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The IndyCar series holds its penultimate race of the season as the tightest championship chase in decades starts to wind down at…
The Grand Prix of Portland
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The Grand Prix of Portland returned to the IndyCar schedule in 2018 and all three of the races we’ve seen since then only convinced us that the little road course built on the Columbia River flats outside of Portland is the hardest circuit of the season to start a race on without damage and/or excitement.
The 12-turn, 1.964-mile natural road course is relatively flat but contains several spots for passing opportunities - most notably Turn 1, which is the start of a chicane about two-thirds of the way up the front straight. Where it is on the straight, the right-hander invites cars to try to enter it too fast and the resulting chaos is almost a sure thing at the start of any race. But once the racing gets going and rhythms are set in, the racing is usually VERY tight, with some of the closest finishes on the calendar.
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This weekend racing fans will be treated to no less than NINE races from five different series, and two of those series will end their seasons and crown their champions. Races this weekend will be:
- the ARCA Menards series - 1 race on Saturday
- USF2000 - 3 races on Friday and Saturday
- Indy Pro 2000 - 3 races on Friday and Saturday
- Indy Lights - 1 race on Sunday
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…and, of course, the IndyCars will race on Sunday
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Let’s see about that support racing…
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The ARCA Menards series is an American stock car series. It is considered a semi-professional league of stock car racing, used as a feeder series into NASCAR, with events on superspeedways, road courses and even dirt tracks, using former NASCAR Cup series cars. As no IndyCar drivers will be participating, we will wish them safe and happy racing and concentrate on all the open-wheel stuff, instead.
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continued…
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