The Grand Prix of Portland will be the 28th IndyCar race to take place on the 1.964-mile road course in Portland, OR., that was won last year by eventual champion Alex Palou in his Chip Ganassi Racing-Honda. He scored the victory from his first ever IndyCar pole position but his was by no means a straightforward flag-to-flag triumph; Palou and teammate Scott Dixon were penalized for missing the chicane at the start of the race while avoiding a potential accident, and had to slice through the field from the mid-teens to finish first and third.
There are seven drivers still mathematically eligible for the 2022 NTT IndyCar Series championship with two races to go. Will Power leads Team Penske-Chevrolet teammate Josef Newgarden by 3 points, chased by Ganassi’s Dixon (-14), Marcus Ericsson (-17) and Palou (-43), with third Penske driver Scott McLaughlin (-54) and Arrow McLaren SP-Chevrolet’s Pato O’Ward (-58) in sixth and seventh. The three points that separate Will Power and Josef Newgarden is IndyCar’s closest margin between the top two drivers with two races remaining since 2008. The 43 points separating the top five drivers in the championship is the tightest title chase since 2003.
Among the drivers competing this weekend, Palou, Power and Takuma Sato are the only former Portland winners. Team Penske has won here six times, with Danny Sullivan (1988), Emerson Fittipaldi (1993), Al Unser Jr. (1994 and 1995), Gil de Ferran (2000) and Power (2019). Chip Ganassi Racing has three wins at Portland with Alex Zanardi in 1996 and 1998 and Palou in 2021. Newman/Haas Racing won a record eight times at Portland.
There have been eight different winners this season: McLaughlin (St. Petersburg, Mid-Ohio), Newgarden (Texas, Long Beach, Road America, Iowa 1, World Wide Technology Raceway), Pato O’Ward (Barber Motorsports Park, Iowa 2), Colton Herta (Indianapolis Road Course 1), Marcus Ericsson (Indianapolis 500), Will Power (Detroit), Scott Dixon (Toronto and Nashville), and Alexander Rossi (Indy Road Course 2).
When is the IndyCar race at Portland?
Date: Friday, September 2 – Sunday, September 4
Start time: Sunday, 12.30pm Pacific Time
How can I watch the IndyCar race in Portland?
NBC’s coverage of the 2022 Grand Prix of Portland will begin at 12.00pm on NBC.
Leigh Diffey will be the announcer for NBC’s coverage alongside analysts Townsend Bell and James Hinchcliffe. All NTT IndyCar Series practice sessions and qualifying stream live on Peacock Premium, NBC’s livestreaming product, while NBC’s race telecast will be simulcast on the streaming service. Peacock Premium’s exclusive post-race show will be streamed following the race. The Indy Lights race (Sunday, 10.20am) will be streamed on Peacock Premium, with practice and qualifying being shown on IndyCar Live!
IndyCar broadcast schedule (Central Time)
Friday, September 2
2.30-3.45pm – NTT IndyCar Series practice 1 (Peacock Premium)
Saturday, September 3
9.00-10.00am – NTT IndyCar Series practice 2 (Peacock Premium)
12.05-1.20pm – NTT IndyCar Series qualifying (Peacock Premium)
4.15-4.45pm – NTT IndyCar Series qualifying (Peacock Premium)
Sunday, September 4
12.00-3.00pm – NBC Broadcast
12.23 – “Drivers, start your engines”
12.30 – Green flag for Grand Prix of Portland, NTT IndyCar Series RACE (110 laps)
Will the IndyCar race in Portland be on the radio?
Mark Jaynes is the chief announcer alongside analyst Davey Hamilton. Nick Yeoman, Michael Young and Ryan Myrehn are the turn announcers, while pit reporters are Dan Rusanowski and Alex Wolff. The Grand Prix of Portland, along with its race, practices and qualifying sessions, and all Indy Lights sessions, air live on network affiliates, SiriusXM 160, racecontrol.indycar.com and the IndyCar app powered by NTT DATA.
Race Notes
How many laps is the IndyCar race at Portland International Raceway? 110 laps (216.04 miles)
Track: 1.964-mile, 12-turn road course in Portland, OR.
Firestone tire allotment: Six sets of primary tires (seven for rookies), four sets of alternate tires to be used through the three days.
Push-to-pass parameters: 200sec total time, with a maximum time of 20sec per activation.
2021 GP of Portland winner: Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing-Honda.
2021 GP of Portland pole-winner: Palou, 58.7701sec, 120.306mph.
Qualifying lap record: Will Power, 57.2143sec (123.577mph), Sept. 1, 2018, set in Round 1 of qualifying.
Entry list
| No. | Driver | Hometown | Car name | Team-Engine |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Josef Newgarden | Nashville, Tennessee | Hitachi Team Penske | Team Penske-Chevrolet |
| 3 | Scott McLaughlin | Christchurch, New Zealand | Freightliner Team Penske | Team Penske-Chevrolet |
| 4 | Dalton Kellett | Stouffville, Canada | K-Line / AJ Foyt Racing | A.J. Foyt Enterprises-Chevrolet |
| 5 | Pato O'Ward | Monterrey, Mexico | Arrow McLaren SP | Arrow McLaren SP-Chevrolet |
| 06 | Helio Castroneves | Sao Paulo, Brazil | AutoNation / SiriusXM | Meyer Shank Racing-Honda |
| 7 | Felix Rosenqvist | Varnamo, Sweden | Arrow McLaren SP | Arrow McLaren SP-Chevrolet |
| 8 | Marcus Ericsson | Kumla, Sweden | PNC Bank | Chip Ganassi Racing-Honda |
| 9 | Scott Dixon | Auckland, New Zealand | PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing | Chip Ganassi Racing-Honda |
| 10 | Alex Palou | Barcelona, Spain | Ridgeline Lubricants | Chip Ganassi Racing-Honda |
| 12 | Will Power | Toowoomba, Australia | Verizon Team Penske | Team Penske-Chevrolet |
| 14 | Kyle Kirkwood (R) | Jupiter, Florida | Sexton Properties | A.J. Foyt Enterprises-Chevrolet |
| 15 | Graham Rahal | New Albany, Ohio | Quartz Engine Oil | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing-Honda |
| 18 | David Malukas (R) | Chicago, Illinois | HMD | Dale Coyne Racing with HMD Motorsports-Honda |
| 20 | Conor Daly | Noblesville, Indiana | BitNile | Ed Carpenter Racing-Chevrolet |
| 21 | Rinus VeeKay | Hoofddorp, Netherlands | Bitcoin Racing Team with BitNile | Ed Carpenter Racing-Chevrolet |
| 26 | Colton Herta | Valencia, California | Gainbridge | Andretti Autosport w/Curb Agajanian-Honda |
| 27 | Alexander Rossi | Nevada City, California | NAPA Auto Parts / AutoNation | Andretti Autosport-Honda |
| 28 | Romain Grosjean | Geneva, Switzerland | DHL | Andretti Autosport-Honda |
| 29 | Devlin DeFrancesco (R) | Toronto, Canada | PowerTap | Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport-Honda |
| 30 | Christian Lundgaard (R) | Hedensted, Denmark | Mi-Jack | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing-Honda |
| 45 | Jack Harvey | Bassingham, UK | Hy-Vee | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing-Honda |
| 48 | Jimmie Johnson | El Cajon, California | Carvana Chip Ganassi Racing | Chip Ganassi Racing-Honda |
| 51 | Takuma Sato | Tokyo, Japan | Nurtec ODT | Dale Coyne Racing with RWR-Honda |
| 60 | Simon Pagenaud | Montmorillon, France | AutoNation / SiriusXM | Meyer Shank Racing-Honda |
| 77 | Callum Ilott (R) | Cambridge, UK | Juncos Hollinger Racing | Juncos Hollinger Racing-Chevrolet |
