Written by Dan Jones
There's one last road course rodeo in 2024. And it could be the weekend that Álex Palou puts beyond any doubt the inevitability of sealing his third IndyCar title. That's right, it's time for the NTT IndyCar Series to head to the Pacific Northwest and to Portland International Raceway, Round 14 of 17 in the 2024 NTT IndyCar Series.
This comes one week after IndyCar's visit to World Wide Technology Raceway, which saw an event filled with controversy, upsets and race-long action. But to the surprise of nobody, it was Josef Newgarden who conquered the short oval, claiming his fourth win in five years at Gateway, as he lead home Team Penske teammate, Scott McLaughlin, who continued his run of four podiums in five races.
It wouldn't go without controversy, Newgarden led the field at a particularly slow pace in the penultimate restart, in an attempt to go as late as possible. This caused the field to check up, which saw Alexander Rossi fly over the back of Will Power, with Jack Harvey and Conor Daly also involved. Newgarden was not found guilty, but the likes of Colton Herta and Power were particularly disgruntled, with suggestions of Penske favouritism continuing to increase.
Amidst all that, Palou drove a quietly excellent race, finishing fourth after Herta received a post-race penalty for blocking. Power's day ended in the barrier, mere minutes after he collided with David Malukas. Palou's other championship contenders faltered too. Scott Dixon could not make the alternate strategy work for once and finished in 11th, whilst Pato O'Ward's day ended early after a mechanical failure whilst running in the top five.
So heading in the final road course of the year the standings are as follows:
Palou - 443
Herta - 384
Dixon - 378
Power - 377
McLaughlin - 370
O'Ward - 345
Kirkwood - 322
Newgarden - 317
Rossi - 277
Rosenqvist - 249
It's more than a race victory points-wise between Palou and Herta at the top of the standings. O'Ward's Gateway mechanical effectively ended any slim championship hopes he had, whilst Herta, Dixon, Power and McLaughlin all have an uphill struggle to overturn the points gap with just four races left on the season.
They may gain some confidence by the fact that Palou's weakest point is on ovals, with three of them to close the season in Milwaukee and Nashville. However, first they must head to Portland, the final road course of the season, and concerningly for the competition, one of Palou's best venues of the year.
Portland International Raceway, a 1.967 mile (3.166km) road course, opened in 1961, which has hosted IndyCar since 1984, and now hosts the likes of Formula E and the NASCAR Xfinity Series. Drivers will compete over 110 laps on Sunday's race.
The lap starts with a particularly wide, and particularly long straight, which dramatically narrows into a particularly tight chicane, which sees drivers aggressively hop over the kerbing next to the Turn 1 barrier. This chicane has been the source of chaos for several years at Portland, notable for many Lap 1 incidents. However, the field was able to avoid such carnage last season, will that trend continue - it could be vital for the championship.
After drivers navigate the right-left chicane, the non-corner at Turn 3 brings them on to the flowing section of the track, as drivers commit hard into Turn 4, as they slow the speeds into 4a as the right-hander continues into Turn 5 for dramatically switching back left into Turn 6. Turn 7 provides one of the best overtaking opportunities on the track as a narrowing right-hander which gives an opportunity for a divebomb.
Then comes the second long straight, through the kinks at Turns 8 and 9. This isn't so good for overtaking, as drivers are met with a high-speed left-right chicane with very little window for error. A tighter, mid-speed right-hander at Turn 12 brings them back to the start-finish straight.
Portland was the venue that Palou sealed his second championship last season. Although that won't be on the cards for 2024, Palou could take a major leap towards that. In three visits to Portland, Palou has taken two victories and a pole position, and has been noted to fight his way through the field here on occasion. It's one of four venues Palou has taken multiple wins at in his career, but this may be his strongest of them all, completely white-washing the field in last seasons event.
Scott McLaughlin maybe a championship outsider, but he might be Palou's biggest threat. McLaughlin is in a sensational run of form, taking five podiums in the last seven races, as well as pole positions in two of the last three. McLaughlin won here from pole in 2022 in pretty dominant fashion, and ran well here last year, but poor strategy saw his day become undone. His title hopes are slim, but he has the best track record here outside of Palou.
Since IndyCar returned to the venue in 2018, Will Power is the only other driver in the current field to find victory lane at Portland, winning in 2019. But, this hasn't been his best venue otherwise. In IndyCar's five races since it returned, Power has only finished in the Top 12 twice, and wasn't particularly strong here in Champ Car days. However, he still does have two podiums to his name, and he will need to replicate that to have any other sort of championship hopes.
As for the other championship hopefuls, Herta's best opportunity does not lie at Portland. He did take pole here in 2019, but has never achieved a top five finish. Portland remains one of few venues Scott Dixon has not won at, but has finished on the final step of the podium in each of IndyCar's last three visits at the circuit.
I'd personally keep an eye on Felix Rosenqvist, who may see this as a great opportunity for a first podium with Meyer Shank Racing. Rosenqvist has never finished outside the Top 10 at Portland, and has two second-place finishes, including behind Palou last season. Keep an eye out for his good friend Pato O'Ward too, who has finished fourth in his last races at Portland.
Heading into the weekend, there has been some driver shuffling. Conor Daly will see-out the rest of the year at Juncos Hollinger Racing in place for Agustín Canapino in the No.78. Toby Sowery will return to the No. 51 Dale Coyne Racing car after impressing at both Mid-Ohio and Toronto. Toby spoke about his appearances at both races in-depth in the most recent episode of the DIVEBOMB IndyCar Podcast.
Christian Rasmussen will make his final appearance in 2024 in the No. 20 Ed Carpenter Racing car, before he hands the car back to Ed for the remaining ovals of 2024. Jüri Vips will race in the No.75 Rahal Letterman Lanigan car, the same track he made his IndyCar debut at last season, as the team continue to assess him over a full-time 2025 drive.
It's a crucial event in the outlook of what will decide the 2024 Champion. If Palou runs as well as he done in previous years, it will become an uphill struggle for every single contender. If Palou gets involved in a Turn 1, Lap 1 melee, the championship is wide open. With Penske favouritism allegations as rife as ever, could an internal fallout in the series be about to take place - especially with charters looming.
With the battle for the leaders circle becoming as tight as ever after an unpredictable Gateway, with many career futures on the line, it's still all to play for in Portland. Don't miss the final road course of the year, could Álex Palou possibly take an almighty step toward a third IndyCar title?
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