IndyCars - Portland: Redux 2 in the Northwest

The Sports Roundtable and Bar
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Spotter’s guide - changes in livery since Gateway…

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We have a few changes in livery and a few driver changes this weekend.

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Josef Newgarden was driving the blue and white PPG Paint car at St. Louis but returns to the ol’ standby, the black and white Hitachi car, for Portland:

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Conor Daly drove for Carlin in the # 59 Gallagher car of two-tone blue at Gateway but is in the # 7 Arrow car for Arrow Schmidt Peterson, subbing for Marcus Ericsson this weekend. His car differs from James Hinchcliffe’s car by the gold wing endplates, front and rear:

Conor

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Felix Rosenqvist was in an all black Monster Energy car at St. Louis but returns to the familiar blue NTT Data car for Portland:

Felix

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Graham Rahal was in a black and white Mi-Jack car at Gateway. At Portland the colors are the same, but with the addition of a gold stripe, and the sponsor will be One Cure:

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Ed Jones returns to action at Portland, instead of oval-meister Ed Carpenter, who was in the # 20 at Gateway. The car looks almost the same, with white now in place of the silver paint:

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Charlie Kimball was in an all-blue car for Ripkurrent at St. Louis and returns with the same car at Portland, but no sponsor is evident:

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Takuma Sato took the blue and white Keihin car to victory at Gateway. He comes to Portland with the same car but with sponsorship from Mi-Jack:

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Max Chilton returns to battle in the # 59 two-tone blue Gallagher car at PIR after letting Conor Daly drive the same car at Gateway:

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Jack Harvey is back in action this weekend at Portland after a lay-off of a few races. He is in the pretty pink and black Sirius/XM car, the # 60:

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Racer magazine’s Marshall Pruett and Sebastien Bourdais speak of qualifying…

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Sunday morning at Portland - We have a new Indy Lights Champion for 2019…

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It wasn’t at all easy to do, but with his P3 finish in today’s Race 2 for the Indy Lights, Oliver Askew for Andretti Autosport secured enough points to where all he has to do is fire up his engines at the 2 finales at Laguna Seca to be crowned 2019 Indy Lights Champion. WINNING his first Indy Lights race was Toby Sowery for HMD Motorsports / Team Pelfrey. Doing all he could to secure a 2nd WIN this weekend, but coming up short in P2 was Rinus VeeKay for Juncos Racing.

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Toby Sowery takes his first Road to Indy WIN
TobyWin2

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VeeKay started on pole with Oliver Askew in P2. As the cars funneled into the Festival Curves Askew went wide to the outside and tried to cut back at the last second, only to be in the path of David Malukas for HMD Motorsport, who then stabbed Askew in the right side, spinning him. Askew lost his front wing, got a slow tire leak and got right-side damage on his side pod. Malukas was out and Askew limped around to the pits as the track went full-course caution. In the pits Askew received a new nose and two new rear tires. His radiator was not leaking, so he rejoined in P7 on the lead lap.

On the lap 3 restart Toby Sowery got a great jump on Rinus to take away P1. By lap 4 Oliver was past Dalton Kellett for Juncos Racing to take P6. On lap 7 he was by Lucas Kohl for Belardi Auto Racing to take P5, as Kohl slipped back to P7 behind Kellett. By this time Toby had more than enough of a lead to be safe from Rinus using Push-to-Pass to retake P1. By lap 16 Oliver was up to and past teammate Rob Megennis in the Festival Curves to claim P4, but too far from teammate Ryan Norman to use his P-to-P to catch him.

By lap 24 Askew had clawed his way up to Norman and Rinus had also gotten close enough to Toby to use his P-to-P. On lap 26 Oliver took Ryan in the Festival Curves, but burned his last P-to-P to do it. He was in P3 to the end and knew it, as Rinus and Toby were way too far down the road. Rinus now had one hope - If he could take P1 from Sowery the title hunt would go on to Laguna Seca. For the remaining 10 laps he would get within feet of Sowery, using P-to-P to do so, but the Englishman was able to stay far enough ahead to make it fruitless. As VeeKay burned his last P-to-P on the front straight, the two cars passed the checkered flag 0.42 seconds apart.

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Notable:

  • Oliver now has 13 podiums on the season, tying a record.

  • With 442 points to VeeKay’s 401, all Askew has to do is collect two P8 points pays from the last two races of the season to be champion, and collect the 1.3 million-dollar Road to Indy scholarship. That means start his engine on the grid for both races. Naturally, Askew will try for a lot more.

  • Rinus VeeKay is assured of the Vice-Championship, regardless of whether he starts at Laguna Seca or not. Naturally, he will try his best there to impress the IndyCar paddock for any ride he might try to secure for 2020. Colton Herta was Indy Lights Vice-Champion in 2018, and look where he is today.

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Here is your happy podium - That’s Rinus VeeKay in P2 on the left, Toby Sowery in P1 in the middle and Oliver Askew in P3 on the right:

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Andretti’s Rob Edwards leans in to give congrats to Oliver on his all-but-assured title
OliTitle

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The next and final outings for Indy Lights in 2019 will be at Laguna Seca, September 20-22 in support of the IndyCar’s return to the storied Monterey Peninsula track.

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Sunday afternoon at Portland - the Stadium Super Trucks hold Race 2 of their weekend…

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…and the series points-leader and IndyCar driver Matthew Brabham reasserted himself to take the WIN. P2 was Cole Potts and P3 was Jeff Hoffman.

Here was the starting line-up:

  1. Jeff Hoffman
  2. Bill Hynes
  3. Casey Mears
  4. Cole Potts
  5. Matt Brabham
  6. Greg Biffle
  7. Robby Gordon
  8. Gavin Harlien
  9. Sheldon Creed
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We will provide a link to the race when it becomes available. Here is a quick taste, with some sound:
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https://www.instagram.com/p/B12hGnIHOgk/
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In the mean time, here is your happy podium - That’s Cole Pott in P2 on the left, Matty Brabham in P1 in the middle and Jeff Hoffman in P3 on the right:

SSTpodium

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Points have yet to be awarded, but it is likely that with this WIN, Brabham will maintain his lead. The next stop for the SSTs will be to the Gold Coast in Australia, October 25-27, to support the Supercars race, that weekend.

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Sunday at Portland - The IndyCar race…

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…was WON by Will Power for Team Penske, after taking the lead on lap 55 and holding it for 52 laps and through a restart after a late caution. P2 was Felix Rosenqvist for Chip Ganassi Racing, who was Power’s constant companion for much of that run. P3 was Alexander Rossi for Andretti Autosport.

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PowerWin

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The race started badly, as Graham Rahal for Rahal Letterman Lanigan made a feint to the far right as the cars approached the Festival Curves that wasn’t going to work and he plowed into the back of Zach Veach for Andretti Autosport, sending him spinning with a resulting schlemozzle that took out Rahal, Veach and Conor Daly and James Hinchcliffe, both for Arrow Schmidt Peterson, while sending others scrambling to avoid the carnage. It hurt Simon Pagenaud for Team Penske, as he was spun around, but he was able to rejoin, far back in the pack. Points-leader Josef Newgarden for Team Penske actually benefited, as he tip-toed through the wrecks. He actually gained positions due to attrition and others spinning off out of his way.

The early leader was pole-sitter Colton Herta for Harding Steinbrenner, but he stayed out too long on his alternate tires and lost four positions before he could pit. (He would eventually end the day in P4). Scott Dixon for Chip Ganassi took over the lead with authority and was poised to WIN and get deep into contention for another title at Laguna Seca when his car’s battery failed, putting him 3 laps down and well out of the big points.

That was when Power took over and was never seriously challenged again, though never alone. Newgarden managed to claw up to P5 from his P13 start, doing himself good in the title hunt. Simon Pagenaud also recovered to finish in P7 and is also in the title hunt going to Laguna Seca.

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Notable:

  • Power now has 37 career IndyCar WINS, tying him with Sebastien Bourdais for 6th on the all-time WIN list.

  • This was Felix Rosenqvist’s second P2 of the year, following his first at Mid-Ohio.

  • Santino Ferrucci for Dale Coyne finally failed to drive every race lap this season when his car came to a halt on the front stretch with a mechanical of some kind, bringing out the last caution with 5 laps to go. He still has yet to cause his own demise or any damage in a race.

Ferrucci - takes care of the car

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With this result here are the TOP FOUR in points - the only mathematical possibles for the 2019 Championship - leaving Portland:

1 - Josef Newgarden 593
2 - Alexander Rossi 552 (-41)
3 - Simon Pagenaud 551 (-42)
4 - Scott Dixon 508 (-85)

The finale at Laguna Seca pays double points, so 100 points for the WIN are available, as are points for pole and most laps led.

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Here was your happy podium - That’s Felix Rosenqvist on the left in P2, Will Power in the middle in P1 and Alexander Rossi in P3 on the right:

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The season finale will be at historic Laguna Seca, September 20-22, with full support from the Road to Indy.

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Sunday at Portland - Indy Pro 2000 hold Race 2 of their weekend…

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…and the WINNER was Kyle Kirkwood for RP Motorsport USA, taking his 8th WIN in 9 outings and enhancing his points lead, newly-acquired this weekend. P2 was Sting Ray Robb for Juncos Racing while P3 went to Kirkwood’s challenger for the title, Rasmus Lindh for Juncos Racing.

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KyleWin
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Unlike Saturday’s race, the entire field got through the Festival Curves cleanly today on the opening lap. By the end of the lap Parker Thompson for Abel Motorsports was past Rasmus Lindh for the P3 spot, but in lap 2 Lindh reciprocated and took P3 back. Kyle began to motor away from P2 starter Sting Ray Robb and was soon comfortably unassailable.

Lap 14 saw newbie Artem Petrov for RP Motorsport USA pass Exclusive Autosport’s Danial Frost for the P5 spot on the back stretch. By lap 24 Robb was also away from the pack, but a battle developed for the P3 spot between Lindh, Thompson and Petrov as the 3 cars ran feet apart for the rest of the 30-lap race. At different times each looked ready to move but they remained in station to the end.

Kyle would WIN by 7.5 seconds over Robb who was 6.3 seconds over Lindh.

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Notable:

  • At this point Kirkwood has WON a Team USA Scholarship, an F4 United States title, an F3 Americas title, a USF2000 title and is poised to WIN the Indy Pro 2000 title, all in the space of three years. He already has 20 WINS in the Road to Indy alone, and the season isn’t over in Indy Pro 2000 yet. Kirkwood is a monster.
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With these results, here are the TOP THREE in points, leaving Portland:

1 - Kyle Kirkwood 382
2 - Rasmus Lindh 362
3 - Parker Thompson 300

There are 33 points available for each of the remaining two races - 30 for the WIN and one each for pole, most laps led and Fastest Lap. Thompson cannot take the title, but he could still take a Vice-Championship, though it is HIGHLY unlikely, as Lindh would have to fail to start both races.

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Here is your happy podium - That’s Sting Ray Robb in P2 on the left, Kyle Kirkwood in P1 in the middle and Rasmus Lindh in P3 on the right:

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The two final races will be at Laguna Seca, September 20-22, in support of the IndyCar series return to the storied venue.

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Sunday at Portland - USF2000 hold their final race of the weekend…

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…and sweeping the weekend was Hunter McElrea for Pabst Racing. P2 was McElrea’s title rival, Braden Eves for Cape Motorsports, while P3 went to Zach Holden for Legacy Autosport.

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Lap 1 saw everyone get through the Festival Curves cleanly, for the most part, but P3 starter Christian Rasmussen for Jay Howard Driver Development had to head to the pits with an issue and the end of the lap. The Dane would rejoin but at the end of the field. McElrae and Eves took off from P1 and P2 respectively, while on lap 2 Zach Holden passed Jak Crawford for Cape Motorsports to take P4 and Darren Keane took P6 from his Cape Motorsports teammate Reece Gold. On lap 3 Holden was by Colin Kaminsky for Pabst Racing to take P3.

Lap 6 saw Darren get by Jak to take P5. Kaminsky and Holden locked into a battle for the P3 spot which lasted most of the race, each setting Fastest Lap at times. Other forward passers in the race were Bruna Tomaselli for Pabst who went from P11 to P9, Manuel Sulaiman for DEForce Racing who went from P12 to P7 and Josh Green for Jay Howard who went from P13 to P10.

McElrea crossed the finish line a comfortable 5.5 seconds over Eves, who was 1.5 seconds over Holden. Holden beat Kaminsky to the line by a mere 0.2 seconds.

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Notable:

  • This is McElrea’s 4th WIN of the season and 3rd in a row. He now holds a narrow 6 point lead over Eves for the title, with two races left to go.

  • This was Zach Holden’s 9th start of the season. He already has two podiums and 5 TOP FIVES in those 9 starts - Zach needs a full-time ride.

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Here is your happy podium - That’s Braden Eves in P2 on the left, Hunter McElrea in P1 in the middle and Zach Holden in P3 on the right:

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With these results, here are the TOP TWO in points leaving Portland:

1 - Hunter McElrea 316
2 - Braden Eves 310

These two and only these two can WIN the title or the Vice-Championship.

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The next two races for USF2000 will be their finales at Laguna Seca, September 20-22, in support of the return of IndyCars to the Monterey Peninsula track.

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This was the last on-track activity of the race weekend - THANK YOU, PORTLAND!

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NBC has released extended race highlights…

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Racer magazine’s Marshall Pruett and Sebastien Bourdais report on today’s race…

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…and they are joined by Racer’s Robin Miller…

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