Everything To Know About INDYCAR At Portland, Including Alex Palou’s Title Quest

PORTLAND INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY (Portland, Ore.) — A year ago, INDYCAR drivers came to Portland knowing that Alex Palou could clinch the championship with a couple of races remaining in the season. He did clinch the title at Portland a year ago. It was his third consecutive and fourth in the last five years. The 1.964-mile, 12-turn Portland road course is earlier in the season this year, with five races remaining after the 110-lap affair on Sunday, Aug. 9 (4 p.m. ET, FOX). But it is the same in that the field is once again chasing Palou. Here’s everything you need to know about this quest. What’s Left In The Season? This weekend at Portland is a known commodity to the teams, as they have raced on the permanent road course for the last seven years. But the next two weekends are not as familiar. A new circuit in the Toronto suburb of Markham replaces the race at the Toronto exhibition center. The new layout is a 2.19-mile, 12-turn street course. And then comes a biggie. A 250-mile affair in Washington, D.C., where the course appears relatively simple at 1.7 miles and seven turns. But 250 miles will be the longest street course race since the series raced in the 1980s on the Cleveland airport. The series ends with a doubleheader weekend at The Milwaukee Mile, a 1-mile oval where they will race on both Saturday and Sunday of the weekend before heading to the 2.238-mile, 11-turn permanent road course at Laguna Seca in Monterey, Calif. How Big Is Palou’s Lead? It’s big but not totally insurmountable. There are 54 points available on a race weekend. There are 50 points based on finishing position and up to four bonus points (one for winning the pole, one for leading a lap and two for leading the most laps). The Chip Ganassi Racing driver already has more than a one-race lead on the field. He has an 83-point lead on Team Penske’s David Malukas. Following Malukas, Palou has an 87-point edge on Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood and 104 points on Christian Lundgaard. Can anyone catch him, needing nearly to cut 14 points a race at a minimum? INDYCAR veteran Graham Rahal isn’t convinced. “The championship, I hate to say it, but it’s over really. Unless something crazy happens, I just don’t see it going the other way,” Rahal told me Friday morning at Portland. Who Has The Best Shot To Catch Him? I could give you my thoughts, but FOX Sports analyst and former INDYCAR driver James Hinchcliffe already has. So take a look here: Is This The Biggest Margin With Six Races To Go? No it’s not. That record belongs to Scott Dixon, who had a 117-point lead in 2020 with six races to go to win the championship. Palou had a lead of 106 points — 23 more than this year — at this point last season. What Is The Biggest Comeback With Six To Go? Back in 2010, Dario Franchitt rallied from 50 points behind Will Power to win by five points. Power, by the way, is the defending winner at Portland. How Does Palou Feel? Palou very much displays an “it isn’t over until it’s over” type of vibe. He knows anything can happen. He also understands that with a couple of unknowns at Markham and Washington coming up, that could change how things play out. But first things first. Portland is a place where he has to feel good. He has won twice and finished on the podium in four of his five Portland starts. Are His Competitors Confident? They are confident in their abilities. They just aren’t confident that Palou could make enough mistakes or have enough misfortune that they would need to catch him. Kirkwood sees the two upcoming races at Markham and Washington as ones where he could potentially close the gap. “If history repeats itself, we’ve been really good on new tracks and new street courses, especially,” Kirkwood told me Friday. “Arlington [this year] was a new one. When we rolled out at Detroit a couple years back, we were definitely the cars to beat there. “So if that stays true, we have a really, really good opportunity at both Markham and D.C. to claw back some of the points’ deficit that we’ve had. But we’ve got to tie together [strong runs] all the races. … If we can do all of it, we’ll have a chance at a championship.” Does Palou Think That The Two Races After Portland Make Him Vulnerable? Palou, as mentioned earlier, never takes anything for granted. “I don’t know,” Palou told me Friday. “We never know, especially being a street track … Hopefully that doesn’t give them a chance to be any more competitive. “We know it’s going to be tough in terms of what are we doing on strategy, on setup, on how much can I push? It’s going to be an adventure.” How Does Malukas Focus On The Championship vs. Winning His First Race? Malukas doesn’t have an INDYCAR win, so he is somewhat just trying to win as well as remain in the championship battle. He indicated as much on Friday. “There is still somewhat of a championship battle that we really want to focus on and that’s kind of our main objective,” Malukas told me and other reporters. “So nothing too risky. But if the opportunity arises, we’ll go forward and try to get that first win.” How Is Malukas After The Nashville Crash? Malukas bruised his right knee in a crash at Nashville three weeks ago, but he said he is fine. “The knee is good,” Malukas said. “I’m pretty much back to 100 percent. I have full range of motion and was able to get back to the gym.” What is painful is that Malukas will have a six-spot grid penalty at Portland for exceeding the engine limits this year. He had a grid penalty at Nashville and then ruined another engine in the crash. “It makes it tough considering obviously the championship battle,” Malukas said. “This track is very qualifying important. We want to make sure we can qualify as good as possible considering the penalty on top of it.” What Are The Keys At Portland? The key at Portland is like many other tracks — have a good handling car and don’t make mistakes. That’s exactly why it fits into Palou’s wheelhouse. And he was one of the few drivers who has actually tested at Portland. “I love this track,” Palou said. “Last year was good. We were not the fastest but I just love this track. I’m glad we tested here a couple of weeks ago. It allowed us to find some areas where we were missing last year.”