2021 Grand Prix of Portland

2021 Grand Prix of Portland

Race details
14th round of the 2021 IndyCar season
Layout of the Portland International Raceway
Date	September 12, 2021
Official name	Grand Prix of Portland
Location	Portland International Raceway, Portland, Oregon
Course	Permanent racing facility 1.964 mi / 3.142 km
Distance	110 laps 206.220 mi / 329.952 km
Weather	Sunny with partly cloudy skies 82 °F (28 °C)
Pole position
Driver	Álex Palou  (Chip Ganassi Racing)
Time	00:58.7701
Fastest lap
Driver	Romain Grosjean  (Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware Racing)
Time	00:59.4381 (on lap 83 of 110)
Podium
First	Álex Palou  (Chip Ganassi Racing)
Second	Alexander Rossi  (Andretti Autosport)
Third	Scott Dixon  (Chip Ganassi Racing)

The 2021 Grand Prix of Portland was an IndyCar motor race held on September 12, 2021 at the Portland International Raceway. ^[1] It was the 14th round of the 2021 IndyCar Series season.

The race was won by Álex Palou, who started on pole, with Alexander Rossi finishing second and Scott Dixon third. ^[2]

Background

The event was held over the weekend of September 11-12, 2021 at the Portland International Raceway in Portland, Oregon. It marked the return of the circuit to the calendar, as the race was canceled in the year prior due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The race was the 14th race of the 16-race season. It was held three weeks after the Bommarito Automotive Group 500 at the World Wide Technology Raceway in Madison, Illinois, which was the last oval race of the season, and was the first of three races in the triple-header finale, which continued in the Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey at Laguna Seca (September 19) and culminated in the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach at the Long Beach street circuit (September 26).

Will Power was the previous race winner, having won the 2019 event.

Championship standings before the race

Pato O'Ward returned to the top of the driver standings with a ten-point lead, after he finished second in the Bommarito Automotive Group 500, where championship rival Álex Palou crashed out, losing out again on a large points haul following the premature end of his race in the Big Machine Spiked Coolers Grand Prix. Josef Newgarden climbed up to third following his race win at Gateway, demoting Scott Dixon to fourth, above his teammate Marcus Ericsson, who sat fifth.

Honda retained their lead of the manufacturer standings over Chevrolet.

Entrants

Further information: 2021 IndyCar Series § Contracted teams and drivers

27 drivers entered the race, including IndyCar Series debutant Callum Ilott, driving for Juncos Hollinger Racing, who return to the series after being absent in the 2020 season. ^{[3] [4]}

The race also marked Oliver Askew's first race for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. ^[5]

Key	Meaning
R	Rookie
W	Past winner

No.	Driver	Team	Engine
2	Josef Newgarden	Team Penske	Chevrolet
3	Scott McLaughlin  R	Team Penske	Chevrolet
4	Dalton Kellett	A. J. Foyt Enterprises	Chevrolet
5	Patricio O'Ward	Arrow McLaren SP	Chevrolet
06	Hélio Castroneves	Meyer Shank Racing	Honda
7	Felix Rosenqvist	Arrow McLaren SP	Chevrolet
8	Marcus Ericsson	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda
9	Scott Dixon	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda
10	Álex Palou	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda
12	Will Power  W	Team Penske	Chevrolet
14	Sébastien Bourdais	A. J. Foyt Enterprises	Chevrolet
15	Graham Rahal	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	Honda
18	Ed Jones	Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan	Honda
20	Conor Daly	Ed Carpenter Racing	Chevrolet
21	Rinus VeeKay	Ed Carpenter Racing	Chevrolet
22	Simon Pagenaud	Team Penske	Chevrolet
26	Colton Herta	Andretti Autosport with Curb-Agajanian	Honda
27	Alexander Rossi	Andretti Autosport	Honda
28	Ryan Hunter-Reay	Andretti Autosport	Honda
29	James Hinchcliffe	Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport	Honda
30	Takuma Sato  W	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	Honda
45	Oliver Askew	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	Honda
48	Jimmie Johnson  R	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda
51	Romain Grosjean  R	Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware Racing	Honda
59	Max Chilton	Carlin	Chevrolet
60	Jack Harvey	Meyer Shank Racing	Honda
77	Callum Ilott  R	Juncos Hollinger Racing	Chevrolet

Practice

Practice 1 took place at 12:00 PM ET on September 11. ^[1] Only one pre-qualifying practice session was held. Álex Palou set the fastest time, after spinning out of track halfway through the session, though no damage was suffered. Meyer Shank Racing drivers Hélio Castroneves and Jack Harvey set the second and third fastest time respectively. ^[6]

Top Practice Speeds

Pos	No.	Driver	Team	Engine	Lap Time
1	10	Álex Palou	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda	00:58.7824
2	06	Hélio Castroneves	Meyer Shank Racing	Honda	00:58.8850
3	60	Jack Harvey	Meyer Shank Racing	Honda	00:58.8887
Source: [7]

Qualifying

Qualifying took place at 3:15 PM ET on September 11. ^[1] Álex Palou won pole position with a time of 00:58.7701, ahead of Alexander Rossi in second and Scott Dixon in third. ^[8]

Qualifying classification

Pos	No.	Driver	Team	Engine	Time				Final grid
					Round 1		Round 2	Round 3
					Group 1	Group 2
1	10	Álex Palou	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda	N/A	00:58.7971	00:58.7691	00:58.7701	1
2	27	Alexander Rossi	Andretti Autosport	Honda	00:59.0177	N/A	00:58.9571	00:58.8573	2
3	9	Scott Dixon	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda	N/A	00:58.8684	00:58.8200	00:58.8673	3
4	7	Felix Rosenqvist	Arrow McLaren SP	Chevrolet	N/A	00:58.6912	00:58.9629	00:58.9505	4
5	15	Graham Rahal	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	Honda	00:58.9369	N/A	00:58.9338	00:59.0067	5
6	26	Colton Herta	Andretti Autosport with Curb-Agajanian	Honda	N/A	00:58.8450	00:58.9459	00:59.2796	6
7	5	Pato O'Ward	Arrow McLaren SP	Chevrolet	00:59.2142	N/A	00:58.9732	N/A	7
8	18	Ed Jones	Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan	Honda	N/A	00:58.9330	00:59.0247	N/A	8
9	45	Oliver Askew	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	Honda	00:59.1960	N/A	00:59.0837	N/A	9
10	8	Marcus Ericsson	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda	00:58.8094	N/A	00:59.0901	N/A	10
11	59	Max Chilton	Carlin	Chevrolet	00:59.0735	N/A	00:59.2346	N/A	11
12	14	Sébastien Bourdais	A. J. Foyt Enterprises	Chevrolet	N/A	00:58.9390	00:59.2419	N/A	12
13	29	James Hinchcliffe	Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport	Honda	00:59.2537	N/A	N/A	N/A	13
14	12	Will Power  W	Team Penske	Chevrolet	N/A	00:59.0032	N/A	N/A	14
15	3	Scott McLaughlin  R	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda	00:59.3563	N/A	N/A	N/A	15
16	20	Conor Daly	Ed Carpenter Racing	Chevrolet	N/A	00:59.0974	N/A	N/A	16
17	06	Hélio Castroneves	Meyer Shank Racing	Honda	00:59.4190	N/A	N/A	N/A	17
18	2	Josef Newgarden	Team Penske	Chevrolet	N/A	00:59.1371	N/A	N/A	18
19	77	Callum Ilott  R	Juncos Hollinger Racing	Chevrolet	00:59.5008	N/A	N/A	N/A	19
20	60	Jack Harvey	Meyer Shank Racing	Honda	N/A	00:59.1463	N/A	N/A	20
21	51	Romain Grosjean  R	Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware Racing	Honda	00:59.6344 1	N/A	N/A	N/A	21
22	21	Rinus VeeKay	Ed Carpenter Racing	Chevrolet	N/A	00:59.1885	N/A	N/A	25 2
23	48	Jimmie Johnson  R	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda	00:59.7120	N/A	N/A	N/A	22
24	30	Takuma Sato  W	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	Honda	N/A	00:59.1953	N/A	N/A	26 3
25	28	Ryan Hunter-Reay	Andretti Autosport	Honda	No Time	N/A	N/A	N/A	27 4
26	22	Simon Pagenaud	Team Penske	Chevrolet	N/A	00:59.6591	N/A	N/A	23
27	4	Dalton Kellett	A. J. Foyt Enterprises	Chevrolet	N/A	00:59.7438	N/A	N/A	24
Source: [9]

Notes

• Bold text indicates fastest time set in session.
• ^1 - Romain Grosjean initially finished seventh in Group 1, but had two of his fastest times deleted due to a penalty for interference, dropping him down to eleventh. ^[10]
• ^2 - Rinus VeeKay was given a six-place grid penalty due to an unscheduled engine change, following his crash at the Bommarito Automotive Group 500. ^[11]
• ^3 - Takuma Sato was given a grid penalty due to an unscheduled engine change, following engine problems at Practice 1. ^[12]
• ^4 - Ryan Hunter-Reay was handed a grid penalty due to an unscheduled engine change, after experiencing engine issues that led him to be unable to set a time in qualifying. ^[12]

Final Practice

Final Practice took place at 6:15 PM ET on September 11. ^[1] This session was held after the qualifying sessions. The session ended with no major incidents. Scott Dixon set the fastest time, with Josef Newgarden in second and Ed Jones in third. ^[8]

Top Practice Speeds

Pos	No.	Driver	Team	Engine	Lap Time
1	9	Scott Dixon	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda	00:59.4111
2	2	Josef Newgarden	Team Penske	Chevrolet	00:59.6296
3	18	Ed Jones	Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan	Honda	00:59.6403
Source: [13]

Race

The race started on 3:00 PM ET on September 12. ^[1] The start of the race was marked with a chaotic dash into Turn 1, which caused several drivers to make contact. As a result, James Hinchcliffe had to retire from the race, and the first caution of the day was brought out, with Pato O'Ward taking the lead in lap 1. The race resumed in lap 10 and O'Ward led for 29 laps, until he entered the pits. Graham Rahal inherited the lead from O'Ward. The race lead was subsequently held by numerous drivers as the race continued, until it fell again to Rahal on lap 44.

On lap 52, as Rahal led the race, Dalton Kellett and IndyCar debutant Callum Ilott each went off-track, in Turn 1 and Turn 7 respectively, due to mechanical issues, which brought out the second caution of the race. The race resumed after 5 laps of caution. The race lead continued to cycle through several drivers, as Will Power and Simon Pagenaud made contact in Turn 7, which brought out the race's third caution in lap 86. In this lap, Álex Palou took the lead of the race, where he would stay until the end of the race. Another caution was brought out in lap 90 for two laps as Sébastien Bourdais and Oliver Askew made contact in Turn 2, which resulted in the latter retiring from the race.

Palou finished first, clinching his third win of the season and therefore retaking the championship lead from O'Ward, who finished 14th. Alexander Rossi and Scott Dixon finished second and third respectively, rounding up an all-Honda podium.

Race classification

Pos	No.	Driver	Team	Engine	Laps	Time/Retired	Pit Stops	Grid	Laps Led	Pts.
1	10	Álex Palou	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda	110	2:07:04.1304	3	1	29	52
2	27	Alexander Rossi	Andretti Autosport	Honda	110	+1.2895	3	2		40
3	9	Scott Dixon	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda	110	+4.4406	3	3	4	36
4	60	Jack Harvey	Meyer Shank Racing	Honda	110	+8.2208	2	20	5	33
5	2	Josef Newgarden	Team Penske	Chevrolet	110	+8.9566	2	18		30
6	7	Felix Rosenqvist	Arrow McLaren SP	Chevrolet	110	+9.3231	3	4		28
7	8	Marcus Ericsson	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda	110	+10.3425	3	10	1	27
8	26	Colton Herta	Andretti Autosport with Curb-Agajanian	Honda	110	+12.2628	3	6		24
9	3	Scott McLaughlin  R	Team Penske	Chevrolet	110	+13.9438	3	15	5	23
10	15	Graham Rahal	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	Honda	110	+17.5449	2	5	36	23
11	18	Ed Jones	Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan	Honda	110	+18.1590	2	8	2	20
12	30	Takuma Sato  W	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	Honda	110	+18.7513	2	26		18
13	12	Will Power  W	Team Penske	Chevrolet	110	+19.8312	7	14		17
14	5	Pato O'Ward	Arrow McLaren SP	Chevrolet	110	+20.8494	3	7	28	17
15	28	Ryan Hunter-Reay	Andretti Autosport	Honda	110	+25.5636	3	27		15
16	20	Conor Daly	Ed Carpenter Racing	Chevrolet	110	+27.3972	3	16		14
17	21	Rinus VeeKay	Ed Carpenter Racing	Chevrolet	110	+31.9461	3	25		13
18	14	Sébastien Bourdais	A. J. Foyt Enterprises	Chevrolet	110	+32.4259	3	12		12
19	59	Max Chilton	Carlin	Chevrolet	110	+33.2897	3	11		11
20	48	Jimmie Johnson  R	Chip Ganassi Racing	Honda	110	+33.7026	4	22		10
21	22	Simon Pagenaud	Team Penske	Chevrolet	109	+1 Lap	3	23		9
22	51	Romain Grosjean  R	Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware Racing	Honda	95	+15 Laps	4	21		8
23	06	Hélio Castroneves	Meyer Shank Racing	Honda	91	+19 Laps	4	17		7
24	45	Oliver Askew	Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	Honda	89	Contact	3	9		6
25	77	Callum Ilott  R	Juncos Hollinger Racing	Chevrolet	77	Mechanical	3	19		5
26	4	Dalton Kellett	A. J. Foyt Enterprises	Chevrolet	50	Mechanical	1	24		5
27	29	James Hinchcliffe	Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport	Honda	1	Contact	0	13		5
Fastest lap: Romain Grosjean  R (Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware Racing) – 00:59.4381 (lap 83)
Source: [14]

Cautions: 4 for 20 laps ^[15]

Lead Changes: 12 ^[15]

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos. Driver Points 1 1 Álex Palou 477 1 2 Pato O'Ward 452 3 Josef Newgarden 443 4 Scott Dixon 428 5 Marcus Ericsson 402 Source: [14]

Engine manufacturer standings Pos. Manufacturer Points 1 Honda 1210 2 Chevrolet 1115 Source: [16]

Note: Only the top five positions are included.

References

1. "Grand Prix of Portland". IndyCar.com. Retrieved September 20, 2021.
2. "Palou Seizes Series Lead with Thrilling Victory at Portland". IndyCar.com. Retrieved September 20, 2021.
3. "Ilott to close out IndyCar season with Juncos Hollinger". RACER. September 10, 2021. Retrieved September 20, 2021.
4. "Juncos Hollinger Racing To Start in 2021, Full Time in 2022". IndyCar.com. Retrieved September 20, 2021.
5. "Askew joins RLL for final three 2021 IndyCar rounds". www.motorsport.com. Retrieved September 20, 2021.
6. "Palou Paces Eventful Opening Practice at Portland". IndyCar.com. Retrieved September 21, 2021.
7. "Practice 1 - Top Section Times" (PDF). IndyCar Series. September 11, 2021. Archived (PDF) from the original on September 21, 2021. Retrieved September 24, 2021.
8. "Palou Powers to First Career Pole, Pivotal Point at Portland". IndyCar.com. Retrieved September 21, 2021.
9. "Qualifications - Results" (PDF). IndyCar Series. September 11, 2021. Archived (PDF) from the original on September 11, 2021. Retrieved September 24, 2021.
10. "Qualifying Penalty Costly for Grosjean". September 11, 2021. Retrieved September 23, 2021.
11. "VeeKay to suffer grid penalty at Portland". www.motorsport.com. Archived from the original on October 8, 2021. Retrieved September 23, 2021.
12. "Three drivers earn grid penalties for Grand Prix of Portland". Motorsport Week. September 11, 2021. Retrieved September 23, 2021.
13. "Final Practice - Results" (PDF). IndyCar Series. September 11, 2021. Archived (PDF) from the original on September 11, 2021. Retrieved September 24, 2021.
14. "Race - Results - Final" (PDF). IndyCar Series. September 12, 2021. Archived (PDF) from the original on September 14, 2021. Retrieved September 24, 2021.
15. "Race Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved November 30, 2022.
16. "Points - Indycar Engine" (PDF). motorsports.nbcsports.com. September 12, 2021. Archived (PDF) from the original on September 14, 2021. Retrieved September 24, 2021.