Alex Palou led NTT IndyCar Series practice at Portland Int'l Raceway. (IndyCar Photo)
Alex Palou led NTT IndyCar Series practice at Portland Int'l Raceway. (IndyCar Photo)
NTT IndyCar Series

Palou Spins, Still Tops Portland IndyCar Practice

September 11, 2021

PORTLAND, Ore. – Championship contender Alex Palou didn’t let an early spin in turn 12 at Portland Int’l Raceway slow him down in Saturday morning’s NTT IndyCar Series practice session for Sunday’s Grand Prix of Portland.
 
The driver of the No. 10 PNC Bank/NTT Data Honda was the fastest driver in Saturday morning’s 75-minute opening practice session. Palou had a fast time of 58.7824-seconds around the 12-turn, 1.964-mile circuit.
 
After holding the championship lead for most of the season, Palou enters the weekend 10 points behind Mexico’s Pato O’Ward with three races remaining in the season.
 
“It was a little exciting, but it’s nice to be back driving Indy cars here,” said the 24-year-old driver from Spain. “I love this track. It’s really exciting and really close. Let’s see if we can improve a little bit more and get the pole this afternoon.”
 
Four-time Indianapolis 500 winning driver Helio Castroneves returned for Portland for the first time in 20 years. The Meyer-Shank Racing driver was second fastest at 58.8850 in the No. 06 AutoNation/SiriusXM Honda.
 
“It felt great,” Castroneves said. “These guys did a great job. I have to thank Andretti Autosport and my teammate Jack Harvey because they have all the information. We put a good lap and learned every time we went out there.
 
“It’s the first practice. Temperatures will rise and it will change a little more. It’s great to put the 06 up there, but there is a lot of work to do.”
 
Jack Harvey, Castroneves’ teammate, was third at 58.8887 in the No. 60 AutoNation/SiriusXM Honda followed by O’Ward’s No. 5 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet at 58.8933. Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden rounded out the top five at 58.8947 in the No. 2 Hitachi Chevrolet. Newgarden is third in points, 22 behind O’Ward in the battle of the championship.
 
Seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion and IndyCar Series rookie driver Jimmie Johnson was 20th fastest out of 27 cars with a fast time of :59.4554 in the No. 48 Carvana/The American Legion Honda for Chip Ganassi Racing.
 
Other drivers that brought out the red flag included Max Chilton, who stopped on the course in turn two after a spin. Team Penske driver Scott McLaughlin made contact with the tire barrier in turn 12 in the final 12 minutes of the session.