2023 BitNile.com Grand Prix of Portland explained

The 2023 BitNile.com Grand Prix of Portland was the penultimate round of the 2023 IndyCar season. The race was held on September 3, 2023, in Portland, Oregon at the Portland International Raceway; and was won for a second time by Álex Palou who qualified fifth and led 69 of 110 laps in his Chip Ganassi Racing number 10 Honda.

Arrow McLaren's Felix Rosenqvist finished second while Palou's veteran teammate Scott Dixon came in third.Graham Rahal qualified on the pole and finished twelfth.

By virtue of his race win, Palou wrapped up the championship before the final race of the season, a feat last accomplished by Sébastien Bourdais when he won the 2007 Champ Car championship in the penultimate race.^[1]

Entry list

Key	Meaning
	Rookie
	Past winner

align=center	!	Driver	Team	Engine
2			Chevrolet
3	Scott McLaughlin		Chevrolet
5			Chevrolet
06			Honda
6			Chevrolet
7			Chevrolet
8			Honda
9			Honda
10	Álex Palou		Honda
11	Marcus Armstrong		Honda
12	Will Power		Chevrolet
14			Chevrolet
15			Honda
18			Honda
20			Chevrolet
21			Chevrolet
26			Honda
27			Honda
28			Honda
29			Honda
30	Jüri Vips		Honda
45			Honda
51	Sting Ray Robb		Honda
55	Benjamin Pedersen		Chevrolet
60	Tom Blomqvist		Honda
77			Chevrolet
78	Agustín Canapino		Chevrolet
Source:^[2]

Practice

Practice 1

+ Top Practice Speeds
		Driver	Team	Engine	Lap Time
1	45	Christian Lundgaard	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	Honda	00:58.1776
2	27	Kyle Kirkwood	Andretti Autosport	Honda	00:58.3246
3	10	Álex Palou	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda	00:58.3555
Source:^[3]

Practice 2

+ Top Practice Speeds
		Driver	Team	Engine	Lap Time
1	3	Scott McLaughlin	Team Penske	Chevrolet	00:58.1516
2	2	Josef Newgarden	Team Penske	Chevrolet	00:58.2695
3	9	Scott Dixon	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda	00:58.2785
Source:^[4]

Qualifying

Qualifying started at 12:30 PM PT on September 2, 2023.

Qualifying classification

		Driver	Team	Engine	Time
					Round 1		Round 2	Round 3
					Group 1	Group 2
1	15	Graham Rahal	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	Honda	00:58.1612	N/A	00:58.3248	00:58.3195	1
2	3	Scott McLaughlin	Team Penske	Chevrolet	N/A	00:58.0525	00:58.0777	00:58.3525	2
3	26	Colton Herta	Andretti Autosport with Curb-Agajanian	Honda	00:58.0843	N/A	00:58.2338	00:58.4576	3
4	9	Scott Dixon	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda	N/A	00:58.3701	00:58.2653	00:58.5803	4
5	10	Álex Palou	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda	N/A	00:57.9651	00:58.3232	00:58.6492	5
6	5	Pato O'Ward	Arrow McLaren	Chevrolet	N/A	00:58.1025	00:58.2579	00:58.6737	6
7	12	Will Power	Team Penske	Chevrolet	00:58.1913	N/A	00:58.3779	N/A	7
8	77	Callum Ilott	Juncos Hollinger Racing	Chevrolet	00:58.3075	N/A	00:58.4973	N/A	8
9	7	Alexander Rossi	Arrow McLaren	Chevrolet	N/A	00:58.4637	00:58.5023	N/A	9
10	8	Marcus Ericsson	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda	N/A	00:58.5952	00:58.5479	N/A	10
11	6	Felix Rosenqvist	Arrow McLaren	Chevrolet	00:57.8967	N/A	00:59.3053	N/A	11
12	2	Josef Newgarden	Team Penske	Chevrolet	00:58.0890	N/A	No Time	N/A	12
13	21	Rinus VeeKay	Ed Carpenter Racing	Chevrolet	00:58.3240	N/A	N/A	N/A	13
14	11	Marcus Armstrong	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda	N/A	00:58.6652	N/A	N/A	14
15	28	Romain Grosjean	Andretti Autosport	Honda	00:58.3522	N/A	N/A	N/A	15
16	27	Kyle Kirkwood	Andretti Autosport	Honda	N/A	00:58.6835	N/A	N/A	16
17	45	Christian Lundgaard	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	Honda	00:58.3678	N/A	N/A	N/A	17
18	30	Jüri Vips	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	Honda	N/A	00:58.7454	N/A	N/A	18
19	20	Ryan Hunter-Reay	Ed Carpenter Racing	Chevrolet	00:58.6529	N/A	N/A	N/A	25
20	78	Agustín Canapino	Juncos Hollinger Racing	Chevrolet	N/A	00:58.7753	N/A	N/A	19
21	29	Devlin DeFrancesco	Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport	Honda	00:58.6748	N/A	N/A	N/A	20
22	06	Hélio Castroneves	Meyer Shank Racing	Honda	N/A	00:58.8006	N/A	N/A	21
23	14	Santino Ferrucci	A. J. Foyt Enterprises	Chevrolet	00:59.0633	N/A	N/A	N/A	22
24	18	David Malukas	Dale Coyne Racing with HMD Motorsports	Honda	N/A	00:58.9016	N/A	N/A	23
25	51	Sting Ray Robb	Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware Racing	Honda	00:59.2642	N/A	N/A	N/A	24
26	55	Benjamin Pedersen	A. J. Foyt Enterprises	Chevrolet	N/A	00:59.2175	N/A	N/A	26
27	60	Tom Blomqvist	Meyer Shank Racing	Honda	N/A	00:59.4364	N/A	N/A	27
Source:^[5]

Notes

• Bold text indicates fastest time set in session.

Warmup

+ Top Practice Speeds
		Driver	Team	Engine	Lap Time
1	2	Josef Newgarden	Team Penske	Chevrolet	00:59.4533
2	77	Callum Ilott	Juncos Hollinger Racing	Chevrolet	00:59.5342
3	10	Álex Palou	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda	00:59.5716
Source:^[6]

Race

The race started at 12:30 PM PT on September 3, 2023.

Race classification

		Driver	Team	Engine	Laps	Time/Retired	Pit Stops	Grid	Laps Led
1	10	Álex Palou	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda	110	01:57:01.9814	3	5	69	53
2	6	Felix Rosenqvist	Arrow McLaren	Chevrolet	110	+5.4353	3	11	3	41
3	9	Scott Dixon	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda	110	+8.0669	3	4	15	36
4	5	Pato O'Ward	Arrow McLaren	Chevrolet	110	+19.0572	3	6		32
5	2	Josef Newgarden	Team Penske	Chevrolet	110	+21.0831	3	12		30
6	21	Rinus VeeKay	Ed Carpenter Racing	Chevrolet	110	+21.8799	3	13		28
7	8	Marcus Ericsson	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda	110	+30.5820	3	10		26
8	18	David Malukas	Dale Coyne Racing with HMD Motorsports	Honda	110	+32.6211	4	23	2	25
9	3	Scott McLaughlin	Team Penske	Chevrolet	110	+33.0282	3	2		22
10	27	Kyle Kirkwood	Andretti Autosport	Honda	110	+33.7836	3	16		20
11	45	Christian Lundgaard	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	Honda	110	+34.4757	3	17		19
12	15	Graham Rahal	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	Honda	110	+38.6995	3	1	21	20
13	26	Colton Herta	Andretti Autosport with Curb-Agajanian	Honda	110	+39.7582	4	3		17
14	06	Hélio Castroneves	Meyer Shank Racing	Honda	100	+40.3373	3	21		16
15	77	Callum Ilott	Juncos Hollinger Racing	Chevrolet	110	+40.4769	3	8		15
16	14	Santino Ferrucci	A. J. Foyt Enterprises	Chevrolet	110	+41.1279	3	22		14
17	29	Devlin DeFrancesco	Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport	Honda	110	+42.5578	3	20		13
18	30	Jüri Vips	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	Honda	109	+1 Lap	3	18		12
19	11	Marcus Armstrong	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda	109	+1 Lap	3	14		11
20	7	Alexander Rossi	Arrow McLaren	Chevrolet	109	+1 Lap	4	9		10
21	20	Ryan Hunter-Reay	Ed Carpenter Racing	Chevrolet	109	+1 Lap	4	25		9
22	55	Benjamin Pedersen	A. J. Foyt Enterprises	Chevrolet	109	+1 Lap	3	26		8
23	51	Sting Ray Robb	Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware Racing	Honda	109	+1 Lap	3	24		7
24	60	Tom Blomqvist	Meyer Shank Racing	Honda	109	+1 Lap	4	27		6
25	12	Will Power	Team Penske	Chevrolet	108	+2 Laps	3	7		5
26	78	Agustín Canapino	Juncos Hollinger Racing	Chevrolet	82	Mechanical	3	19		5
27	28	Romain Grosjean	Andretti Autosport	Honda	31	Contact	2	15		5
Fastest lap Josef Newgarden (Team Penske) – 00:59.3817 (lap 28)
Source:^[7]

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings

		Driver	Points
	1	Álex Palou^	618
	2	Scott Dixon	527
	3	Josef Newgarden	470
	4	Pato O'Ward	461
	5	Scott McLaughlin	448
Source:

Engine manufacturer standings

		Manufacturer	Points
	1	Honda	1362
	2	Chevrolet	1346
Source:^[8]

^ = clinched season championship

• Note: Only the top five positions are included.

Notes and References

1. Web site: September 3, 2023 . Palou Clinches Championship With Decisive Portland Victory . Kelly . Paul . Indycar.com . September 3, 2023.
2. Web site: October 28, 2023. BitNile.com Grand Prix of Portland entry list. September 2, 2023.
3. Web site: September 1, 2023 . Practice - Results . September 2, 2023 . indycar.com.
4. Web site: September 2, 2023 . Practice - Results . September 2, 2023 . indycar.com.
5. Web site: September 2, 2023. Qualifications - Postings. September 2, 2023. indycar.com.
6. Web site: September 2, 2023 . Practice - Results . September 3, 2023 . indycar.com.
7. Web site: September 3, 2023. Race - Results (11inch) - Final. September 3, 2023. indycar.com.
8. Web site: September 3, 2023. Points - Indycar Engine. https://web.archive.org/web/20230904035945/https://nbcsports.brightspotcdn.com/e2/54/41ab80654646aa04daf8cabc650f/indycar-pointsengine.pdf. September 4, 2023. September 4, 2023. motorsports.nbcsports.com.