Preview: OnlyBulls Grand Prix of Portland

(INDIANAPOLIS, IN.) – With just 6 races left to go in the 2026 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season, the series heads out to the west coast to Oregon, for the OnlyBulls Grand Prix of Portland.

Race weekend: Friday, Aug. 7-Sunday, Aug. 9

Track: Portland International Raceway, a 12-turn, 1.964-mile road course in Portland, Oregon

Race distance: 110 laps / 216.04 miles

NTT INDYCAR SERIES Entry List (PDF) | Trackside Media Guide (Interactive PDF) | Weekend Event Schedule

Push to Pass parameters: 200 seconds of total time with a maximum time of 20 seconds per activation.

Hybrid energy deployment parameters: Unlimited activation with a maximum deployment of 300 kilojoules (kj) per lap

Firestone tire allotment: Five sets primary, five sets alternate to be used during the event weekend. Teams must use one set of primary and one new set of alternate tires unless wet conditions are declared. One additional set is available for the weekend’s first session to teams fielding a rookie driver.

2025 race winner: Will Power (No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet)

2025 NTT P1 Award winner: Christian Lundgaard (No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet), 58.3939 seconds, 121.081 mph

Qualifying record: Will Power, 57.2143 seconds, 123.577 mph, Sept. 1, 2018 (Set in Round 1 of knockout qualifying)

At-track schedule (all times local):

Friday, Aug. 7

2:35 PM– Practice 1

Saturday, Aug. 8

10:05 AM – Practice 2

4:05 PM – NTT P1 Award qualifying (three rounds of knockout qualifying)

Sunday, Aug. 9

10:05 AM – Final Practice

1:27 PM – OnlyBulls Grand Prix of Portland Race

Race notes:

• The OnlyBulls Grand Prix of Portland will be the 32nd INDYCAR SERIES race at Portland International Raceway and the 8th since the NTT INDYCAR SERIES returned in 2018. Al Unser Jr. won the 1st INDYCAR SERIES race at Portland in 1984, while Will Power won back-to-back races at Portland in 2024 and 2025. Alex Palou, Scott McLaughlin and Power are the only former winners entered in this year’s race.

• 8 INDYCAR SERIES drivers have won at Portland International Raceway from the pole – Danny Sullivan (1988), Al Unser Jr. (1994), Alex Zanardi (1996), Max Papis (2001), Cristiano da Matta (2002), Sebastien Bourdais (2004), Alex Palou (2021) and Scott McLaughlin (2022).

• Team Penske has won 9 times at Portland International Raceway, the most by any entrant at the track. Penske’s winning INDYCAR SERIES drivers are Danny Sullivan (1988), Emerson Fittipaldi (1993), Al Unser Jr. (1994, 1995), Gil de Ferran (2000), Will Power (2019, 2024 and 2025) and Scott McLaughlin (2022). Chip Ganassi Racing has 4 wins at Portland with Alex Zanardi in 1996 and 1998 and Alex Palou in 2021 and 2023.
• 22 drivers entered in the event have competed in past INDYCAR SERIES races at Portland International Raceway. Scott Dixon and Will Power each have 9 starts, most among the entered drivers. 13 entered drivers have led laps at the track (Power 247, Scott McLaughlin 109, Alex Palou 106, Graham Rahal 69, Pato O’Ward 43, Alexander Rossi 32, Dixon 30, Josef Newgarden 11, Felix Rosenqvist 6, David Malukas 2, Marcus Armstrong 1, Marcus Ericsson 1 and Christian Lundgaard 1).
• 6 drivers have won INDY NXT by Firestone races at Portland before moving up to the NTT INDYCAR SERIES. Pato O’Ward won both races at Portland in 2018 on his way to the INDY NXT by Firestone championship. Rinus VeeKay won 1 of the doubleheader races in 2019, and Kyle Kirkwood and David Malukas split the doubleheader races in 2021. Former INDY NXT by Firestone champions Louis Foster and Dennis Hauger won in 2023 and 2025, respectively. Graham Rahal scored the 1st win of his professional racing career at Portland, winning the Star Mazda (now USF Pro 2000 championship) race in 2005.
• Milestones: Scott Dixon will attempt to make his 369th consecutive start, extending his record streak.Graham Rahal will attempt to make his 269th consecutive start, the third-longest streak in INDYCAR SERIES history.Josef Newgarden will attempt to make his 232nd consecutive start, the 6-longest streak in INDYCAR SERIES history.

Driver Quotes

Caio Collet, No. 4 Combitrans Amazonia Chevrolet A.J. Foyt Racing

“Portland has always been a track that I’ve really enjoyed, and we’ve had some strong weekends there in INDY NXT. Having good memories at a circuit definitely gives you confidence because you already understand the rhythm of the track and know what it takes to be quick. That said, INDYCAR is a completely different challenge. The cars behave differently, the level of competition is incredibly high, and race management becomes much more important. Even so, starting the weekend at a place where I’ve had success before is a positive, and hopefully we can build on that with the No. 4 team.”

Pato O’Ward, No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet

“It was great to have a break before this intense next few weeks to close out the season starting in Portland. This year has been full of surprises, so we’re just trying to make the most of what we have each and every weekend.”

Nolan Siegel, No. 6 SmartStop Arrow McLaren Chevrolet

“I’m looking forward to getting back out on track in Portland after a few weekends off. Our group on the 6 car has continued to make good progress this season, regularly running towards the front in the top 10. We’re going to keep pushing and aiming to maximize every chance we have to go out and compete.”

Christian Lundgaard, No. 7 VELO Arrow McLaren Chevrolet

“I’m eager to get back out to Portland. We had a ton of pace there last year in qualifying and in the race. And, of course, we’ve had a lot of success on road courses this season as well. I’m confident we’ll have the package to be up front and in the fight again as we start this busy closing stretch.”

Santino Ferrucci, No. 14 Homes For Our Troops Chevrolet A.J. Foyt Racing

“I think the track is a little bit more old school. Kind of feels more like a track I grew up racing in go karts. Obviously, last year we didn’t have any of the results that we wanted, which was a shame. But yeah, hopefully we can turn that around this season.”

Graham Rahal, No. 15 5th/3rd Bank Honda Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing

“Last year we struggled in qualifying, but we were able to put a good strategy together in the race and had some really good pace so when we needed to run, we were able to run and get away from some guys and ended up P4 with good spot, and a good gap. Overall, I was pleased with that, I thought we executed well last year coming from the back. Obviously, we’ve had good speed on the road and street courses this year, road courses mainly. We feel like Portland is a place we’ve been quick at. We were on pole a couple of years ago, finished in the top five last year and hopefully we can keep that sort of momentum going. I’d love to get a win or another podium as we round out this year and try to get ourselves back in the top 10 in points. I think that’s a realistic goal, but we need to gain as many points as we can over the next few weeks and see how things work out towards the end of the year.”

Louis Foster, No. 45 Desnuda Honda Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing

“I like the track; it’s fun and fast and short as well so it’s enjoyable. With two road course races left in the season, we want to capitalize on the gains we’ve made. We need to improve our qualifying performance, but we have been very strong in the races. If we can put the two together, we can have a good race.”

Mick Schumacher, No. 47 Nereus Honda Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing

“We had a good day in the simulator for Portland a couple of weeks ago so hopefully we’re ready to roll off and get going pretty quickly. At the end of the day, I think that really that’s the most important part in INDYCAR is just to have a good starting set up where you don’t have to really change much to get better or to improve. I think that was very much the case in Nashville and so hopefully we’ll be able to have some of that, and if not, obviously we will work for it.”

“It’s a pretty tricky track. It’s bumpy in places and pretty flowy in some others like the triple right, plus the left and another right so it gets handsy so you have to be able to make sure that they’re all interlinked at the end of the day to make sure you get everything out of it. So hopefully we will be in a good place.”

“The Laguna test went well. It’s a pretty low grip track I’ve learned and it’s just simply one of those places where you’ve got to understand the high speeds, the low speeds and altitude changes, such as the corkscrew and other places like Turn 6, which are pretty tough places to race. There is still a lot to learn there. I don’t think there are a lot of things that are applicable for Portland but nevertheless, any day in the car and any time in the car is beneficial for me. I‘m still learning new places and Portland is going to be one of them so we’re getting into a good place here. I have not been to Portland before so I’m excited to explore it.”