PORTLAND, Ore. — Christian Lundgaard turned a difficult starting position into a strong recovery drive Sunday, climbing from 25th to 9th in the OnlyBulls Grand Prix of Portland at the Portland International Raceway.
The result gave Lundgaard a 16-position gain in the 110-lap race, but the Arrow McLaren driver left Portland viewing the top-10 finish as more of a salvage job than a success.
“Not really,” Lundgaard said when asked if he was happy with the result. “I mean, it’s not where we should be.”
Lundgaard’s weekend was compromised before the green flag. He struggled with an electrical and hybrid issue during qualifying and failed to advance from the opening round, leaving him at the rear of the field for Sunday’s race. His Arrow McLaren teammates Pato O’Ward and Nolan Siegel also failed to advance from the opening qualifying round, starting 17th and 16th, respectively.
From there, Lundgaard steadily worked his way forward.
The Portland race featured several battles throughout the field, including a tense fight between Lundgaard and Chip Ganassi Racing’s Kyffin Simpson. The two ran nose-to-tail around 10th and 11th late in the race, with Lundgaard having to defend his position through Turn 4.
Lundgaard ultimately moved ahead of Simpson to secure 9th, continuing what has been an impressive road-course campaign in 2026. His P9 finish was also enough to keep him 4th in the championship standings, behind Alex Palou, Kyle Kirkwood and David Malukas respectively.
Still, the biggest story of the afternoon was what Lundgaard had to overcome.
Alex Palou won the race from the front of the field, taking his 6th victory of the season, with Felix Rosenqvist P2 and Will Power P3. Palou’s victory further strengthened his championship lead as the series moved deeper into the closing stretch of the season.
For Lundgaard, the Portland result was another example of the pace and racecraft that have made him one of IndyCar’s leading road-course drivers. But after starting at the back because of qualifying problems, 9th represented the limit of what could be recovered rather than the result the No. 7 Velo Chevrolet was capable of achieving.
“We fortunately had decent race execution to gain the 16 positions from last to ninth,” Lundgaard said, according to Chevrolet’s post-race report, “but it’s not where we should have been to start the race.”
The charge salvaged valuable championship points, but it also left Lundgaard and Arrow McLaren with a clear takeaway from Portland: when the car is capable of fighting near the front, starting at the rear leaves too much ground to make up.
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