Rahal 9th, Lundgaard 13th, Vips 19th and Fittipaldi 25th in the Bitnile.com GP of Portland

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing

BitNile.com Grand Prix of Portland

NTT INDYCAR SERIES

RACE NOTES / QUOTES – August 25, 2024

RAHAL 9TH, LUNDGAARD 13TH, VIPS 19TH AND FITTIPALDI 25TH IN THE BITNILE.COM GRAND PRIX OF PORTLAND

GRAHAM RAHAL, No. 15 Hendrickson Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “It was a P9 for us in the Hendrickson car so it was a good day from that standpoint. The strategy was fine. We got a little unlucky coming out with Harvey in front of us on one run and then we were behind Ferruci after the last stop. It cost us a couple of positions to Ericcson and McLaughlin. But overall it was a great day. The team did a great job in the pits, the stops were good, the strategy was good. The car was just a bit too loose today for me to attack. I think Christian was the same. So, it just kind of caught me out a little. It was challenging but we will soldier on and go to Milwaukee.”

FAST FACTS: Qualified sixth but had a six-spot grid penalty for an unapproved engine change and started 12th. He lost two spots on the start but gained them back before a caution came out for Dixon, who had an incident with Kirkwood, which led to contact with Fittipaldi. He moved into ninth before his first of three stops and ultimately finished there. It was the 9th overall race for Graham at PIR and seventh in the headline event. His highest NDYCAR start here is POLE in 2023 and highest finish is fifth in 2022… Last year, he started from his fifth career series pole on alternate tires and led the first 21 laps before his first stop to switch to the preferred primary tires, that he won pole on. Once he pit, fifth place starter and eventual winner Palou, who started on primary black tires and performed an “overcut” pit strategy, cycled into the lead and held it for the majority of the remaining laps (led 69/110 laps) while Rahal repeatedly struggled with track position and traffic as well as a fueling issue on his final stop and finished 12th… Has SIX IndyCar Series wins (2008 – St. Pete street course; 2015 – Fontana Super Speedway, Mid-Ohio road course; 2016 – Texas Super Speedway; 2017 Detroit Race 1, Detroit Race 2) and FIVE poles (2009 – St. Pete street course, Kansas oval; 2017 – Detroit Race 1 street; 2023 – IMS road course, Portland road)… Rahal gained two spots in the series point standings to 16th with a total of 227.

PIETRO FITTIPALDI, No. 30 Localiza Rent a Car Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “We had a really good pace, but I got that first drive through, which I don’t agree with. We were running purple – the fastest lap times — after trying to catch the field, which we did. I overtook a few cars and then I was just too aggressive and ended up getting another drive through and that just killed our race. I’m really disappointed but we have to move on to Milwaukee now.”

FAST FACTS: Started 13th but was penalized for avoidable contact with Dixon, who had an incident with Kirkwood on the opening lap that put him alongside Fittipaldi. The six-time series champion remarked in his TV interview that Fittipaldi was not the driver that should have been penalized. He drew another avoidable contact penalty with Daly later and ultimately finished 25th. In qualifying on Saturday, he was seventh fastest in his group and missed progressing to Round 2 by a mere 18/1000ths of a second… Made his second start here. He earned his best career INDYCAR finish here of ninth place in 2018 with Dale Coyne Racing after starting 16th… Dropped from 19th to 20th in series point standings with 156.

CHRISTIAN LUNDGAARD, No. 45 Hy-Vee Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “I was just very surprised with the balance in the first stint. It was so far away from what we’ve had all weekend. I kind of just felt like the diffuser or something was broken because it just felt so far away from what it was supposed to feel like and from what we’ve had all weekend. So, now I think it’s just about figuring out what really happened and analyzing the data for the future and for us to really understand.”

FAST FACTS: Started fourth but had handling issues with his race car and dropped numerous spots. After three stops, he ultimately finished 13th. Made his third start at the track after running in podium contention in his maiden race here in 2022 and also ran well in practice in 2023, setting the first and second fastest times in the two sessions, respectively. He wasn’t able to maximize performance in qualifying and started 17th in the race but jumped as high as 13th in the opening laps after avoiding contact between competitors on two different instances. He took the restart from a full course caution on Lap 6 from 12th place and ultimately finished 11th. In 2022, he qualified fourth but started third due to Newgarden, who set the second fastest time, having to serve a six-spot grid penalty. He passed Power on the opening lap and held second place until leader McLaughlin made his first stop on Lap 21/110. He pit from the lead on Lap 22 but the fueler had an issue with slower than usual fuel flow. He made his second stop on Lap 47 and settled into fifth place behind McLaughlin, Power, O’Ward and Newgarden. When he pit from fifth place for his third and final stop on Lap 78, he stalled in his pit and lost a few positions. He was running eighth on Lap 94 when he attempted to pass Rossi and went off course in Turn 2. He collected a foam banner that stuck to the front of his race car, and he had to pit to have it removed and returned to the track in 21st place, where he ultimately finished. Has ONE INDYCAR SERIES win (2023 – Toronto street course) and TWO poles (2023 – IMS road course (May), Toronto street course)… Is ranked in 12 place in the point standings with 261.

JURI VIPS, No. 75 AMADA Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “It was actually a pretty quiet race for me. I was just really, really struggling with the clutch all day. I had a couple of slow stops at the start. On the first one, we lost a few positions getting the fuel plug in which wasn’t the end of the world, but we would have had a different race had those gone differently. It was a clean, well-executed race otherwise. I ended up stalling (on the second stop) after struggling with the clutch all day which wasn’t ideal. We lost another two spots there. But other than this, we were looking good when we were running in clean air. The pace was as good as anyone. We were catching Palou there at the end in clean air before we caught Sting Ray so there are a lot of positives to take away. I really enjoyed being in a race car. Obviously, it was not the result we were hoping for but its hopefully not the last time.”

FAST FACTS: Qualified 16th and started 15th due to a grid penalty ahead. He was in 12th before his first stop but there was a fueling issue and he lost multiple positions. He stalled the car on the second stop and lost a few more and ultimately finished 19th. On Saturday, he narrowly missed progressing to Round 2 of qualifying with the eighth fastest time. Although he created a gap to the car ahead on his final laps, he quickly closed on 14th place Harvey and was not able to gain the two-tenths of a second needed to set the sixth fastest time to progress to the next round… Vips, 24, is making his return to INDYCAR competition for his third series start at PIR this weekend. He is a three-time Formula 2 race winner and a part of the Red Bull Junior Team between 2018-2022, where he also served as a Formula One test and reserve driver from 2020-22. He drove an Indy car for the first time on October 12, 2022, at Sebring International Raceway in a test for the team and again at Barber Motorsports Park on March 13, 2023. He has also performed static simulator testing for the team in 2023-2024. His most recent win came at the F2 sprint race in Monza on September 10, 2022, and his most recent race was at Laguna Seca on September 10, 2023.

NEXT UP: The Hy-Vee Milwaukee Mile 250 doubleheader takes place next Saturday and Sunday.