IndyCar: Fast Facts for this weekend's Grand Prix of Portland - MotorSportsTalk

Here’s what you need to know about this week’s Grand Prix of Portland, the second-to-last race of the 2018 Verizon IndyCar Series season:

Grand Prix of Portland Fast Facts

Race weekend: Friday, Aug. 31 – Sunday, Sept. 2

Track: Portland International Raceway, a 12-turn, a 1.964-mile road course in Portland, Oregon

Entry List: Grand Prix of Portland (PDF)

Race distance: 105 laps / 206.22 miles

Push-to-pass parameters: 200 seconds of total time with a maximum time of 20 seconds per activation.

Firestone tire allotment: Seven sets primary, four sets alternate. Teams must use one set of primary and one new set of alternate tires in the race.

Twitter: @Portland_GP, @IndyCar, #PortlandGP, #INDYCAR

Event website: www.portlandgp.com

INDYCAR website: www.IndyCar.com

Most recent race winner (2007): Sebastien Bourdais (No. 1 McDonald’s Racing Team Panoz DP01/Cosworth)

Most recent pole winner (2007): Justin Wilson (No. 9 CDW R Sports Panoz DP01/Cosworth), 58.000 seconds, 121.903 mph

Qualifying record: Justin Wilson 57.597 seconds, 122.756 mph, June 18, 2005

NBCSN television broadcasts: Qualifying, 7:30 p.m. ET Saturday, Sept. 1 (same-day delay); Race, 2:30 p.m. ET Sunday, Sept. 2 (live). Leigh Diffey is the lead announcer alongside analysts Townsend Bell and Paul Tracy. Pit reporters are Jon Beekhuis, Katie Hargitt, Kevin Lee and Robin Miller.

Advance Auto Parts INDYCAR Radio Network broadcasts: Mark Jaynes is the chief announcer alongside analyst Anders Krohn. Jake Query and Nick Yeoman are the turn announcers with Dave Furst, Ryan Myrehn and Michael Young reporting from the pits. The Grand Prix of Portland race airs live on network affiliates, Sirius 98, XM 209, IndyCar.com, indycarradio.com and the INDYCAR Mobile app. All Verizon IndyCar Series practices and qualifying are available on IndyCar.com, indycarradio.com and the INDYCAR Mobile app, with qualifying also airing on Sirius 121 and XM 209.

Video streaming: All practice sessions and qualifying for the Grand Prix of Portland will stream live on RaceControl.IndyCar.com and on the INDYCAR YouTube channel (www.youtube.com/indycar).

At-track schedule (all times local):

Thursday, Aug. 30 (Verizon IndyCar Series open test)

10:15 a.m. – 12:45 p.m. – Open test session #1 (no streaming)

3:25 – 5:55 p.m. – Open test session #2 (no streaming)

Friday, Aug. 31

10:45 – 11:30 a.m. – Verizon IndyCar Series practice #1, RaceControl.IndyCar.com (Live)

2:35 – 3:35 p.m. – Verizon IndyCar Series practice #2, RaceControl.IndyCar.com (Live)

3:40 – 4 p.m. – Verizon IndyCar Series pit stop practice, RaceControl.IndyCar.com (Live)

Saturday, Sept. 1

11:10 – 11:55 a.m. – Verizon IndyCar Series practice #3, RaceControl.IndyCar.com (Live)

3:20 p.m. – Qualifying for the Verizon P1 Award (three rounds of knockout qualifying), NBCSN (7:30 p.m. ET, same-day delay)

Sunday, Sept. 2

11:30 a.m. – Driver introductions

12:02 p.m. – Command to start engines

12:09 p.m. – Grand Prix of Portland (105 laps/206.22 miles), NBCSN (live)

Championship facts:

Scott Dixon leads the Verizon IndyCar Series championship with two races to go for the second time in his career. He also led the championship with two to go when he won the title in 2008. Dixon has led the championship since his win at Texas Motor Speedway on June 9.
Scott Dixon leads Alexander Rossi by 26 points with Will Power (-68) and Josef Newgarden (-78) just behind. With 54 maximum points available at Portland, the points lead could change for the eighth time in 2018.
There are five drivers still mathematically eligible for the 2018 Verizon IndyCar Series championship: Scott Dixon, Alexander Rossi, Will Power, Josef Newgarden and Ryan Hunter-Reay. Any driver who trails the points leader by 105 points or more following the race will be eliminated from contention.
The Portland race winner has gone on to win the Indy car championship 10 times: Bobby Rahal (1987), Danny Sullivan (1988), Emerson Fittipaldi (1989), Michael Andretti (1991), Al Unser Jr. (1994), Alex Zanardi (1998), Gil de Ferran (2000), Cristiano da Matta (2002) and Sebastien Bourdais (2004 and 2007).

Key championship point statistic: Since 2008, the driver who has led the championship with two races to go has failed to win the championship five times. Scott Dixon in 2008, Dario Franchitti in 2011, Will Power in 2014, Simon Pagenaud in 2016 and Josef Newgarden in 2017 are the exceptions who have won the title after leading with two races remaining.

Point differential: The 26 points which separate Scott Dixon and Alexander Rossi is the fifth-largest margin with two races remaining since 2010. Ryan Hunter-Reay, who trailed Will Power by 36 points with two races remaining in 2012, and Dixon, who was 34 points behind Juan Pablo Montoya in 2015, have overcome a larger deficit to win the championship. Dario Franchitti overcame a 25-point deficit to Ryan Briscoe in 2009. The average deficit with two races to go since 2007 is 23.54 points.

Championship-eligible drivers’ results at Portland: Three of the five championship-eligible drivers have raced an Indy car at Portland International Raceway at least once – Scott Dixon, Will Power and Ryan Hunter-Reay…Power has the best finish among the contenders, finishing fourth in 2007, while Dixon finished seventh in 2002 and 2003. Hunter-Reay’s best finish in three starts is 12^th.

Race notes:

There have been seven different winners in the 15 previous Verizon IndyCar Series races in 2018: Sebastien Bourdais (Streets of St. Petersburg), Josef Newgarden (ISM Raceway, Barber Motorsports Park and Road America), Alexander Rossi (Streets of Long Beach, Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course and Pocono Raceway), Will Power (INDYCAR Grand Prix, Indianapolis 500 and Gateway Motorsports Park), Scott Dixon (Raceway at Belle Isle-1, Texas Motor Speedway and Streets of Toronto), Ryan Hunter-Reay (Raceway at Belle Isle-2) and James Hinchcliffe (Iowa Speedway). Dixon’s win at Toronto on July 15 was his 44^thcareer win, which ranks third on the all-time Indy car victory list. Bourdais’ win at St. Petersburg on March 11 was his 37^th, which ranks sixth all-time. Power’s win at Gateway on Aug. 25 was his 35^th and tied Bobby Unser for seventh on the all-time Indy car victory list.
The Grand Prix of Portland will be the 25th Indy car race at Portland International Raceway, but the first since Sebastien Bourdais won the Champ Car World Series race in 2007. Al Unser Jr. won the first Indy car race at Portland in 1984. Bourdais, who also won in 2004, is the only former winner entered in this year’s race.
Six drivers have won at Portland International Raceway from the pole – Danny Sullivan (1988), Al Unser Jr. (1994), Alex Zanardi (1996), Max Papis (2001), Cristiano da Matta (2002) and Sebastien Bourdais (2004).
Team Penske has won five times at Portland International Raceway. Penske’s winning drivers are Danny Sullivan (1988), Emerson Fittipaldi (1993), Al Unser Jr. (1994 and 1995) and Gil de Ferran (2000). Chip Ganassi Racing has two wins at Portland with Alex Zanardi in 1996 and 1998. Newman/Haas Racing won a record eight times at Portland.
Seven drivers entered in the event have competed in past Indy car races at Portland International Raceway. Sebastien Bourdais has five starts, most among the entered drivers. Two entered drivers have led laps at the track (Sebastien Bourdais 146 and Will Power 3).
Graham Rahal scored the first win of his professional racing career at Portland, winning the Pro Mazda race in 2005. James Hinchcliffe claimed his first Atlantics Championship win in Portland in 2006.
Seven rookies – Alfonso Celis Jr., Santino Ferrucci, Pietro Fittipaldi, Jack Harvey, Jordan King, Matheus “Matt” Leist and Zach Veach – are expected to compete.
Tony Kanaan seeks to start his 299^th consecutive race this weekend, which would extend his Indy car record streak that began in June 2001 at Portland. Scott Dixon has made 239 consecutive starts heading into the weekend, which is the second-longest streak in Indy car racing. Marco Andretti has made 215 consecutive starts, which is the third-longest streak in Indy car racing.

For the second consecutive week, Jett Lawrence had perfect results in the Pro Motocross round at Hangtown in Rancho Cordova, California with a pair of moto wins and the overall victory, only this time he didn’t have Chase Sexton, who sat out the round with a concussion, to keep him honest in the second race.

*Jett Lawrence’s performance in the first two Motocross rounds has him thinking of a rookie championship. – Align Media*

Lawrence led all 16 laps of both races after taking the holeshot in the second moto and grabbing the lead from Dylan Ferrandis in Turn 2 of Moto 1. Lawrence claimed a four-second lead in Moto 1 and five seconds in Moto 2, but as dominant as it seems on paper, there were some exciting moments during the weekend. In the second race, Lawrence wanted to build an advantage that would allow him to maintain his pace and he nearly high-sided a couple of times in heavy ruts.

RESULTS: Click here for full 450 Results; Click here for 250 Results

In his second race back from a concussion, Ferrandis finished in the runner-up spot with a second in Moto 1 and a third in Moto 2. While his finish of second overall goes into the record books, Pro Motocross points are rewarded for each individual race and that meant Ferrandis lost eight points in championship battle to Lawrence. With Sexton failing to mount up for the race, Ferrandis advanced to second in the standings with an 18-point gap to Lawrence. Equally important, Ferrandis gained ground in the SuperMotocross World Championship (WSX) points and now has a gap of 44 over 21st-place Justin Starling.

Cooper Webb is also in his second round since returning from a Supercross injury suffered in Nashville at the end of their season. Claiming results of fourth and second in the two races, Webb earned 40 SuperMotocross points at Hangtown and closed in on Sexton in the WSX battle. Sexton entered Hangtown with a large enough lead that he could not be overtaken, but he is now only 38 points up and could face a difficult decision next week at Thunder Valley in Lakewood, Colorado if he wants to hold onto his lead.

Aaron Plessinger had an adventurous weekend in which he seemed to close on Lawrence in his second race before crashing and dropping to fourth. Coupled with a fifth-place finish in Moto 1, he earned 35 points and was credited with fourth overall.

Cashing in on confidence he gained in the final rounds of the Supercross season, Adam Cianciarulo earned his first top-five of the Pro Motocross championship after narrowly missing out last week with a sixth. He earned the distinction with consistent results of fifth in Moto 1 and fourth in Moto 2.

Click here for 450 Overall results | Rider Points | Manufacturer Points

*Hunter Lawrence showed his back to the competition at Hangtown, just as he did the week prior at Fox Raceway. – Align Media*

The Lawrence brothers made history last week as the first siblings to win in two Pro Motocross divisions on the same day. Fans should get accustomed to seeing this happen with some regularity as Hunter Lawrence posted identical results in Hangtown to those he had at Fox Raceway in the season opener.

In both races, Lawrence got off to a slow start in Moto 1 and had to claw his way back to the podium. He dominated Moto 2 in both rounds to earn the overall victories.

Justin Cooper did not allow Lawrence to gain much of an advantage in the Motocross points’ standings, however. Finishing second in both motos, the earned only one point less than Lawrence. His modest showing in Round 1 of the outdoor season has him 12 points out of first in the championship standings.

Haiden Deegan scored his first moto win in just his fourth start in the series. In the first race of the day, he had to withstand constant pressure from Cooper, but when his teammate closed in on him, Deegan reached down and found a little more speed. Now that he’s won one of these races, he has his sight set on challenging Lawrence for the title. Deegan is second in the Pro Motocross championship standings with a 10-point deficit to the leader.

*Haiden Deegan scored podiums in both Motocross rounds of 2023. – Align Media*

Tom Vialle tied his career-best finish of fourth overall with a seventh-place finish in Moto 1 and a third in Moto 2. Vialle was fourth last week in overall ranking and has one fourth-place finish in the Supercross series that came in the Triple Crown format at Arlington.

Click here for 250 Overall results | Rider Points | Manufacturer Points

RJ Hampshire rounded out the top five with a pair of fifth-place results and 32 points for the round. Even though the deficit is a whopping 61 points, Hampshire climbed to second in the SuperMotocross championship standings now that Jett Lawrence has moved to the big bikes.

Jalek Swoll struggled last week and finished 21st overall at Fox Raceway. This week, he finished on the cusp of 10th in both races with a ninth in Moto 1 and 11th in Moto 2. In the SuperMotocross standings, he has a lot of ground to make up. He currently sits 49th on the chart with a 70-point gap to Chance Hymas, who is on the bubble to earn a guaranteed position in the SMX Mains for the three playoff races that will be held on September.

2023 Motocross Results

Round 1: Jett Lawrence, Hunter Lawrence win

2023 Supercross Results

Round 17: Chase Sexton, Jett Lawrence win
Round 16: Chase Sexton, RJ Hampshire win
Round 15: Chase Sexton, Hunter Lawrence win
Round 14: Justin Barcia, Max Anstie win
Round 13: Chase Sexton, Hunter Lawrence win
Round 12: Eli Tomac, Jett Lawrence win
Round 11: Eli Tomac bounces back with sixth win
Round 10: Chace Sexton wins, penalized
Round 9: Ken Roczen wins
Round 8: Eli Tomac wins 7th Daytona
Round 7: Cooper Webb wins second race
Race 6: Eli Tomac, Jett Lawrence win
Race 5: Webb, Hunter Lawrence win
Race 4: Eli Tomac, Hunter Lawrence win
Race 3: Chase Sexton, Levi Kitchen win
Race 2: Eli Tomac, Jett Lawrence win
Round 1: Eli Tomac, Jett Lawrence win