By: Spencer Neff
August 6, 2026
This weekend begins a flurry of action for the NTT INDYCAR SERIES to wrap up the 2026 season: Six races in five weekends on five different tracks (two road courses, two street courses and an oval) for the 25-car field.
Tomorrow begins on-track activity for the OnlyBulls Grand Prix of Portland. Sunday’s 110-lap race will be the 32nd race on the 1.964-mile, 12-turn Oregon permanent road course since its first INDYCAR race in 1984.
Now, here’s a look at the major storylines heading into the weekend.
Headlines
After strategy and pit stops helped propel Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou to the lead of the race, he would hold on through the last 91 laps to win at a rain-delayed Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix at Nashville Superspeedway.
Heading into the final stretch of the season, Palou leads Team Penske’s David Malukas by 83 points in the standings.
Now, Palou heads to Portland, where he’s won twice in five career starts. While Palou is the clear favorite for this weekend and the overall championship, several drivers head into this race looking to supplant him.
While Team Penske’s David Malukas has yet to win a race in his NTT INDYCAR SERIES career, he is with a team in the No. 12 car that has won the last two races at Portland. Malukas qualified a career-best fourth in 2025 with A.J. Foyt Racing and in 2023 finished eighth after starting 23rd with Dale Coyne Racing.
Like Malukas, the driver of that No. 12 car from its 2024 and 2025 victories- Will Power- is also in search of his first win of 2026. The Andretti Global driver also won at Portland in 2019 and has a pair of third-place finishes (Arlington and Road America.
Among the contenders for victory this weekend is Arrow McLaren’s Christian Lundgaard. Lundgaard has finished Top Two in all four of this year’s permanent road courses, including victories on the IMS Road Course and Road America, as well as a pole at Mid-Ohio.
Last year, Lundgaard weathered a six-position grid penalty that pushed him back to seventh on the grid and finished second to Power.
Lundgaard’s plans for 2027 and beyond yet to be finalized and formally announced while he looks to continue his impressive stretch of road course races.
OnlyBulls Grand Prix of Portland Fast Facts
Race weekend: Friday, Aug. 7-Sunday, Aug. 9
Track: Portland International Raceway, a 12-turn, 1.964-mile road course in Portland, Oregon
Race distance: NTT INDYCAR SERIES: OnlyBulls Grand Prix of Portland 110 laps / 216.04
miles
Push to Pass parameters: NTT INDYCAR SERIES: 200 seconds of total time with a maximum
time of 20 seconds per activation.
Hybrid energy deployment parameters: NTT INDYCAR SERIES: Unlimited activation with a
maximum deployment of 300 kilojoules (kj) per lap
Firestone tire allotment: NTT INDYCAR SERIES: Five sets primary, five sets alternate to be
used during the event weekend. Teams must use one set of primary and one new set of
alternate tires unless wet conditions are declared. One additional set is available for the
weekend’s first session to teams fielding a rookie driver..
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Instagram: @Race_Portland, @IndyCar, @indynxt, #PortlandGP, #INDYCAR
Threads: @IndyCar, @indynxt, #PortlandGP, #INDYCAR
Facebook: @PortlandGP, @INDYCAR, @indynxt, #INDYCAR
TikTok: @INDYCAR, @indynxt, #INDYCAR
YouTube: @INDYCAR
Event website: http://www.raceportland.com
INDYCAR website: http://www.IndyCar.com
2025 race winners:
NTT INDYCAR SERIES
Will Power (No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet)
2025 NTT P1 Award winner: Christian Lundgaard (No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet), 58.3939
seconds, 121.081 mph
Qualifying records:
NTT INDYCAR SERIES
Will Power, 57.2143 seconds, 123.577 mph, Sept. 1, 2018 (Set in Round 1 of knockout
qualifying)
FOX Sports telecasts:
NTT INDYCAR SERIES: Practice 1, 5:30 p.m. ET Friday, FS1 (live);
Practice 2, 1 p.m. ET Saturday, FS1 (live); Qualifying, 7 p.m. ET Saturday, FS1 (live); Warmup, 1
p.m. ET, FS1; OnlyBulls Grand Prix of Portland 4 p.m. ET, Sunday, FOX (live). Will Buxton is the
play-by-play announcer for FOX’s coverage of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, alongside analysts
Townsend Bell and James Hinchcliffe. Georgia Henneberry, Kevin Lee and Jack Harvey are the
pit reporters.
INDYCAR Radio Network broadcasts: Mark Jaynes is the anchor alongside driver analyst
Davey Hamilton. Michael Young and Nick Yeoman are the turn announcers. Jake Query, Ryan Myrehn and DJ Clark are the pit reporters. The OnlyBulls Grand Prix of Portland race (3:30 p.m. ET Sunday) can be heard live on network affiliates nationwide. The NTT INDYCAR SERIES race, NTT P1 Award Qualifying (7 p.m. ETSaturday) and all NTT INDYCAR SERIES practices also air live on SiriusXM 218, http://www.indycar.com/leaderboard and the INDYCAR App powered by NTT DATA.
At-track schedule (all times local):
Friday, Aug. 7
2:35-3:55 p.m. – NTT INDYCAR SERIES practice 1, FS1 (live)
Saturday, Aug. 8
10:05-11:25 a.m. – NTT INDYCAR SERIES practice 2, FS1 (live)
4:05 p.m. – OnlyBulls Grand Prix of Portland NTT P1 Award qualifying (three rounds of knockout qualifying), FS1 (live)
Sunday, Aug. 9
10:05-10:35 a.m. – NTT INDYCAR SERIES final practice, FS1 (live)
1 p.m. – FOX on air
1:20 p.m. – OnlyBulls Grand Prix of Portland “Drivers, start your engines”
1:27 p.m. – OnlyBulls Grand Prix of Portland (110 laps/216.04 miles), FOX (live)
Header Image By Joe Skibinski, Fast Facts by INDYCAR
IndyCar1909.com 