Chevrolet Drivers Aim to Make Headway in Portland
· Will Power, Josef Newgarden remain in championship hunt
ᴏ Both Team Penske drivers are seeking second title
· Chevrolet has won three of the four races on road courses in 2018
ᴏ Newgarden has scored victories at Barber, Road America
· Portland International Raceway hosting 25th Indy car race
ᴏ Portland Grand Prix is first Indy car event since 2007
· Alfonso Celis Jr. returns to No. 32 Juncos Racing Chevrolet
DETROIT (Aug. 29, 2018) – Asked a direct question regarding his Verizon IndyCar Series championship prospects and Will Power answered swiftly and directly.
“Yes, we can absolutely do it,” said Power, the 2014 Verizon IndyCar Series champion and four-time runner-up.
Power, driver of the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet, is 68 points out of first place entering the Portland Grand Prix on Sept. 2 at Portland International Raceway in Oregon. Teammate Josef Newgarden is also in contention to repeat as the series’ title-holder.
A maximum 158 points is available in the final two races, which includes double base points in the season finale Sept. 16 at Sonoma Raceway.
With podium finishes the past three races, including a victory last week on the 1.25-mile Gateway Motorsports Park oval that tied Bobby Unser for sixth on the all-time list with 35, Power has momentum that fuels passion down the stretch. He amassed 254 points in the six oval races to lead all competitors.
Power was 10th in the standings and 77 points arrears entering the May races at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and vaulted to the top by sweeping the INDYCAR Grand Prix on the road course and the 102nd Indianapolis 500 on the superspeedway.
“When I turned up to Indy, it was a single-points race (INDYCAR Grand Prix) and a double-points race (Indianapolis 500). I was about this amount of points behind, and I came out two points ahead with two wins,” said Power, who mustered a fourth-place finish in 2007 in the last Indy car race at Portland International Raceway.
“My team has been working hard on the car since Sunday to make sure we’re in a really good spot for this weekend. I know getting more championship points and wins won’t be easy, but with my team getting just stronger and stronger every week, I know we’re really going to be able to run hard and give it all we’ve got.”
Drivers backed by the 2.2-liter, direct-injected twin turbocharged V6 Chevrolet engine have won three of the four races this season on road courses, including Newgarden at Barber Motorsports Park and Road America.
“From here on out, it’s important that we get maximum points, and hopefully wins,” said Newgarden, driver of the No. 1 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet, who is 71 points back. “I’m excited to go to Portland since I’ve never raced there before. The No. 1 Verizon Chevy team started working on turning around our car for Portland on Sunday, so they barely took a minute off, making sure we have a strong car this weekend. We have a great group of guys, and with them behind me, I know we can definitely continue to battle for the championship.”
The Portland Grand Prix will be the 25th Indy car race at Portland International Raceway. The 1.964-mile, 12-turn road course is relatively flat and has several spots for passing opportunities, including a chicane at the end of the frontstretch, a hard-braking right-hander (Turn 7) leading onto the sweeping backstretch, and a three-turn complex leading back onto the frontstretch.
The venue is open Aug. 30 for two sessions of testing totaling five hours.
“At most tracks we have a lot of data to look back on, a lot of experience and different things that we’ve tried, and we know if they work or not,” said Spencer Pigot, driver of the No. 21 Fuzzy’s Vodka Chevrolet entry for Ed Carpenter Racing who finished sixth at Gateway. “A new track like Portland is not only new for the engineers but is new for me, so we have to start from zero and just hope that our predictions of the track and what it’s going to be like all correlate. We’ve been spending a lot of time in the simulator getting ready for Portland and then also studying old races.”
Al Unser Jr. won the first race on June 17,1984, by 39.61 seconds over Geoff Brabham. Unser, currently the driver coach for Gabby Chaves in the No. 88 Harding Group Chevrolet, led 68 of the 104 laps. Unser also won in 1994 and ’95 at the track.
Tony Kanaan, driver of the No. 14 ABC Supply Chevrolet, will seek to start his 299th consecutive race this weekend. The Indy car-record streak started in 2001 at Portland, where Kanaan started 21st in a Mo Nunn Racing entry and finished 24th after contact early in the race.
Team owner/driver Ed Carpenter will turn over the reins of the No. 20 Fuzzy’s Vodka Chevrolet to Jordan King for the remaining races. Carpenter, the Indianapolis 500 pole sitter who competes solely on ovals, totaled 187 points in the six oval races with an average finish of 10.17. He placed a career-high second in the Indy 500.
Also, Alfonso Celis Jr. will make his second start in the No. 32 Juncos Racing Chevrolet.
“I am in a much better situation in comparison to Road America earlier this summer,” he said. “I understand the series, the car and the team now, so I am confident we will have a great week. I also did some simulator work and I kind of know what to expect. It will be nice to have some more track time with the open test on Thursday. We will work hard and I am sure we will have a good weekend.”
NBCSN will telecast the race at 2:30 p.m. ET Sept. 2.