Power Crushes Portland IndyCar Foes To Stay In Title Hunt

Will Power (12) leads Alex Palou Sunday at Portland Int'l Raceway. (Matt Fraver/Penske Entertainment photo)

PORTLAND, Ore. – Will Power’s message to the NTT IndyCar Series Sunday at Portland Int’l Raceway was as simple as it was fierce: his championship hopes aren’t done just yet.

Power led 101 of 110 laps on his way to a convincing victory in the BitNile.com Grand Prix of Portland, looking as dominant as he did in his Indy car championship seasons in 2014 and 2022.

The 43-year-old Australian got the jump on polesitter Santino Ferrucci at the start going into turn one and, from there, only gave up control of the race during his three pit cycles the rest of the way.

Power was never out of the lead for more than five laps at a time after coming down for service at laps 32, 57, and 86.

Once he returned to the front on lap 88 – with the red alternate tires for additional grip, to boot – Power legged out his advantage over two-time series champion and current point leader Alex Palou, who was forced to the harder primary compound on his final stint after using a set of reds in qualifying Saturday.

The margin of victory for Power ended up being a stout 9.8267 seconds in the No. 12 Verizon Business Team Penske Chevrolet. It was his 44th career Indy car win and series-leading third this season, a stark rebound after finishes of 12th on the streets of Toronto and 18th at World Wide Technology Raceway.

With the triumph, Power trimmed Palou’s championship advantage to 54 points – the maximum number available in a single race – with three rounds remaining.

“[It’s] very rewarding,” Power said of the win. “I came here determined, so did the whole team. We wanted to get qualifying right and then execute in the race. It’s not a last-ditch effort, but really, if Palou finished ahead of us today, it was going to be very difficult.

“We’re going to keep fighting ahead here. [It was] a couple of bad races before this, but let’s see if we can [still] get a championship.”

Palou had one real chance to overtake Power, after Pietro Fittipaldi’s Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda exited the pits right in front of the leader, breaking Power’s momentum briefly.

It allowed the Spaniard to get right to Power in turn seven, but the Team Penske driver defended brilliantly and was never seriously threatened again after that.

Though Palou led two laps after Power’s final pit stop and three laps in total Sunday, it was little solace as the latter pulled away late.

Palou’s pass of Ferrucci for second on lap eight put him where he’d ultimately finish.

“Maybe we were a bit wrong with the strategy there,” Palou said. “Went too aggressive in qualifying yesterday and really didn’t have any good used alternates. It was tough work there on primaries having to catch Will, but the 12 deserved it today. They were very, very fast. Happy with the P2 today.”

Power’s Penske teammate Josef Newgarden completed the podium, followed by Andretti Global with Curb-Agajanian’s Colton Herta and Chip Ganassi Racing’s Marcus Armstrong.

Eight drivers are still mathematically eligible to win the Astor Cup, Indy car racing’s championship trophy, but the realistic fight is down to a three-horse race between Palou, Power, and Herta.

The trio is separated by 67 points after 14 of 17 races.

Six-time champion Scott Dixon’s quest for a record-tying seventh crown likely reached its end on the opening lap Sunday, when he crashed into the guardrail on the opening lap after contact with Fittipaldi

Prior to the contact, Dixon had been forced into the dirt by Kyle Kirkwood, leading to chaos as Dixon tried to blend back into the field. He leaves Portland an all-but-insurmountable 101 points back of Palou.

The final three races of the year are all on ovals, with twin 250-mile sprints at the Milwaukee (Wis.) Mile Aug. 31 and Sept. 1 before the title-decider at Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway on Sept. 15.

Ten of Power’s 44 Indy car wins have come on ovals, including the second race at Iowa Speedway earlier this year, while Palou has yet to win an Indy car oval race.

That has Power believing that everything is still in play when it comes to chasing a third Indy car title.

“We’ve been very, very good on ovals – very solid,” Power admitted. “Obviously, they’re two ovals that we haven’t raced at in a long time, so it’s anyone’s game. I hope we get it right.

“We’ll do our best and take the fight to Alex.”

As the NTT IndyCar Series looks to Wisconsin, broadcast coverage of the Hy-Vee Milwaukee Mile 250s is slated for Saturday, Aug. 31 at 6 p.m. ET and Sunday, Sept. 1 at 2:30 p.m. ET.

Both races will stream live on Peacock and the IndyCar Radio Network, while the Sunday race will also be telecast on USA Network.