By Ted Nesbitt in Portland, Oregon
The NTT IndyCar series descended upon the Pacific Northwest for the Grand Prix of Portland this past weekend with Cayman’s Kyffin Simpson looking to bounce back after a disappointing outing in California two weeks ago.
After an IndyCar career-best third-place finish – his first time on the podium – in Toronto, Canada in July, Simpson crashed out on the first lap of his next race in California. Unfortunately for Simpson, his incident there was deemed “avoidable contact” and he was assessed a six-place starting grid penalty from his qualifying spot for the Portland race.
Simpson was able to qualify his green number 8 Ridgeline Lubricants Ganassi Honda in 12th place, but with the penalty tacked on, he would take the green flag from the 18th spot on Sunday.
While Simpson started in the back half of the field, his Ganassi teammate Spaniard Alex Palou was looking to lock up the championship, which would be his fourth title in five years.
Starting his DHL Ganassi Honda sixth, things looked promising for Palou. Just 21 laps into the race, Palou’s nearest competitor in the championship, Mexican Pato O’Ward, developed an electrical problem, more or less handing the season championship to Palou if he simply finished the race.
Simpson, however, was unable to make much progress through the race, soldiering around in the back-half of the field. He ran clean but simply could not pick up spots, finishing 21st overall.
Up front, Team Penske veteran Australian Will Power ran strong and pulled into a big lead, only to be chased down by Arrow McLaren’s Christian Lundgaard and Palou in the closing laps. Power ultimately held on to notch both his and Penske’s first win of the season, followed by Lundgaard from Denmark with Palou in third – clinching his third straight championship in style.
The championship is the fourth in Palou’s six-year IndyCar career, and the 17th team championship for Chip Ganassi Racing, tying them with Team Penske.
Palou’s third-place points also delivered Honda the coveted engine manufacturer championship over rival Chevrolet.
The IndyCar series runs again on 24 Aug. at the historic Milwaukee Mile oval track at the Wisconsin Fairgrounds, with the season finale the following weekend in Nashville, again on an oval track.
