The last road course of the 2025 NTT IndyCar Series season is this weekend at Portland International Raceway with the BITNILE.com Grand Prix of Portland. With its 12-turn 1.964-mile layout, it’s one of the best non-oval events for spectators to watch as most of the track is visible due to its relative flatness.
All eyes will be on two things: Turn 1 as the cars barrel down the frontstretch on the first lap and championship leader Alex Palou. If things go well for him, which they usually do at Portland, then he will walk away with his fourth Astor Cup and IndyCar championship.
Last Year
Will Power kept his championship hopes alive last year with his win in Portland. A better pit stop during a green-flag cycle got him out in front of Palou and he was able to seal off the win for his team. It was his third win in 2024, capping off a brilliant return to form after a rough 2023.
Unfortunately for him, it was his last stop in victory lane. When the green flag falls, it will be a full year since he led the field to the checkered flag.
Championship Race
The magic number is 108. If Palou walks out of this weekend with that many points over second-placed Pato O’Ward, then he will be champion. Drivers are only able to earn a maximum of 54 points a race, and that requires getting the pole as well. With the gap going into Portland 121, Palou already has breathing room.
O’Ward will be on full attack, which is when he excels, but the hill he’s climbing is steep. Palou can run up front and easily win Sunday, as he’s done it twice before, and as mentioned, could have won last year.
For O’Ward, he’s had a couple of top fives, but that won’t cut it.
It’s a win with some major bad luck for Palou, or the papaya towel can be thrown in on the championship.
Surprise Pole Winner
Santino Ferrucci shocked the field by winning the pole for the 2024 Portland race. It continued a positive year for him and his A. J. Foyt Racing team, who ended the season ninth in points. While the win didn’t happen — he finished eighth — another great run can be in the offering.
If not him, perhaps his teammate David Malukas, who has helped raise the bar and put two strong Foyt cars on the grid. In 2023, Malukas finished eighth with Dale Coyne Racing and has notched two top 10s on road and street courses.
Portland could be a good day for the Foyt cars.
Countdown Begins
Three races left for Team Penske to win. They are in Lewis and Clark territory as far as their IndyCar history goes. Since the team jumped from CART to the IRL full-time in 2002, they’ve visited victory lane at least once every year. Currently, they are knocking on the door of the Futility Palace.
Is it possible they might break through? Yes, but this year has seen such significant dominance by Palou that Penske can’t seem to even pace the field enough to show their hand. Besides Iowa, where Josef Newgarden led the majority of the laps and all three cars finished second through fourth in Race 1, they earned three other podiums. When a trio that has four championships, three Indy 500 triumphs, and 82 IndyCar wins can’t match Palou in total podiums, let alone wins, then it’s extremely difficult to get up front.
While Newgarden hasn’t won at Portland, Scott McLaughlin (2022) and Power have, so there is some reliable experience for them to pull on.
This season is a nightmare, and the best thing for the historic operation is that the offseason isn’t far away; unless you are Power, who doesn’t have a contract confirmed to return yet. But three races remain for the whole squad to at least gallop off toward the sun with something to take with them.
First Time Winners
Besides the Team Penske trio, one other driver will be angling for their first win in 2025 after earning two last year. Colton Herta had a strong finish in 2024, but with his teammate Kyle Kirkwood taking the reins as best in class at Andrettio Global, he has not returned to victory lane. He’s grabbed a couple of top fives at Portland, but he might not see a checkered first until Nashville when he aims to defend his win from a year ago.
There could be a surprise winner in store as well. Both Meyer Shank Cars of Felix Rosenqvist and Marcus Armstrong have run in the top 10 in points since the early summer. Almost a full season has gone by since they joined with Chip Ganassi Racing in a technical partnership, and it’s shown. But, still, no wins between the two of them.
Rosenqvist started the season strong but has lost consistency, while Armstrong has learned from his teammate and dialed in results. He added another top 10 to a great summer run in which he finished once worse than ninth since Detroit.
What Else?
A feel-good end of the season is happening at PREMA Racing. Callum Ilott is on a top 10 streak (two races), and the team is getting more up to speed with the IndyCar world. Teammate Robert Shwartzman is still learning, but with four total top 10s in 2025 for PREMA, the only non-chartered operation is picking up steam.
Louis Foster sits 22nd in the standings, the cutoff spot for the Leaders Circle payout to the charter teams. The rookie is fast, but he hasn’t finished great. Three races remain for him to get the kinks ironed out to finish strong and hold off Shwartzman for Rookie of the Year.
Marcus Ericsson has not found the mojo at Andretti that he seemed to possess at Chip Ganassi Racing. Two top 10s, with a best of fifth at Toronto, is all he has to show for it. His two teammates, Kirkwood and Herta, are in the top 10 in points, while he is only 28 points away from the Leader Circle cutoff, though the two PREMA cars are 23rd and 24th in standings, so he doesn’t have to sweat too much about that. With young talent in Indy NXT knocking down doors, it’s imperative he rights his results.
Christian Lundgaard returned to form at Laguna with his second runner-up of the year. He is skilled enough to win in Portland.
Frontstretch Predictions
The championship will be over on Sunday. Palou doesn’t win, but he scores enough to claim the title. Lundgaard gets his first win for Arrow McLaren with Palou second, followed by Power.
- Lundgaard
- Palou
- Power
Coverage for the 110-lap BITNILE.com Grand Prix of Portland at Portland International Raceway starts at 3 p.m. ET, Sunday (Aug. 10), on FOX.
Tom is an IndyCar writer at Frontstretch, joining in March 2023. Besides writing the IndyCar Previews and frequent editions of Inside IndyCar, he will hop on as a fill-in guest on the Open Wheel podcast The Pit Straight. A native Hoosier, he calls Fort Wayne home. Follow Tom on Twitter @TomBlackburn42.