Ferrucci claims pole position for Sunday's IndyCar race

Santino Ferrucci claimed the right to start Sunday's Bitnile.com Grand Prix of Portland from the pole position in Saturday's qualifying sessions. The former NASCAR Xfinity Series driver from Connecticut piloted his No. 14 Phoenix Investors Chevrolet, which is owned by legendary four-time Indianapolis 500 winner A.J. Foyt. Ferrucci drove the quickest lap recorded to this point in the event weekend, completing the 12 turns and 1.964 miles of Portland International Raceway in 58.2046 seconds, for an average speed of 121.475 mph.

Australian driver and two-time IndyCar champion Will Power qualified in second position, running just about 1/10th of a second slower than Ferrucci. Power will start on the left side of the front row in Sunday's race in his No. 12 Verizon Business Team Penske Chevrolet. The defending Portland winner and series points leader Alex Palou qualified in third place driving the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, and will be gridded just behind Ferrucci at the start. Christian Lundgaard in the No. 45 Hy-Vee Honda fielded by Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing rounds out the first two rows for the start of the race.

“We just felt it,” Ferrucci said after qualifying. “We just rolled off the truck and we knew we had a strong car. It’s been a year of hard work and progression, and we’ve shown some real speed at some times. It’s just great to put it together.”

This was the first pole position earned by Foyt’s team since Takuma Sato won the pole in June 2014 in Detroit and the first pole position of Ferruci's IndyCar career. His previous best start was a second in 2020 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, and his best finish in IndyCars was third place at the 2023 Indianapolis 500.

"To come to a road course like Portland where it's so tight and so competitive, it's just great," Ferrucci said.

The 2024 Bitnile.com Grand Prix of Portland will grid up at noon on Sunday, Aug. 25, and the green flag will fly at 12:30 pm. Tickets are still available at raceportland.com, and parking is available at PIR. Many fans will arrive at the track on the MAX yellow line.