Power Play: Will Power wins the 2024 Bitnile.com Grand Prix of Portland decisively

The Bitnile.com Grand Prix of Portland looked like an easy Sunday drive for Team Penske's Will Power. Starting the No. 12 Verizon Business Team Penske Chevrolet from the outside of the front row, the Australian driver passed polesitter Santino Ferrucci's No. 14 Phoenix Investors Chevrolet before the first corner of the race. Apart from a little shuffle during pit stops, Power led the entire race. In the final laps, Power held as much as a 10 second lead over second place driver Alex Palou, and the final margin of victory was a definitive 9.8267 seconds. Josef Newgarden finished third in the No. 2 TireRack.com Team Penske Chevrolet.

"Every time I win in this series, I feel so lucky," Power commented after the race. "It's very, very satisfying. Qualifying is difficult in this series, and then to execute completely in the race with so many great teams, it's really a big deal just to get on podium. So every win I get now is special. It's not like I'm going to be racing for another decade; let's put it that way. I know all the guys working on my car really deserve it. I have the best pit crew in pit lane, and they have been the quickest over the last couple of years."

The race started off with an unexpected wreck, as Pietro Fittipaldi in the No. 30 Localiza Rent a Car Honda of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing was forced onto the curbs coming onto Portland International Racing's curved "back straight." Fittipaldi's car bounced into the air and contacted Scott Dixon's No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, sending Dixon off track and into the guardrails. The crash was enough to end Dixon's race, while Fittipaldi was able to continue.

After four laps under a yellow caution flag, the race resumed with Power in the lead, followed by series points leader and 2023 Portland winner Alex Palou in the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. As the race wore on, both Power and Palou put a substantial gap between themselves and the rest of the field. Palou got close when Power encountered lap traffic late in the race, but couldn't get past the leader.

"It was tough," Palou said. "It was a hard race. I think we didn't really pick the right choices on tires. That was frustrating that we couldn't pass Power there."

For his part, Power had confidence in his car's ability to outrun the field.

"I had traffic, so I was at the mercy of the pace of in the car in front of me," Power said. "I saw that gap [with Palou] close up really quickly. But the driver in front pulled into the pits and I know my car was fast. It was really a lot to do with the traffic management."

Because Palou finished second, he earned points towards the championship, and Power got only 12 points closer, leaving a gap of 54 points with three races left to go in the 2024 NTT IndyCar Series. On Labor Day weekend the series will contest a double-header on the Milwaukee Mile, followed by the season finale at Nashville Superspeedway on September 15. It is still possible that Power could take the championship from Palou. At age 43, Power would very much like to win a third IndyCar championship before his driving career is over.

The first race of the Hy-Vee Milwaukee Mile 250s doubleheader is at 6 p.m. ET Saturday, Aug. 31, with live coverage on Peacock and the INDYCAR Radio Network. The second race is at 2:30 p.m. ET Sunday, Sept. 1, with USA Network, Peacock and the INDYCAR Radio Network providing live coverage.

The IndyCar race marks the end of Portland's major racing events for the Summer, but the SOVRN Columbia River Classic and All-British Field Meet are happening next weekend, August 31-September 1 at Portland International Raceway. Tickets will be available at the front gate for those events.