PORTLAND, Ore. — Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden can’t win the NTT IndyCar Series championship, but he can still win the final two races of the season.
The two-time IndyCar Series champion was the fastest driver in Saturday evening’s final practice session with a fast lap of 59.4533 seconds around the 12-turn, 1.964-mile Portland International Raceway.
The driver of the No. 2 Chevrolet crashed in the tire barrier earlier in the day, but proved he has a fast car in race conditions later on Saturday.
“It’s always tough in these sessions when you are running used tires and the lifespan of them relative to the Blacks is always a topic of conversation,” Newgarden said. “It’s hard to assess it off the initial feel. Half the time when you think they aren’t going to survive, they end up surviving pretty well in the race.
“Our car was really fast. The team did an amazing job. It looks better than when I wrecked it. The team did a great job rebuilding it. I wish I could have done a better job for them in qualifying, but I’ll make it up to them tomorrow.”
Callum Ilott’s Chevrolet was second at 59.5342 seconds for Juncos Hollinger Racing. Championship points leader Alex Palou of Chip Ganassi Racing with third at 59.5716 seconds in the No. 10 American Legion Honda followed by two more of his teammates.
They were, in order, Marcus Ericsson’s No. 8 Honda at 59.6256 seconds and Scott Dixon’s No. 9 PNC Bank Honda at 59.7201 seconds.
Palou has a 74-point lead over teammate Dixon entering the race and can clinch the IndyCar Series championship if he leaves with a 54-point edge over Dixon. Maximum points for each IndyCar race are 54. If Palou finishes third or better, he will clinch the championship regardless of what Dixon does.
Dixon must gain 21 points to extend the championship fight to WeatherTech Raceway at Laguna Seca next week.
IndyCar opted for a late Saturday warmup because of the early local starting time for Sunday’s race.
Several drivers, including Callum Ilott, had incidents where they dropped wheels offline, creating a dust up.
Alex Palou’s weekend has been different as he has a new voice in his ear from the timing stand. It’s Mike O’Gara, who called the race strategy for Marcus Ericsson including his 2022 Indianapolis 500 victory. O’Gara has taken over the duties on the radio because Chip Ganassi Racing team manager Barry Wanser had surgery on August 30.
Wanser was diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma. The cancer was caught early and is very curable, according to Wanser.
Wanser is focused on continued treatment and recovery.
Also in Palou’s pit stand was recent Chip Ganassi Racing signee Linus Lundqvist, the 2022 Indy NXT champion, who is embedded with the team before he takes over one of the four cars at Chip Ganassi Racing in 2024.