Dixon Paces Final Practice In Portland

PORTLAND, Ore. – Alex Palou nearly pulled off the hat trick of speed by sweeping both practice sessions and winning the pole at Portland Int’l Raceway.

Nobody told his Chip Ganassi Racing teammate, Scott Dixon, about Palou’s potential hat trick, however.
 
Dixon, a six-time NTT IndyCar Series champion, was the fastest driver in Saturday’s final practice session for Sunday’s Grand Prix of Portland. Earlier in the day, Palou was the fastest in the first 75-minute practice session and won the pole Saturday afternoon.
 
Dixon paced the final session, lapping the 12-turn, 1.964-mile Portland Int’l Raceway in 59.411 seconds for a speed of 119.008 mph in the No. 9 PNC Bank Honda.
 
Josef Newgarden of Team Penske was second at 59.6296 (118.572 mph) in the No. 2 Hitachi Chevrolet followed by Ed Jones in the No. 18 SealMaster Honda at 59.6403 (118.551 mph).
 
Palou was fourth at 59.7467 (118.340 mph in the No. 10 PNC Bank Honda and was on top of the charts with one minute left in the final practice before Dixon was the first to top his speed. Newgarden and Jones were also able to go faster than Palou at the checkered flag.
 
Palou, a second-year driver from Spain entered the weekend 10 points behind championship leader Pato O’Ward. Palou won the pole Saturday for Sunday’s Grand Prix of Portland. By doing so, he earned one point in the championship and is effectively nine points behind O’Ward.
 
The point for the pole, however, won’t be awarded until after Sunday’s race.
 
Pato O’Ward enters the race as the points leader. Newgarden is third, 22 points back. O’Ward was 16th fastest in Saturday’s final practice session at 1:00.4529 (116.947 mph) in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet.
 
Sunday’s race can be seen on NBC with the telecast beginning at 12 noon Eastern Time. The green flag will fly shortly thereafter.
 
There are three races left in the 2021 NTT IndyCar Series season.