PORTLAND, Oregon – Team Penske’s Will Power moved into a tie for sixth place in Indy car history for career victories Sunday by capturing the NTT IndyCar Series Grand Prix of Portland at the Portland International Raceway.
Power (No. 12 Verizon Chevrolet) collected his 37th career win – and second in the last three races – to move into a tie with Sebastien Bourdais following a 2.7885-second margin of victory over Chip Ganassi Racing rookie Felix Rosenqvist (No. 10 NTT DATA Honda) on the 12-turn, 1.964-mile permanent road course.
Power was seemingly in control and en route to a victory, but had to deal with a restart with four to go in the 105-lap race. He avoided any challenges by Rosenqvist by opening up a 1.4-second advantage on the first lap of green action. The finish by Rosenqvist matched his career best established at Mid-Ohio.
Joining Power and Rosenqvist on the podium was championship contender Alexander Rossi (No. 27 NAPA AUTO PARTS Honda) of Andretti Autosport, who moved from third to second in the standings. He now trails leader Josef Newgarden (No. 2 Hitachi Chevrolet) of Team Penske by 41 points with one race remaining.
Newgarden battled back from a 13th starting position to finish fifth and pad his championship lead by three points.
Teammate Simon Pagenaud (No. 22 Menards Chevrolet) fell from second to third in the championship – 42 back – despite rebounding from an 18th starting position to finish seventh.
Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon (No. 9 PNC Bank Honda), fourth in the title race, was in command with the lead midway through the race, but a battery issue proved costly as he finished 16th. Dixon, a five-time NTT IndyCar Series champion, now trails Newgarden by 70 points.
The NTT IndyCar Series returns Sunday, Sept. 22, for the season-ending Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. The Championship Finale at Laguna Seca, a double-points race, will be broadcast live on NBC beginning with the pre-race show at 2:30 p.m. ET (11:30 a.m. PT local). Live coverage also will be available on the Advance Auto Parts INDYCAR Radio Network and SiriusXM Satellite Radio (XM 205, Sirius 98, Internet/App 970).
