• Josef Newgarden and Romain Grojean also represented the Bowtie brand in the Fast 12
• The schedule on Saturday concluded with a final 30-minute practice at 5:15 PM PT
• The session was completed without incident
• Ferrucci had a solid session finishing ninth in the final order
• Sunday’s race will be live of USA and Peacock starting at Noon PT, 3:00 PM ET plus INDYCAR Radio, and SiriusXM Channel 218..

TEAM CHEVY TOP-10 QUALIFYING RESULT:
Pos. Driver
1st Santino Ferrucci (58.2046)
2nd Will Power (58.3129)
7th Josef Newgarden (58.41.63)
8th Romain Grojean (58.4494)

WHAT THEY ARE SAYING-QUOTES

SANTINO FERRUCCI, NO. 14 PHOENIX INVESTORS AJ FOYT RACING CHEVROLET, POLE WINNER:

How special is this moment?

“I mean, this is definitely one of the greatest days of my career. In qualifying, too, it’s so tight. This series is so incredible talented. To be doing this today is such a feat for us and the team, and shows how hard we’ve been working. I can’t thank everybody enough for believing in me.

“Man, I think it’s no secret how hard we’ve been working this year, how hard I’ve been working, Larry (Foyt), our entire staff. I mean, my first career pole in an INDYCAR and I’m not known for being the best qualifier and today, we just felt it. We unrolled off the trailer amazing. It’s been a year of hard work and progression. We’ve showed some real speed at certain times and it feels great to put it together, man. I can’t just thank this entire team enough, Sexton Properties, Phoenix Investors, everybody that’s involved, Chevrolet. We brought it.”

Starting on pole, how do you keep it up front in the race tomorrow?

“We’ve been so good in race craft, that’s actually the least of my worries. The racing’s so good for us. We’ve been struggling everywhere else on the weekend, so to knock this out of the park, I’m excited.”

You’ve been strong on ovals in past, but to get this first career pole on a road course, how does that feel to you?

“Everything. I’ve got some more bargaining power for next year. I mean, I love it. What Larry (Foyt) and I have been building at this team, I’m so proud of him, so proud of what we have accomplished, and I just can’t wait for the future. I think this is a glimpse of what we’ve got. This is the last road course of the year, and, trust me, I want to get on that podium so bad, stand on that top step, and a road course would be a way to make it happen.”

LARRY FOYT, AJ FOYT RACING TEAM PRESIDENT:

“It’s just awesome. I mean, the trajectory where we’ve been headed as a team, it’s just been great. We’ve added so many great people to our group. Santino (Ferrucci) is just getting better all of the time. This is just a testament to everything we’re doing. Thanks to affiliation with Penske. Certainly, a huge help. Those guys are awesome, but our guys just really delivered today and Santino drove the wheels off. It’ll be good to call dad. It’ll be a fun call for a change. I hope the Sextons are watching and the Phoenix livery is beautiful this weekend. It’s great, just great.”

We know what one half of the team is going to look like from the driver perspective with David Malukas. What does this do to help solidify Santino’s position in the team?

“He’s done a super job this year. Can’t say enough about how he’s helped elevate the team. It’s just really good. I hope he can enjoy this. It’s really great for the morale of the whole group.”

What have been some key moments along the way with this team whether it’s key personnel, milestones, etc.?

“You get a good group together, everybody pulling in the same direction, and that’s what it really takes. INDYCAR is so tight. You can be up one weekend and down there next. If you’ve got a group that really likes working together and putting in the extra effort, that’s just what we’ve been doing. From guys like Michael Cannon joining the team to the Penske affiliation, Chevy power, everything just comes to this. It feels great.”

MICHAEL CANNON, AJ FOYT RACING TECHNICAL DIRECTOR:

“I’m just so blessed to work with so many really good drivers, really great drivers, a lot more great drivers and these great engineers. This has been a 19-month project getting here and I can’t thank Larry (Foyt) enough for giving me this opportunity to build a racing team, Roger Penske and his group, Ron and all the guys there with all of the help they’ve been giving us, it’s made a world of difference. We’ve turned this team completely around from tail end Charlie to pole. This is magnificent.”

Many on the team were here when you showed up to help with this resurgence. Celebrating this moment, what does that mean to you?

“Everything. It means everything. I hope AJ (Foyt) is watching. I hope he’s proud of us. It was what I was hired to do. A lot of us came in here given a blank slate, not necessarily a blank check but a blank slate. To pull this off is remarkable. It’s one of the best days of my 42 years of racing that I can remember. Just truly remarkable, so proud of (this crew), and I’m so glad I could do this for Larry and AJ (Foyt).”

WILL POWER, NO. 12 VERIZON BUSINESS TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED SECOND:

“I made one mistake in turn 12. I dropped the wheel off which lost me a bit over a tenth, so (Santino Ferrucci)’s lap was very, very good. He did a great job. All stoked to get through the Fast Six. I really wanted pole because it helps so much not getting caught up in that first corner. But, it’s great to be on the front row with somewhat of a teammate. Obviously, with Santino, we share information some, so we can start about the start. Ultimately, just have to keep finishing ahead of (Alex) Palou. He’s right there. Obviously, I can be a bit more aggressive than he can on the start. I have less to lose than he does, so we’ll just focus on trying to win the race.”

JOSEF NEWGARDEN, NO. 2 TIRERACK.COM TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED SEVENTH:

“We heard your radio discussing the limiter concern that you had on your lap. How big of a difference do you feel that it made?

“Pretty small, but when you’re talking in the grand scheme of things of couple of hundredths of a second making the difference in the cut, you know… We haven’t seen the data yet, but regardless of that, we probably needed to be a little bit quicker to be safe and not have to even worry about something like that. But that on that particular lap, we had a limiter spike for whatever reason. I’m disappointed. Our car was really good. This team is really good. Luke (Mason) did a really good job on the set up. It’s fun to have TireRack.com on board. They’re new for us this weekend. Obviously, we have a great partnership with Discount Tire, so to bring Tire Rack as well is really great on our INDYCAR program. But I’m disappointed because I really wanted to transfer there, I wanted a shot at the pole. Hopefully, Will (Power) can get that job done. As you can see, our cars are quick. We’ll have to focus on the race with the No. 2 car.”

Obviously, INDYCAR qualifying is intense but it seems like this weekend, the field is so close. How intense are these sessions as a driver?

“It’s insane. I don’t know how to describe it any more. We have essentially a new car we’re working with. It’s five races old, we’re 100 pounds lighter. It’s hybridized, so it’s a completely different use case and somehow everyone is within a tenth or two of a second. It’s unbelievable how tight it is. You can’t make one little misstep whether it’s me driving the car or us with the setup. Any little detail just can’t be missed. It’s hard. I don’t think there’s anything more competitive on the planet. It’s been that way with INDYCAR but it seems to ratchet up each year.”

ROMAIN GROJEAN, NO. 77 JUNCOS HOLLINGER RACING CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED EIGHTH:

“P8 in qualifying, and think we’re going to start P6 with engine penalties in front, so pretty good job. Not an easy weekend with the start, but we’ve done some great work to get better in qualifying. A few ideas for the race. Weather for tomorrow is going to be a lot different, so we just need to try to analyze that the best and get a good race car.”

SCOTT MCLAUGHLIN, NO. 3 FREIGHTLINER TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 14TH: NOTE – will take a six position grid penalty for unapproved engine change

“Our car was good now, I just didn’t find the gap where I should have. Pretty disappointed for everyone on the Freightliner Chevy. Our car was quick. You just can’t afford to just be, even if the car is a second in front of you, it’s disturbs it enough to slow it down. I’m bummed with that because we have a car good enough for pole, but I’m just going to have to do it the hard way.”

What did the reds feel like there? Did they take a lap or two to come in there?

“It was pretty normal to every other track. It’s not a problem with that. It’s a matter of just getting it in the right gap.”

RINUS VEEKAY, NO. 21 askROI ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 15TH:

“This is a tough one. We really feel that we have a much better car than 15th, but it’s so hard to get the gaps right during qualifying and then not knowing what other cars around you are going to do. Last year though, I started 13th and had my best finish of the season, so we will try to move our way forward tomorrow and continue our streak of Top 10s!”

CHRISTIAN RASMUSSEN, NO. 20 GUY CARE ED CARPENTER RACING CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 17TH:

“I think everyone knows it’s that tight. You have to be on the absolute limit to even transfer. A tenth of a second, I mean, in practice it was a matter of ten spots, a tenth of a second. It’s crazy tight. Unfortunately, we were just on the wrong side of that, and I think we have a strong car this weekend. We didn’t really show our pace in the practices, but this is more like it. Hopefully, we can move forward a little bit in the race and finish the season off strong.”

Last race of the season, what does that mean mentally for you?

“I want to race, that’s what I’m here for, but right now I’m focusing on this weekend and doing the best I can, give us a best spot in the championship – that’s what we’re all thinking about. It’s not going to be anything super crazy this weekend, just kind of a safe, strong weekend.”

ALEXANDER ROSSI, NO. 7 ARROW MCLAREN CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 18TH:

PATO O’WARD, NO. 5 ARROW MCLAREN CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 23RD:

“I don’t know what went on with the reds. The blacks, the car didn’t feel horrible on the blacks, it just felt like it never switched on the reds. I don’t know if it what how we brought them in or having to back down when some of the guards in front… We were a little bit off sequence. That was obviously a handful. Just no pace in it at all. Couldn’t really get it out of the car. There’s not much more I could’ve done or would’ve been spinning. It’s a bummer because I thought we had a chance for at least a Fast Six and for the pole. We just couldn’t get the car to switch on on the reds.”

NOLAN SIEGEL, NO. 6 ARROW MCLAREN CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 24TH:

“Pretty strong pace-wise in practice, and we were in a good spot to transfer, then I thought we had pretty clean run and the balance in the car was fine. It didn’t feel like anything went wrong, we were just lacking pace. Obviously, none of us transferred so not a stellar day. We’ll have to find a little bit more and keep searching. I think our race pace is a little bit better than qualifying pace, at least, but was hoping to have a stronger qualifying session for the last road course qualifying of the year, for sure.”

You went 20th to seventh at World Wide Technology Raceway so you know how to slice and dice your way through the field. What kind of different challenges on a road course does that present?

“It’s very different than to oval racing. I don’t know how much strategizing there will be in this race. I think that it’s generally easier to make passes on road courses or at least it has been. Gateway raced pretty well. I don’t know. We’ll see. I’ve never done an INDYCAR race here at Portland, so I’ll be learning. I’ll see what I can do, and hopefully this track races as well as Gateway did last weekend.”

STING RAY ROBB, NO. 41 GOODHEART VET/PRAY.COM AJ FOYT RACING CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 25TH:

”Qualifying was great for the team, seeing Santino in P1 was very exciting . We’re going to his car to try it out in the warmup and see what happens there. Hopefully that will improve it for us and I think that we’ll be in a good spot.”

CONOR DALY, NO. 78 JUNCOS HOLLINGER RACING CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED 27TH:

“It is what it is. It’s just frustrating because I think the team made a great step forward in the car. Just don’t have the experience to take advantage of it, and we can’t afford to make silly mistakes either. I think we’ll be fine, I do believe that. Obviously, the work is really hard for us. But I appreciate everyone trying to get me up to speed with just one session. Honestly, you just have to make something happen. We’ll try and stay out of trouble and try to strategize our way forward and use the speed of the car that we’ve got. It is what it is. I’m personally frustrated because I want to be better for these (Juncos Hollinger Racing) guys. It’s almost impossible to really know what I don’t know.”

POST QUALIFYING PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT:

Santino Ferrucci

Larry Foyt

Will Power

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: We’re joined by Santino Ferrucci for AJ Foyt Racing with his first career NTT P1 award.

Santino, congratulations. Tell us about this. What are the emotion months like?

SANTINO FERRUCCI: Man, it’s pretty awesome. It’s my first career pole in the series. To come on a road course like Portland where it’s so tight, it’s so competitive. It just felt great.

That lap felt amazing. We rolled off the trailer really good coming here. We knew we had a strong car. So it’s really nice to put everything together for myself and for the team.

Yeah, super stoked as well. New sponsor on the car this weekend, Phoenix Investors. They were all down there in the pits with us when it happened, so it was a blast.

THE MODERATOR: You were already P1, but pushing towards the end. The unknown is what you’re fearful of. You weren’t backing down at the end at all, were you?

SANTINO FERRUCCI: No, definitely not. It’s always about who crosses the line last year. I’ve watched enough Fast Sixes to know that. We field for three laps, so I was going to use them all, regardless if we ran out or not.

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Larry, could you talk about what this means for the organization.

LARRY FOYT: Well, it’s huge. I think you can just see how happy everybody is because a couple years ago it was a struggle. We’ve just kept building this team, kept adding better people. It’s led to all this.

Having some consistency with Santino, man, everyone is just really happy. This whole year, even fighting for a top 10 in the championship was a huge step up. The qualifying pace, don’t say you’re not a good qualifier, can’t say that (smiling).

We have such a good group working together from the engineering, mechanics, and a hell of a driver. So it feels great.

Q. How much does the Penske alliance put you in this position today?

LARRY FOYT: It’s great. They’ve been super to work with. I’ve learned a lot. So can’t thank them enough for everything that they’ve done to help us achieve that, get to where we’re headed. Awesome organization to be with.

Q. Santino, you said this gives you some bargaining power for next year. Are you going to get a contract out of Larry by the end of the day? What’s your situation?

SANTINO FERRUCCI: When is warm-up? How long do we have (laughter)?

No, it’s good. I don’t think it’s any secret that I very much found a home here with Larry and AJ Foyt. I want to stay. That’s kind of in the cards here. Obviously there’s a lot that needs to happen, still a pretty big off-season.

Getting pole today definitely doesn’t hurt (smiling).

THE MODERATOR: AJ Foyt’s first P1 award since Belle Isle in 2014. This has to feel good, Larry.

LARRY FOYT: Yeah, I was in my 30s (smiling). It does feel great. We had a good car from when we unloaded. Santino said the car was really good. We thought we had a shot at top six, but we really didn’t think the pole. Just a hell of a lap he put in there.

Q. You felt this was a place you could target for a strong result. What about this track, permanent road course package, made for this? Did you feel like a pole was possible or did this take you a little by surprise today?

SANTINO FERRUCCI: I said Portland would be a good one for us just based off of how we did at Barber and Laguna. We kind of understood why we were so quick there in the race. It was just putting it together here in Portland. Obviously they’re three totally different tracks.

When we unloaded on Friday, we knew we had a really good car. Then it was fine-tuning it really into today. I kind of figured we’d be able to get into the top 12. The Fast Six I knew was going to be really difficult.

The new tire runs for us we’re not super sparkly. The second tire runs is where I kind of knew we had something. So in my head, when Larry told me we had advanced into the Fast Six, I knew that if I just stayed calm and hit my marks, we could really be a threat to contend for a pole.

I didn’t think we would get it, but I thought we would at least be on the front row. I’m beyond thrilled to lead the field to green tomorrow.

THE MODERATOR: Larry, any chance you’ve heard from the boss yet?

LARRY FOYT: No. I’m going to go give him a call right now and give Marlene Sexton from Sexton properties a call. None of this would be possible without them. This will be a fun call (smiling).

Q. When the Fast Six starts, we see everybody pile out onto the track. You stayed in your pit stall for quite a few minutes. Was it just a matter of that’s the way you wanted to do it to build a gap or did it have more to do with the heat cycle on the reds?

SANTINO FERRUCCI: There were a couple of strategy things involved. I think I’ll say a lot has to do with the fuel situation here in Portland. Just we’ve run a lot today. We really only had one run. Just wanted to make it count.

Yeah, that was kind of the plan.

Q. We had the announcement about Malukas. Santino, when we know what you’ve accomplished, how this program has grown together, the ability to not get demoralized, down, continue to rally when you’re facing an unknown situation for next year…

SANTINO FERRUCCI: Yeah, I think it’s been a very interesting two years. I think me and Larry have worked really well together. That news is honestly a huge steppingstone for the team. There’s a lot behind for that. Obviously for me it’s a bit of an unknown.

Things like today help. The Indy results that we’ve had during the 500 help. Being 10th in the championship helps. We’ve really brought it together.

Regardless of news, I never really found it demoralizing if that makes sense just because of how much we’ve been able to accomplish in the last two years. I don’t see it as a negative. I see it as a massive positive for something like that to come along.

Yeah, no, it’s exciting for the future. I can’t wait to see what unfolds.

Q. Larry, any thoughts other than that?

LARRY FOYT: Yeah, this whole season is a big tribute to a lot of what Santino brings to the table. Fighting for us to get top 10 in the championship, first time in two decades that this late in the season we’re fighting for that. That’s a big testament to a lot that he’s done.

We have a great relationship. I’m sure things will work out the way they should.

Q. Santino, in the Fast Six, you had last year’s polesitter Graham Rahal, Alex Palou, Will Power. Does that make what you accomplished today, taking pole, any more satisfying?

SANTINO FERRUCCI: To be honest, when we made it into the Fast Six, I was like, Who’s in it?

They said, Will.

I was like, Oh, damn.

It’s so hard to compete against everybody here. Everybody’s so talented. On any given day as a driver, as an athlete, if you get everything right, it’s a chance and an opportunity to excel. We had the car. Today was the day for me in qualifying to nail the lap, to get it right, especially when it counts.

Honestly the Fast 12 was more pressure than the Fast Six just because it’s so hard. I mean, you’re going against so many more people. Once you’re in the Fast Six, the math in my head was you’re in the Fast Five. Once you’re in the Fast Five, it’s only two more spots to third. If you nail your lap, it’s front row.

To take the pole, I didn’t really think about it (laughter).

Q. Were folks communicating to your ear with 30 seconds to go that you were on top or did you not know you had pole or were sitting on the fastest time until the session was over with?

SANTINO FERRUCCI: I knew I was first starting the final lap, when I came onto the frontstretch just because we have telem in the car and stuff like that. I knew I was good. With one more lap to go, it’s whoever does the last lap normally gets the pole.

I just kind of put my head down. I felt like the car was in a perfect position. I just drove as hard as I could. When I got on the back straight out of seven, that’s when I keyed up the radio ’cause they have more telemetry than anybody else. I was asking them if I’m going to make it. Knew we were quick. I knew it was a hell of a lap. I just didn’t know how good.

At the line, we kind of knew. We were just waiting for Palou. Yeah, once we came down pit road, we had it.

Q. What is it like when you look down with a lap to go and you’re sitting on top? Was it surprising? How do you keep your emotions in check?

SANTINO FERRUCCI: Kind of made me hungry, I’m not going to lie. When you see it there and you know you got more lap time that you can wring out of the car and yourself as a driver, I saw that. I saw I was already negative on the dash. I just wanted to push as hard as I could to see what I could actually do without the threat of what’s the worst that’s going to happen. You’re still going to end up in the Fast Six. At that point there’s no pressure to not push. That’s kind of where I was at mentally.

Q. Larry, there’s been a lot of attention on the Penske deal. A lot of people you brought into the team over the past few years. Might you want to talk about those people and reaction to all this happening, the importance of some of the hires you made.

LARRY FOYT: Well, for sure. I mean, we’ve been fortunate to bring in some really great people that have helped all the way from Michael Cannon to a lot of the other engineers, Adam, James. The whole stand. C.J., has been here a long time. A lot of people have stuck with us through the hard times, and as well a lot of new people have come in and been a great addition.

It’s just a great group that are working hard together. Definitely the Penske alliance has been great. They’re a great company to work with. We go back so far. AJ and Roger go way back. Obviously Tim Cindric. Working with him and Ron has been great. I’ve learned a lot. Certainly has been a benefit to help us get to where we’re headed.

No, can’t say enough about everyone on the team. That alliance has been very helpful, as well.

Q. Santino, is this your first pole since British F3 in 2014?

SANTINO FERRUCCI: Yeah, I think this is my first one in a minute. At least that I can remember (smiling). It will be nice to lead the field to green, to have no one in front of us.

I’ve been off pole a couple of times. But yeah, it’s definitely fun.

Q. Will was saying you two could strategize for tomorrow. Does it help to have someone who is sort of a teammate to you alongside you?

SANTINO FERRUCCI: It’s definitely going to make it interesting. At the end of the day we are kind of our own team. We’re fighting our own championship. The championship doesn’t really matter as much to me as getting a win. That’s kind of my goal.

If we can help out some of our Penske alliance friends, to help Will with the championship in any way with how we do things, then yeah, we’re obviously going to. It’s what teammates do, how things kind of work.

By no means am I going to start and pull over and let him take the lead into one.

Q. Can you assess the rise that you and the team have had over the last 12 months?

SANTINO FERRUCCI: Man, yeah, it’s been a huge help. There’s so much more that goes into it between just the alliance and working with everybody. Our engineering staff is unreal. We have some really overqualified guys here. They’ve worked together so well.

It’s one of those things to where it’s kind of created a perfect storm for us to where everybody has just gelled seamlessly. The car, we found good setups throughout the year. We found a lot of speed at a lot of different tracks, a lot of different disciplines. We were good at Laguna, Barber. We were average at Road America.

Coming into Portland with the last road course, I knew if we put everything together correctly… Everyone working with Chevrolet and some of the other things that we get as being a Chevy team really prepped us well for this event and it shows.

This is definitely a glimpse into the future for the team, I believe.

THE MODERATOR: As we wrap up qualifying, we’re joined now by Will Power. His fourth front row start of 2024.

You were the first one to congratulate Santino. You knew what this kind of moment meant for him, right?

WILL POWER: Yeah, I’m good friends with Santino. We go-kart together, go to dinner, so on. I was upset that I didn’t get pole, I really wanted it here, I wanted it badly. I was kind of a little bit upset.

Couldn’t be happier for Santino. He’s driving extremely well. And Foyt, it’s a great partnership for those guys. It’s good stuff, man. Good stuff. A fiercely competitive field. As you’ve seen, you never know who is going to get pole, you never know who will be the top six, you never know who is going to win the race.

THE MODERATOR: Obviously a Chevy sweep on the front row. Points championship still very much alive. Starting second, a nice boost heading into tomorrow’s race.

WILL POWER: Yeah, very nice to be on the front row. Of course, you have Palou right there. I can certainly be aggressive with him because he has a lot more to lose than me. Just got to keep finishing ahead of him. I’ll drive like Verstappen. Give him a little bit of pressure (smiling).

THE MODERATOR: We’ll open it up for questions for Will.

Q. Looking at the championship, do you still see it as a realistic opportunity for you?

WILL POWER: Yeah, man, still very, very possible. Very possible. It’s almost a little less than a quarter of the races to go, four races. A lot of points, a lot of stuff can happen.

I would have to say if he finishes ahead of me tomorrow, starts to look very, very tough. We have to have a good day, at least finish ahead of him, see where we come out in points there. Then doubleheader at Milwaukee, a lot on offer. Our goal is to get as close as we can to him by Nashville.

Q. After all that happened last week, have you cleared that up with the team? Is that sorted going into the rest of the season?

WILL POWER: Yeah, I mean, whatever. I’m over that stuff real quick. Just one of those things that was unfortunate. We had a very good car and a very good night.

Yeah, moved on very quickly, focusing on this event to get the best possible result. See what we can do tomorrow.

Q. How do you see Santino as a prospect, and Foyt as well? They have the potential to start taking points away from you. At the same time they’ve also got the potential to finish ahead some of your rivals as well. How do you see all that playing out?

WILL POWER: Well, yeah, they could be a great asset to us, taking points from Palou. Obviously, yes, they can take points from us, but that’s just the name of the game. They got a good driver in Santino, obviously a good car with the partnership we have.

Yeah, like I said before, I couldn’t be happier for Santino to get a pole. He works hard, deserves it.

Q. Looking at the final stretch of races with the three oval races to come, you have to feel a little bit more confident than Alex considering Alex hasn’t had an oval victory.

WILL POWER: Yeah, based on our oval form this year, we should be more confident than he is. You never know in this series, though. I think Dixon is very strong at Nashville. Milwaukee, we haven’t been there, so we don’t know.

Ultimately we have to finish ahead of him every weekend. It’s the only way. Anything can happen in this series. Look at last week. I mean, I led so many laps, had the quickest car, and I finished 18th just because of a restart. Same with Toronto the race before. I was running the top four or five, had an incident, gave myself a drive-through.

A lot can go down and change quickly. We’ll see how this plays out.

Q. Looking at the race tomorrow, a lot of the other championship contenders are caught in the awkward midfield area, which is not a place to be at Portland.

WILL POWER: Yeah, definitely a tough place to be at the start of the race, no question. We’ll see, yeah. Can even be tough where I am honestly. Really you want to be a leader. That’s why I was mad after I didn’t get pole. Man, I need that, get a jump in front of the whole field, take off.

Yeah, but they have the lead to go early which strings it out more than it used to, so that will help. Yeah, we’ll see what happens.

Q. Do you feel this weekend can erase what happened last weekend? How confident are you to catch some important championship points tomorrow?

WILL POWER: Yeah, it certainly can erase last weekend with a race win. That would help tremendously. I know Palou is a very tough customer. He doesn’t make mistakes. He’s very good in the race. We’ve got our work cut out for us to finish ahead of him because it’s almost essential that we do.

We’ll work on our car in warm-up and try to get the best possible race car that we have, yeah, see where we stand.

Q. How important is it to start in the first row for tomorrow? How do you feel about that?

WILL POWER: I think the only guy that feels completely safe is P1. Even starting on the outside of the front row can be a little tough at times because the inside row goes, if you can’t block out third place.

Yeah, we’ll see. Anything can happen. Can’t really plan on it. Just the key is to get through that first turn in a reasonable position.

Q. Do you feel you could be P1 after the second session?

WILL POWER: Yeah, like in the Fast Six, could I have been P1? Is that what you mean?

Q. Yes.

WILL POWER: Yeah, I made a mistake. The lap he did was really good. He did a really good lap. It was going to be tough to beat that.

But I actually lost like a 10th and a half on the 10 and 12 curb when I made a little mistake there. It was doable, but man, he put a bloody good lap together. It’s impressive.

Q. You said you can talk with Santino about the start, and also you can be more aggressive than Alex can be. What can you and Santino work together on ahead of the start? What kind of plan can you put in place? When you say you can be more aggressive, what does that mean?

WILL POWER: Well, we can take more risk with strategy. I mean, I race as clean and fairly as possible. Never want to win a championship in a way where you’ve taken someone out. Of course not. But I can race him a little harder because it’s not just me that he’s racing. If we both went out, it would be bad because there’s a lot of people coming as well around my points.

Yeah, yeah, my goal is I just got to stay ahead of the guy. I have to finish ahead of him, it’s as simple as that. It’s the only way I’m going to have a shot at the championship.

ABOUT CHEVROLET

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PORTLAND, Ore. (Saturday, Aug. 24, 2024) – The beat goes on for Louis Foster – quickly, as usual.

Foster continued his march toward the INDY NXT by Firestone championship Saturday by winning the pole for the Grand Prix of Portland with a top time of 1 minute, 2.1396 seconds in the No. 26 Copart/Novara Technologies car fielded by Andretti Global. Foster broke the track record he set by winning the pole last year with the quickest trip around the 12-turn, 1.964-mile road course in three sessions this weekend – all led by Foster.

“Turn 1 is just absolutely bananas here,” Foster said. “My goal this weekend, honestly, was just to get through Turn 1 safely. And the best way to do that is to sit on pole. Happy to have done that.”

Coverage of the 35-lap race starts at 1:15 p.m. ET Sunday on Peacock and the INDYCAR Radio Network. Championship leader Foster has won six of the last eight races this season in the INDYCAR development series.

This was the fifth pole of the season for Foster. It’s also the ninth of his two-season career in INDY NXT, tying him for sixth on the all-time list. The last driver to win as many poles in a season as Foster was current Chip Ganassi Racing NTT INDYCAR SERIES driver Linus Lundqvist, who took six top spots en route to the INDY NXT title in 2022.

Foster, from England, leads the standings by 91 points over Jacob Abel and needs to expand that gap to 108 points after the race Sunday to clinch the title. There are only three races remaining this season.

Brazilian rookie Caio Collet was runner-up to Foster for the third straight session this weekend, qualifying second at 1:02.2922 in the No. 18 HMD Motorsports car. But Collet will start eighth in the race due to a six starting-spot penalty for blocking and avoidable contact in an incident with Jamie Chadwick in the race last Saturday at World Wide Technology Raceway.

Abel qualified third at 1:02.4418 in the No. 51 Abel Construction car fielded by Abel Motorsports, followed by James Roe at 1:02.7614 in the No. 29 Topcon machine of Andretti Global.

Reece Gold qualified fifth at 1:02.6777 in the No. 10 HMD Motorsports. Yuven Sundaramoorthy will join him in the third row after qualifying sixth at 1:02.8024 in the No. 22 S Team Motorsports/Abel Motorsports machine.

INDY NXT by Firestone Grand Prix of Portland Qualifying Results

PORTLAND, Ore. – Qualifying Saturday for the INDY NXT by Firestone Grand Prix of Portland INDY NXT by Firestone event on the 1.964-mile Portland International Raceway, with starting position, car number in parentheses, driver, time and speed in parentheses:

1. (26) Louis Foster, 01:02.1396 (113.783 mph)
2. (18) Caio Collet, 01:02.2922 (113.504)
3. (51) Jacob Abel, 01:02.4418 (113.232)
4. (29) James Roe, 01:02.7614 (112.655)
5. (10) Reece Gold, 01:02.6777 (112.806)
6. (22) Yuven Sundaramoorthy, 01:02.8024 (112.582)
7. (27) Bryce Aron, 01:02.7034 (112.759)
8. (39) Christian Brooks, 01:02.9221 (112.368)
9. (2) Salvador de Alba Jr., 01:02.7589 (112.660)
10. (28) Jamie Chadwick, 01:02.9800 (112.264)
11. (14) Josh Pierson, 01:02.8103 (112.568)
12. (23) Jonathan Browne, 01:03.0204 (112.192)
13. (17) Callum Hedge, 01:02.9215 (112.369)
14. (7) Christian Bogle, 01:03.1768 (111.915)
15. (99) Myles Rowe, 01:02.9686 (112.285)
16. (40) Jack William Miller, 1:04.0255 (110.431)
17. (76) Ricardo Escotto, 01:03.3829 (111.551)

PORTLAND, Ore. (Saturday, Aug. 24, 2024) – The ascension of AJ Foyt Racing this season hit its highest point Saturday, as Santino Ferrucci delivered the fabled team its first NTT INDYCAR SERIES pole since 2014 by earning the NTT P1 Award for the BITNILE.COM Grand Prix of Portland.

Ferrucci earned his first career series pole in his first-ever appearance in the Firestone Fast Six, turning a top lap of 58.2046 seconds in the No. 14 Phoenix Investors Chevrolet owned by legendary four-time Indianapolis 500 winner A.J. Foyt. It was the quickest lap overall so far this weekend in three sessions on the 12-turn, 1.964-mile road course at Portland International Raceway.

“We just felt it,” Ferrucci said. “We just rolled off the truck amazing. It’s been a year of hard work and progression, and we’ve shown some real speed at some times. It’s just great to put it together, man. Oh, my God.”

This was the first NTT P1 Award for Foyt’s team since Takuma Sato won the pole in June 2014 for the second race of the doubleheader at Raceway at Belle Isle in Detroit. Ferrucci’s previous best start was second in the second race of the doubleheader in 2020 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, when he drove for Dale Coyne Racing in an event that didn’t include the Firestone Fast Six due to pandemic-related event format changes.

Two-time series champion Will Power will share the front row for the 110-lap race Sunday (3 p.m. ET, USA Network, Peacock, INDYCAR Radio Network) after qualifying second at 58.3120 in the No. 12 Verizon Business Team Penske Chevrolet.

The front-row lockout was the high point so far of the technical alliance between Team Penske and AJ Foyt Racing that started this season, which has helped the Foyt team become more competitive. Ferrucci, a free agent after this season, also admitted the pole may help him land another contract with Foyt’s team.

“I think it’s no secret how hard we’ve been working this year, how hard I’ve been working, Larry (team president Larry Foyt), our entire staff,” Ferrucci said. “Hell, I’ve got some more bargaining power for next year. I love it.

“What Larry and I have been building here at this team, I’m so proud of him, so proud of what we’ve accomplished. I just can’t wait for the future. This is just a glimpse of what we’ve got.”

Two-time and defending series champion Alex Palou continued his march toward a third title in four seasons by qualifying third at 58.4316 in the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. Palou leads second-place Colton Herta by 59 points – slightly over a race’s worth of points – in the standings with four races remaining.

Christian Lundgaard qualified fourth at 58.5809 in the No. 45 Hy-Vee Honda fielded by Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, his best performance since qualifying second for the Sonsio Grand Prix in May on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course. RLL was the only team to put two cars into the Firestone Fast Six in a strong rebound from struggles in practice Friday and Saturday morning.

Kyle Kirkwood qualified fifth at 58.5960 in the No. 27 AutoNation Honda of Andretti Global but will start 11th due to a six-spot grid penalty for an unapproved engine change after the last event, last Saturday night at World Wide Technology Raceway.

Graham Rahal rounded out the Firestone Fast Six at 58.6332 in the No. 15 Hendrickson Honda of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. But he also incurred a six-position grid penalty for an unapproved engine change at WWTR and will start 12th.

While Ferrucci’s pole sent shockwaves and congratulations from rival teams up and down pit lane, the list of drivers who failed to advance to the Firestone Fast Six also created ripples.

Herta qualified 10th in the No. 26 Gainbridge Honda of Andretti Global with Curb-Agajanian after an off-track excursion and wheelspin exiting a corner hurt two of his laps in the second round of qualifying. Six-time series champion Scott Dixon, third in points, qualified 11th in the No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. Herta and Dixon will start eighth and ninth, respectively, due to the grid penalties of Kirkwood and Rahal.

Perhaps the biggest surprise was Scott McLaughlin, fifth in points, qualifying 14th in the No. 3 Freightliner Team Penske Chevrolet after leading both practice sessions. Judging traffic on the short road course was the culprit, he said.

“I just didn’t find the gap where I should have,” McLaughlin said. “Pretty disappointed. You just can’t afford to … even if the car is a second in front of you, it (turbulence) disturbs it enough to slow it down.”

CHEVROLET IN NTT INDYCAR SERIES
BITNILE.COM GRAND PRIX OF PORTLAND
PORTLAND INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY
PORTLAND, OREGON
TEAM CHEVY ALL CHEVY FRONT ROW WITH QUOTES AND TRANSCRIPTS

AUGUST 24, 2024

SANTINO FERRUCCI SCORES FIRST CAREER NTT P1 AWARD FOR THE BITNILE.COM GRAND PRIX OF PORTLAND

WILL POWER QUALIFIES SECOND TO LOCK FRONT ROW FOR CHEVROLET

• Santino Ferrucci put his No. 14 Phoenix Investors AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet on pole for the BiTNILE.COM Grand Prix of Portland with a lap of 58.2046 seconds
• It is Ferrucci’s career-first NTT P1 Award, and the first pole for AJ Foyt Racing since Detroit, 2014
• Will Power qualified second to lock-in an all-Chevy power front row behind the wheel of his familiar No. 12 Verizon Business Team Penske Chevrolet with a lap of 58.3120 seconds
• The schedule on Saturday will conclude with a final 30-minute practice at 5:15 PM PT. All practice and qualifying sessions broadcast with Peacock, INDYCAR Radio, and SiriusXM Channel 218. Sunday’s race will be live of USA and Peacock starting at noon PT, 3:00 PM ET.

WHAT THEY ARE SAYING

SANTINO FERRUCCI, NO. 14 PHOENIX INVESTORS AJ FOYT RACING CHEVROLET, POLE WINNER:

How special is this moment?

“I mean, this is definitely one of the greatest days of my career. In qualifying, too, it’s so tight. This series is so incredible talented. To be doing this today is such a feat for us and the team, and shows how hard we’ve been working. I can’t thank everybody enough for believing in me.

“Man, I think it’s no secret how hard we’ve been working this year, how hard I’ve been working, Larry (Foyt), our entire staff. I mean, my first career pole in an INDYCAR and I’m not known for being the best qualifier and today, we just felt it. We unrolled off the trailer amazing. It’s been a year of hard work and progression. We’ve showed some real speed at certain times and it feels great to put it together, man. I can’t just thank this entire team enough, Sexton Properties, Phoenix Investors, everybody that’s involved, Chevrolet. We brought it.”

Starting on pole, how do you keep it up front in the race tomorrow?

“We’ve been so good in race craft, that’s actually the least of my worries. The racing’s so good for us. We’ve been struggling everywhere else on the weekend, so to knock this out of the park, I’m excited.”

You’ve been strong on ovals in past, but to get this first career pole on a road course, how does that feel to you?

“Everything. I’ve got some more bargaining power for next year. I mean, I love it. What Larry (Foyt) and I have been building at this team, I’m so proud of him, so proud of what we have accomplished, and I just can’t wait for the future. I think this is a glimpse of what we’ve got. This is the last road course of the year, and, trust me, I want to get on that podium so bad, stand on that top step, and a road course would be a way to make it happen.”

LARRY FOYT, AJ FOYT RACING TEAM PRESIDENT:

“It’s just awesome. I mean, the trajectory where we’ve been headed as a team, it’s just been great. We’ve added so many great people to our group. Santino (Ferrucci) is just getting better all of the time. This is just a testament to everything we’re doing. Thanks to affiliation with Penske. Certainly, a huge help. Those guys are awesome, but our guys just really delivered today and Santino drove the wheels off. It’ll be good to call dad. It’ll be a fun call for a change. I hope the Sextons are watching and the Phoenix livery is beautiful this weekend. It’s great, just great.”

We know what one half of the team is going to look like from the driver perspective with David Malukas. What does this do to help solidify Santino’s position in the team?

“He’s done a super job this year. Can’t say enough about how he’s helped elevate the team. It’s just really good. I hope he can enjoy this. It’s really great for the morale of the whole group.”

What have been some key moments along the way with this team whether it’s key personnel, milestones, etc.?

“You get a good group together, everybody pulling in the same direction, and that’s what it really takes. INDYCAR is so tight. You can be up one weekend and down there next. If you’ve got a group that really likes working together and putting in the extra effort, that’s just what we’ve been doing. From guys like Michael Cannon joining the team to the Penske affiliation, Chevy power, everything just comes to this. It feels great.”

MICHAEL CANNON, AJ FOYT RACING TECHNICAL DIRECTOR:

“I’m just so blessed to work with so many really good drivers, really great drivers, a lot more great drivers and these great engineers. This has been a 19-month project getting here and I can’t thank Larry (Foyt) enough for giving me this opportunity to build a racing team, Roger Penske and his group, Ron and all the guys there with all of the help they’ve been giving us, it’s made a world of difference. We’ve turned this team completely around from tail end Charlie to pole. This is magnificent.”

Many on the team were here when you showed up to help with this resurgence. Celebrating this moment, what does that mean to you?

“Everything. It means everything. I hope AJ (Foyt) is watching. I hope he’s proud of us. It was what I was hired to do. A lot of us came in here given a blank slate, not necessarily a blank check but a blank slate. To pull this off is remarkable. It’s one of the best days of my 42 years of racing that I can remember. Just truly remarkable, so proud of (this crew), and I’m so glad I could do this for Larry and AJ (Foyt).”

WILL POWER, NO. 12 VERIZON BUSINESS TEAM PENSKE CHEVROLET, QUALIFIED SECOND:

“I made one mistake in turn 12. I dropped the wheel off which lost me a bit over a tenth, so (Santino Ferrucci)’s lap was very, very good. He did a great job. All stoked to get through the Fast Six. I really wanted pole because it helps so much not getting caught up in that first corner. But, it’s great to be on the front row with somewhat of a teammate. Obviously, with Santino, we share information some, so we can start about the start. Ultimately, just have to keep finishing ahead of (Alex) Palou. He’s right there. Obviously, I can be a bit more aggressive than he can on the start. I have less to lose than he does, so we’ll just focus on trying to win the race.”

POST QUALIFYING PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT:

Santino Ferrucci
Larry Foyt
Will Power

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: We’re joined by Santino Ferrucci for AJ Foyt Racing with his first career NTT P1 award.

Santino, congratulations. Tell us about this. What are the emotion months like?

SANTINO FERRUCCI: Man, it’s pretty awesome. It’s my first career pole in the series. To come on a road course like Portland where it’s so tight, it’s so competitive. It just felt great.

That lap felt amazing. We rolled off the trailer really good coming here. We knew we had a strong car. So it’s really nice to put everything together for myself and for the team.

Yeah, super stoked as well. New sponsor on the car this weekend, Phoenix Investors. They were all down there in the pits with us when it happened, so it was a blast.

THE MODERATOR: You were already P1, but pushing towards the end. The unknown is what you’re fearful of. You weren’t backing down at the end at all, were you?

SANTINO FERRUCCI: No, definitely not. It’s always about who crosses the line last year. I’ve watched enough Fast Sixes to know that. We field for three laps, so I was going to use them all, regardless if we ran out or not.

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Larry, could you talk about what this means for the organization.

LARRY FOYT: Well, it’s huge. I think you can just see how happy everybody is because a couple years ago it was a struggle. We’ve just kept building this team, kept adding better people. It’s led to all this.

Having some consistency with Santino, man, everyone is just really happy. This whole year, even fighting for a top 10 in the championship was a huge step up. The qualifying pace, don’t say you’re not a good qualifier, can’t say that (smiling).

We have such a good group working together from the engineering, mechanics, and a hell of a driver. So it feels great.

Q. How much does the Penske alliance put you in this position today?

LARRY FOYT: It’s great. They’ve been super to work with. I’ve learned a lot. So can’t thank them enough for everything that they’ve done to help us achieve that, get to where we’re headed. Awesome organization to be with.

Q. Santino, you said this gives you some bargaining power for next year. Are you going to get a contract out of Larry by the end of the day? What’s your situation?

SANTINO FERRUCCI: When is warm-up? How long do we have (laughter)?

No, it’s good. I don’t think it’s any secret that I very much found a home here with Larry and AJ Foyt. I want to stay. That’s kind of in the cards here. Obviously there’s a lot that needs to happen, still a pretty big off-season.

Getting pole today definitely doesn’t hurt (smiling).

THE MODERATOR: AJ Foyt’s first P1 award since Belle Isle in 2014. This has to feel good, Larry.

LARRY FOYT: Yeah, I was in my 30s (smiling). It does feel great. We had a good car from when we unloaded. Santino said the car was really good. We thought we had a shot at top six, but we really didn’t think the pole. Just a hell of a lap he put in there.

Q. You felt this was a place you could target for a strong result. What about this track, permanent road course package, made for this? Did you feel like a pole was possible or did this take you a little by surprise today?

SANTINO FERRUCCI: I said Portland would be a good one for us just based off of how we did at Barber and Laguna. We kind of understood why we were so quick there in the race. It was just putting it together here in Portland. Obviously they’re three totally different tracks.

When we unloaded on Friday, we knew we had a really good car. Then it was fine-tuning it really into today. I kind of figured we’d be able to get into the top 12. The Fast Six I knew was going to be really difficult.

The new tire runs for us we’re not super sparkly. The second tire runs is where I kind of knew we had something. So in my head, when Larry told me we had advanced into the Fast Six, I knew that if I just stayed calm and hit my marks, we could really be a threat to contend for a pole.

I didn’t think we would get it, but I thought we would at least be on the front row. I’m beyond thrilled to lead the field to green tomorrow.

THE MODERATOR: Larry, any chance you’ve heard from the boss yet?

LARRY FOYT: No. I’m going to go give him a call right now and give Marlene Sexton from Sexton properties a call. None of this would be possible without them. This will be a fun call (smiling).

Q. When the Fast Six starts, we see everybody pile out onto the track. You stayed in your pit stall for quite a few minutes. Was it just a matter of that’s the way you wanted to do it to build a gap or did it have more to do with the heat cycle on the reds?

SANTINO FERRUCCI: There were a couple of strategy things involved. I think I’ll say a lot has to do with the fuel situation here in Portland. Just we’ve run a lot today. We really only had one run. Just wanted to make it count.

Yeah, that was kind of the plan.

Q. We had the announcement about Malukas. Santino, when we know what you’ve accomplished, how this program has grown together, the ability to not get demoralized, down, continue to rally when you’re facing an unknown situation for next year…

SANTINO FERRUCCI: Yeah, I think it’s been a very interesting two years. I think me and Larry have worked really well together. That news is honestly a huge steppingstone for the team. There’s a lot behind for that. Obviously for me it’s a bit of an unknown.

Things like today help. The Indy results that we’ve had during the 500 help. Being 10th in the championship helps. We’ve really brought it together.

Regardless of news, I never really found it demoralizing if that makes sense just because of how much we’ve been able to accomplish in the last two years. I don’t see it as a negative. I see it as a massive positive for something like that to come along.

Yeah, no, it’s exciting for the future. I can’t wait to see what unfolds.

Q. Larry, any thoughts other than that?

LARRY FOYT: Yeah, this whole season is a big tribute to a lot of what Santino brings to the table. Fighting for us to get top 10 in the championship, first time in two decades that this late in the season we’re fighting for that. That’s a big testament to a lot that he’s done.

We have a great relationship. I’m sure things will work out the way they should.

Q. Santino, in the Fast Six, you had last year’s polesitter Graham Rahal, Alex Palou, Will Power. Does that make what you accomplished today, taking pole, any more satisfying?

SANTINO FERRUCCI: To be honest, when we made it into the Fast Six, I was like, Who’s in it?

They said, Will.

I was like, Oh, damn.

It’s so hard to compete against everybody here. Everybody’s so talented. On any given day as a driver, as an athlete, if you get everything right, it’s a chance and an opportunity to excel. We had the car. Today was the day for me in qualifying to nail the lap, to get it right, especially when it counts.

Honestly the Fast 12 was more pressure than the Fast Six just because it’s so hard. I mean, you’re going against so many more people. Once you’re in the Fast Six, the math in my head was you’re in the Fast Five. Once you’re in the Fast Five, it’s only two more spots to third. If you nail your lap, it’s front row.

To take the pole, I didn’t really think about it (laughter).

Q. Were folks communicating to your ear with 30 seconds to go that you were on top or did you not know you had pole or were sitting on the fastest time until the session was over with?

SANTINO FERRUCCI: I knew I was first starting the final lap, when I came onto the frontstretch just because we have telem in the car and stuff like that. I knew I was good. With one more lap to go, it’s whoever does the last lap normally gets the pole.

I just kind of put my head down. I felt like the car was in a perfect position. I just drove as hard as I could. When I got on the back straight out of seven, that’s when I keyed up the radio ’cause they have more telemetry than anybody else. I was asking them if I’m going to make it. Knew we were quick. I knew it was a hell of a lap. I just didn’t know how good.

At the line, we kind of knew. We were just waiting for Palou. Yeah, once we came down pit road, we had it.

Q. What is it like when you look down with a lap to go and you’re sitting on top? Was it surprising? How do you keep your emotions in check?

SANTINO FERRUCCI: Kind of made me hungry, I’m not going to lie. When you see it there and you know you got more lap time that you can wring out of the car and yourself as a driver, I saw that. I saw I was already negative on the dash. I just wanted to push as hard as I could to see what I could actually do without the threat of what’s the worst that’s going to happen. You’re still going to end up in the Fast Six. At that point there’s no pressure to not push. That’s kind of where I was at mentally.

Q. Larry, there’s been a lot of attention on the Penske deal. A lot of people you brought into the team over the past few years. Might you want to talk about those people and reaction to all this happening, the importance of some of the hires you made.

LARRY FOYT: Well, for sure. I mean, we’ve been fortunate to bring in some really great people that have helped all the way from Michael Cannon to a lot of the other engineers, Adam, James. The whole stand. C.J., has been here a long time. A lot of people have stuck with us through the hard times, and as well a lot of new people have come in and been a great addition.

It’s just a great group that are working hard together. Definitely the Penske alliance has been great. They’re a great company to work with. We go back so far. AJ and Roger go way back. Obviously Tim Cindric. Working with him and Ron has been great. I’ve learned a lot. Certainly has been a benefit to help us get to where we’re headed.

No, can’t say enough about everyone on the team. That alliance has been very helpful, as well.

Q. Santino, is this your first pole since British F3 in 2014?

SANTINO FERRUCCI: Yeah, I think this is my first one in a minute. At least that I can remember (smiling). It will be nice to lead the field to green, to have no one in front of us.

I’ve been off pole a couple of times. But yeah, it’s definitely fun.

Q. Will was saying you two could strategize for tomorrow. Does it help to have someone who is sort of a teammate to you alongside you?

SANTINO FERRUCCI: It’s definitely going to make it interesting. At the end of the day we are kind of our own team. We’re fighting our own championship. The championship doesn’t really matter as much to me as getting a win. That’s kind of my goal.

If we can help out some of our Penske alliance friends, to help Will with the championship in any way with how we do things, then yeah, we’re obviously going to. It’s what teammates do, how things kind of work.

By no means am I going to start and pull over and let him take the lead into one.

Q. Can you assess the rise that you and the team have had over the last 12 months?

SANTINO FERRUCCI: Man, yeah, it’s been a huge help. There’s so much more that goes into it between just the alliance and working with everybody. Our engineering staff is unreal. We have some really overqualified guys here. They’ve worked together so well.

It’s one of those things to where it’s kind of created a perfect storm for us to where everybody has just gelled seamlessly. The car, we found good setups throughout the year. We found a lot of speed at a lot of different tracks, a lot of different disciplines. We were good at Laguna, Barber. We were average at Road America.

Coming into Portland with the last road course, I knew if we put everything together correctly… Everyone working with Chevrolet and some of the other things that we get as being a Chevy team really prepped us well for this event and it shows.

This is definitely a glimpse into the future for the team, I believe.

THE MODERATOR: As we wrap up qualifying, we’re joined now by Will Power. His fourth front row start of 2024.

You were the first one to congratulate Santino. You knew what this kind of moment meant for him, right?

WILL POWER: Yeah, I’m good friends with Santino. We go-kart together, go to dinner, so on. I was upset that I didn’t get pole, I really wanted it here, I wanted it badly. I was kind of a little bit upset.

Couldn’t be happier for Santino. He’s driving extremely well. And Foyt, it’s a great partnership for those guys. It’s good stuff, man. Good stuff. A fiercely competitive field. As you’ve seen, you never know who is going to get pole, you never know who will be the top six, you never know who is going to win the race.

THE MODERATOR: Obviously a Chevy sweep on the front row. Points championship still very much alive. Starting second, a nice boost heading into tomorrow’s race.

WILL POWER: Yeah, very nice to be on the front row. Of course, you have Palou right there. I can certainly be aggressive with him because he has a lot more to lose than me. Just got to keep finishing ahead of him. I’ll drive like Verstappen. Give him a little bit of pressure (smiling).

THE MODERATOR: We’ll open it up for questions for Will.

Q. Looking at the championship, do you still see it as a realistic opportunity for you?

WILL POWER: Yeah, man, still very, very possible. Very possible. It’s almost a little less than a quarter of the races to go, four races. A lot of points, a lot of stuff can happen.

I would have to say if he finishes ahead of me tomorrow, starts to look very, very tough. We have to have a good day, at least finish ahead of him, see where we come out in points there. Then doubleheader at Milwaukee, a lot on offer. Our goal is to get as close as we can to him by Nashville.

Q. After all that happened last week, have you cleared that up with the team? Is that sorted going into the rest of the season?

WILL POWER: Yeah, I mean, whatever. I’m over that stuff real quick. Just one of those things that was unfortunate. We had a very good car and a very good night.

Yeah, moved on very quickly, focusing on this event to get the best possible result. See what we can do tomorrow.

Q. How do you see Santino as a prospect, and Foyt as well? They have the potential to start taking points away from you. At the same time they’ve also got the potential to finish ahead some of your rivals as well. How do you see all that playing out?

WILL POWER: Well, yeah, they could be a great asset to us, taking points from Palou. Obviously, yes, they can take points from us, but that’s just the name of the game. They got a good driver in Santino, obviously a good car with the partnership we have.

Yeah, like I said before, I couldn’t be happier for Santino to get a pole. He works hard, deserves it.

Q. Looking at the final stretch of races with the three oval races to come, you have to feel a little bit more confident than Alex considering Alex hasn’t had an oval victory.

WILL POWER: Yeah, based on our oval form this year, we should be more confident than he is. You never know in this series, though. I think Dixon is very strong at Nashville. Milwaukee, we haven’t been there, so we don’t know.

Ultimately we have to finish ahead of him every weekend. It’s the only way. Anything can happen in this series. Look at last week. I mean, I led so many laps, had the quickest car, and I finished 18th just because of a restart. Same with Toronto the race before. I was running the top four or five, had an incident, gave myself a drive-through.

A lot can go down and change quickly. We’ll see how this plays out.

Q. Looking at the race tomorrow, a lot of the other championship contenders are caught in the awkward midfield area, which is not a place to be at Portland.

WILL POWER: Yeah, definitely a tough place to be at the start of the race, no question. We’ll see, yeah. Can even be tough where I am honestly. Really you want to be a leader. That’s why I was mad after I didn’t get pole. Man, I need that, get a jump in front of the whole field, take off.

Yeah, but they have the lead to go early which strings it out more than it used to, so that will help. Yeah, we’ll see what happens.

Q. Do you feel this weekend can erase what happened last weekend? How confident are you to catch some important championship points tomorrow?

WILL POWER: Yeah, it certainly can erase last weekend with a race win. That would help tremendously. I know Palou is a very tough customer. He doesn’t make mistakes. He’s very good in the race. We’ve got our work cut out for us to finish ahead of him because it’s almost essential that we do.

We’ll work on our car in warm-up and try to get the best possible race car that we have, yeah, see where we stand.

Q. How important is it to start in the first row for tomorrow? How do you feel about that?

WILL POWER: I think the only guy that feels completely safe is P1. Even starting on the outside of the front row can be a little tough at times because the inside row goes, if you can’t block out third place.

Yeah, we’ll see. Anything can happen. Can’t really plan on it. Just the key is to get through that first turn in a reasonable position.

Q. Do you feel you could be P1 after the second session?

WILL POWER: Yeah, like in the Fast Six, could I have been P1? Is that what you mean?

Q. Yes.

WILL POWER: Yeah, I made a mistake. The lap he did was really good. He did a really good lap. It was going to be tough to beat that.

But I actually lost like a 10th and a half on the 10 and 12 curb when I made a little mistake there. It was doable, but man, he put a bloody good lap together. It’s impressive.

Q. You said you can talk with Santino about the start, and also you can be more aggressive than Alex can be. What can you and Santino work together on ahead of the start? What kind of plan can you put in place? When you say you can be more aggressive, what does that mean?

WILL POWER: Well, we can take more risk with strategy. I mean, I race as clean and fairly as possible. Never want to win a championship in a way where you’ve taken someone out. Of course not. But I can race him a little harder because it’s not just me that he’s racing. If we both went out, it would be bad because there’s a lot of people coming as well around my points.

Yeah, yeah, my goal is I just got to stay ahead of the guy. I have to finish ahead of him, it’s as simple as that. It’s the only way I’m going to have a shot at the championship.

ABOUT CHEVROLET

Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is now one of the world’s largest car brands. Chevrolet models include electric and fuel-efficient vehicles that feature engaging performance, design that makes the heartbeat, passive and active safety features and easy-to-use technology, all at a value. More information on Chevrolet models can be found at www.chevrolet.com

CHEVROLET IN NTT INDYCAR SERIES
BITNILE.COM GRAND PRIX OF PORTLAND
PORTLAND INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY
PORTLAND, OREGON
TEAM CHEVY PRACTICE ONE
AUGUST 23, 2024

SCOTT MCLAUGHLIN LEADS FIELD IN DIVIDED PRACTICE ONE AT PORTLAND INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY

• Scott McLaughlin, No. 3 Freightliner Team Penske Chevrolet, turned the fastest time in a three-session practice period at Portland International Raceway
• On his final circuit of session one, McLaughlin lapped the 1.964-mile/12-turn road course in 58.3669 seconds/121.137 mph
• With 28 cars ready to compete in Sunday’s 110-lap/216-mile race, the officials of the NTT INDYCAR Series divided Friday’s practice into three sessions to give teams and drivers the opportunity to run in race conditions, but also a shorter half-field session to work on qualifying setup with the coveted red tires (softer of the tire choices)
• The first was a 45-minute full-field session followed by two 10-minute half-field sessions with rookies allowed to participate in all three
• A total of five Team Chevy drivers posted times in the top-10 of the final order
• The schedule on Saturday will commence with a 9:00 AM PT Practice Two followed by Firestone Fast Six Qualifying at 12:30 PM PT and final 30-minute practice at 5:15 PM PT. All practice and qualifying sessions broadcast with Peacock, INDYCAR Radio, and SiriusXM Channel 218. Sunday’s race will be live of USA and Peacock starting at noon PT, 3:00 PM ET.

TEAM CHEVY TOP-10 PRACTICE RESULT:
Pos. Driver
1st Scott McLaughlin (58.3669)
4th Alexander Rossi (58.6705)
6th Will Power (58.7289)
9th Pato O’Ward (58.82.69)
10th Santino Ferrucci (58.8234)

WHAT THEY’RE SAYING (QUOTES)

Scott McLaughlin, No. 3 Team Penske Chevrolet:

On Practice:

“Just going through the process. There’s a couple of things we tried on the engine front, a couple of things on the chassis front. So we talked the chassis with the engineer, and the engineer out the back. So far the Freightliner Chevy feels good. It’s Freightliner’s home ground so you always want to go fast here and we have the last few years. Starting off strong.”

About Turns 1, 2, 3 and this course in general, there’s a lot of give and take. How far do you know how to push it?

“I only hit it as good as my last lap. My best time was my last lap through there. It takes time to build up how you use the curbs, the way you hit the curbs, it’s not just going in as deep as you can, it’s how you use them and where you put your car. Obviously, you’ve got to think of the long exit and the straight up to turn four. There’s a lot to think about. That’s why I love this track because you have to set up for tight hairpins, big braking stops, and you’ve got some super quick corners, some of the quickest we go to on the circuit. Really fun and tricky for all of us.”

You’ve already worn the sides of your shoes off. Explain how tight it is in the car. You’re really kind of wedging yourself in there, your feet. How much room do you have in the cockpit of an NTT INDYCAR SERIES Indy car?

“I’m a little different than some guys. I run cups underneath my pedals. It holds my ankles in place. Someone like Josef (Newgarden), he doesn’t run those and his shoes are pristine when he gets out of the car. Mine are torched because you’re going through four or five G’s and then your ankles are going to and fro. Everything in there is built for me. No one can fit in there as good as I can. But that’s what you want and that’s how you drive fast.”

Romain Grojean, No. 77 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet

On Practice

“Not an easy session for us today. A lot to learn. Still figuring out the hybrid system. I think we have some easy things to do for tomorrow. The car ran well, just the balance wasn’t quite there yet. We aren’t too far off. So hopefully we make a step forward tomorrow and it should be a good weekend.”

Conor Daly, No. 78 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet

“Today didn’t really start for us. We had a fuel pressure issue. But tomorrow looks great, so we will definitely get started tomorrow. It’s tough being on the back foot because I need all the laps I can get. It hurts us, but we are going to be great tomorrow.”

Pato O’Ward, No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet

“We started the day on the back foot. Rolling off the truck, we were just not in the window in terms of what we needed the car to be doing. We made a lot of changes throughout the session, which improved things quite a bit and we definitely ended in a way better spot than where we started the session. All things considered, I think it was a productive and positive day.”

Nolan Siegel, No. 6 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet

“It was a strong start to the Portland race weekend. There is a bit of learning to do with this being my first NTT INDYCAR SERIES race weekend at the track, but things went quite well. The No. 6 SmartStop Arrow McLaren Chevrolet rolled off as good as it has on a road course that I have been at this year, so overall I think we’re in a good spot. If I can clean a few things up in Practice 2 and put together a decent lap in qualifying, then we can certainly fight for the top-12 and hopefully the Firestone Fast 6.”

Alexander Rossi, No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet

“It was a good start to the weekend. The No. 7 VELO Arrow McLaren Chevrolet is in the window, and everything felt comfortable and easy. We’ll just need to keep that going with the track progression overnight, and work on a strong qualifying tomorrow.”

NTT INDYCAR SERIES News Conference

Friday, August 23, 2024

Pato O’Ward

Press Conference Transcript

PATO O’WARD: — we basically got to where we needed at least in terms of where our teammate was. There’s still some work to do, but I think we’ve definitely cut it down at least a 50% gap to what we started the session with.

THE MODERATOR: We’ll start with questions.

Q. Sporadic weather here today.

PATO O’WARD: Yeah. That was unexpected. I kept seeing it on the radar, hoping we would get our group two run in, which we did. Perfect timing.

Q. It may not hold up tomorrow.

PATO O’WARD: Tomorrow similar to this?

Q. It’s possible.

PATO O’WARD: I mean, I guess we’re in a position where if it rains, it rains. If it doesn’t rain, well, it doesn’t rain. I don’t really care. I’ll enjoy it whatever it is.

Q. What are you looking for here that might be different? Is it getting off of corners? What are you trying to do to make time here?

PATO O’WARD: Was just plowing like a pig. It was important to just get a decent amount of rotation in the car for me today.

Q. Pato, we’ve seen this split practice format kind of trialed over street courses this year. Obviously now in Portland as well. What is your take on this idea from INDYCAR? Is it something you’d like to continue with next year in the practice sessions?

PATO O’WARD: Yeah, I think it’s fantastic, this idea of two groups in practice one. Obviously the first part of it is all together, but it’s good to have a chance with the reds, at least get a few laps together where you know that you’ll get the track distance or track respect that you would want.

The reality is 27 cars just don’t fit around a 58-second lap. Everybody wants a two- or three-second gap. The math just doesn’t do it. The grid is way too big for the track lengths we race at during the calendar.

This is a necessity I would say for 80% of the tracks. Obviously at Road America we don’t need it. But in places like this, all the street courses, it’s 100% must.

Q. Do you still have any remaining thoughts of the championship in these closing few rounds or a priority to get some race wins?

PATO O’WARD: I would love to get back on the podium and win before the end of the season. It would be I feel like a very strong close.

In terms of championship, if we’re scoring that in the next four races, I think we’ll be looking good. Obviously probably out of reach for first. The mishap in Toronto and then in Gateway, that just kind of put us out of the fight, if we want to be realistic.

It definitely is a possibility to fight at the front and win races and be on the podium. That’s what we want to push for ’cause I really don’t care if I’m fourth, sixth, seventh, eighth in the championship. For me it makes no difference. We want to be in the top three. If we can’t do that, we’ll do our best to position ourselves to win the race.

Q. Five races into the hybrid integration, are you where it’s second nature and you are adapted to it?

PATO O’WARD: I would say even in Mid-Ohio, it’s a simple system. You can push to past. Instead of using the boost from the engine, it’s using it from the battery pack.

I would say it hasn’t been a massive change in terms of what we need to do in the car. Obviously there’s more times we need to click this button.

I think it’s been more of a factor for the racing. I think the racing has taken a big step down just looking in Mid-Ohio, Toronto. People don’t need to use their push to pass anymore to defend sometimes. That’s ultimately just opened doors to less fights on track. At least that’s what I feel.

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