The top two in the NTT IndyCar Series standings are both from Team Penske. (Photo: Luis Torres | The Podium Finish)
PORTLAND, Ore. — Two races are left in the NTT IndyCar Series and the focus is on six drivers who are in the hunt for the Astor Cup. Of those six racers, a pair of trios represent two race teams.
Those two teams are Chip Ganassi Racing with Scott Dixon, Alex Palou and Marcus Ericsson, and Team Penske with Will Power, Josef Newgarden and Scott McLaughlin.
Prior to this weekend’s Grand Prix of Portland, Penske and Ganassi had one more test session to collect data they can use for the remainder of the year.
Their decision of choosing which track to go to was certainly strategic based on improving their efforts. Ganassi headed to WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca early in the week. Meanwhile, Penske opted to not go to California like they did a year ago and headed up to the Pacific Northwest last Friday.
The Penske trio navigated around the 1.964-mile road course and learned a lot that will help their odds this weekend.
Two-time series champion Newgarden feels the team is confident they will be solid at Laguna Seca while Portland is where they need to improve the most. Last year, Ganassi’s Alex Palou won the race whereas the highest-finishing Penske driver was Neawgarden, who finished fifth.
“I think it can be very positive for us. We have good cars at Laguna Seca. But for Portland, we needed a little bit of work historically the last couple of seasons,” Newgarden explained. “It’s good to have that time and was really happy with the car in the morning. I actually felt like we’ve made good progress.”
Power leads the championship trail over his teammate Newgarden by just three points, but had a hiccup in last Friday’s morning session when he lost it in Turn 6. The 2014 champion cited driver error which led to the spin and to his No. 12 Verizon Chevrolet stalling and being towed back into the paddock.
Will Power leads the title by three points with just two rounds remaining. (Photo: Luis Torres | The Podium Finish)
Since the series returned to Portland in 2018, Power was able to reach the top step of the podium in 2019, but struggled to be in the mix last year as he finished an unideal 13th.
Going into the first track he ever raced in the United States, Power knows the championship battle is tight as the top-four drivers are separated by only 17 points. No stranger to leading the championship late, he knows this trail will go down to the very last lap at Laguna Seca in two weeks.
“It’s going to be a tough fight for the end. That’s just INDYCAR for you these days,” said Power. “No one is going to know until the last lap of the last race.”
Despite the quick lap times with Power holding the qualifying track record at 57.2143 seconds set in 2018, running laps at Portland before the Ganassi title-contending trio is extremely valuable.
“It’s a tough track to get right. It’s quite a short lap which stacks everyone really tight on time,” Power explained. “It’s hard to differentiate yourself with speeds. That’s why we picked this place because we needed some miles.”
In terms of the grand picture, Newgarden knows with only two races left, a strong run this Sunday at Portland is important to have before heading to Monterey. That’s in spite of being the most recent series winner at Gateway, extending his win total to five this season.
In particular, the mindset is concentrating on what they can control. Not just Newgarden, but the vibe of the organization is dependent on controlling their fate on track.
“Consistency is probably going to pay the biggest reward,” said Newgarden. “Things outside of our control that we don’t need to be focusing on is yellows and things that can happen that we can’t predict. We’re going to focus on ourselves and try to put two good races together. That’s all is going to take.”
Newgarden leads the series with five wins after winning at Gateway two weeks ago. (Photo: Luis Torres | The Podium Finish)
The long shot for this year’s title is McLaughlin, who sits in sixth in points and trails Power by 54 points. After starting off his sophomore year with a win at St. Petersburg and just barely losing out at a Texas win over Newgarden, McLaughlin has been plagued with inconsistency.
Rather than being real close in the mix, the Kiwi would need a lot of help to still be in contention for the Astor Cup after the 110-lap contest concludes Sunday. In spite of the odds being difficult, McLaughlin indeed learned a lot in his second season in the NTT IndyCar Series.
“We feel like the pace has been fantastic,” McLaughlin explained. “I’ve learned a lot running at the front of the championship throughout the season. I just got to be more consistent in the bigger races. I crashed out of the Indy 500 and it was my fault.
“There were a couple of spots that as a team we probably didn’t pick up the right amount of points that we should’ve. You think about the points that we’ve lost in those couple of races, we’d probably be right where Josef and Will are right now.”
McLaughlin followed up his comments by saying that he’s ahead of schedule in his driving development after spending multiple years in Supercars where he ruled the competition.
McLaughlin storms around the infamous Festival Curve chicane. (Photo: Luis Torres | The Podium Finish)
When asked about one area where he has progressed since making the transition, going from having no experience in open wheels (excluding iRacing) to now having two wins and seven podiums, McLaughlin told The Podium Finish, “That’s been a learning in itself. I guess trusting the aerodynamics of the race car and trusting what I need is a very different kettle of fish.
“In terms of the way the car handles and the way you get the speed from it. For me, it’s trying to get comfortable with my feedback and tell the engineers what I want. Then when we found a base setup at most tracks, it’s been nice to just be able to check boxes and tune it up the whole time.”
One thing is certain for Team Penske, there will not be team orders. Instead, each Penske driver will run their race and fight until the bitter end. Should any of the trio fall out of the title picture, they are aware that whoever is still in the fight, it is important for the organization to hoist the Astor Cup come September 11.
The fight for the title will wreak havoc this weekend at Portland, beginning with opening practice Friday at 5:30 p.m. ET on Peacock. Race coverage begins Sunday at 3:00 p.m. ET on NBC.
