For the first time since 2005, the NTT Indycar Series championship has been won before the final race of the season, after Alex Palou dominated the BitNile Grand Prix of Portland to secure his 5th victory of the season.

Not since Dan Wheldon in 2005 has the title been won before the final race, and despite a late season push from Scott Dixon, Alex Palou was in total control of the season after his mid-season excellence saw him win 3 races in a row.

He only needed to finish in the top 3 to secure the title this weekend, but Palou won his 5th race of the season in Portland to secure the crown, dominating the field and winning by 5.4 seconds despite a late race yellow.

Felix Rosenqvist finished 2nd for Arrow McLaren, ahead of Palou’s teammate and title rival Scott Dixon. Pato O’Ward crossed the line in 4th for Arrow Mclaren, as Josef Newgarden recovered from a qualifying crash to finish 5th.

Rinus Veekay recorded a season’s best finish of 6th, ahead of Marcus Ericsson in 7th. David Malukas continued his good form to finish 8th, with Scott McLaughlin in 9th and Kyle Kirkwood rounding out the top 10.

2023 BitNile.com Grand Prix of Portland Results

2023 NTT INDYCAR SERIES Driver’s Standings

Palou underlines season dominance with stunning 5th win

Alex Palou only needed to finish on the podium in Portland to record his 2nd NTT Indycar Series title in 3 years, and coming into the weekend, some thought the Spaniard may be cautious in his approach to not allow himself to be caught up in incidents.

Turn 1 in Portland in well known for causing havoc, and with Scott Dixon still in the frame for the title, Alex Palou’s mind might have been full of what if scenarios heading down to the tight first chicane.

There was some chaos on the first lap, as Kyle Kirkwood and Josef Newgarden both sought to the runoff area when they saw cars going 4 wide in front of them. Romain Grosjean was caught up in the afters of a skirmish between Marcus Ericsson and Callum Ilott, which brought significant damage to the Frenchman’s front left suspension through no fault of his own.

Alex Palou took advantage of a first corner scrap between Herta and Dixon to swoop past them both and up into 3rd, and from that moment on, it was clear that Alex Palou had come to Portland to win the championship in emphatic fashion.

Palou started on the harder black tyres, which turned out to be an advantage over the front row of McLaughlin and Rahal who started on the softer red tyres. The front row had to pit on lap 21 and 22 respectively, and they were released into thick midfield traffic.

Palou took advantage of this situation, pitting 20 laps later and overcutting both Rahal and McLaughlin. From there, the championship leader took the lead of the race, and never looked back.

Despite a late yellow with 22 laps to go after Augustin Canapino had a spin, Palou controlled the restart with perfection and drove away from Felix Rosenqvist to reach the chequered flag first, securing a 2nd title in dominant fashion.

In Palou’s own words: ‘It’s been an amazing season. We just had fast cars everywhere, and we’ve been able to maximise our results even on the bad weekends, and to finish here at Portland with a win feels amazing.’

Race control under fire as Dixon fumes about late race yellow

Augustin Canapino’s spin with just 25 laps to go nearly proved decisive in the Indycar title fight. Had race control thrown the yellow immediately, Scott Dixon would have been right behind title rival Palou, and presented with an opportunity to pounce.

However, the caution period was delayed slightly, to allow the pits to remain open for drivers on the alternate strategy to not miss out on pitting. The main beneficiary was Felix Rosenqvist, who then came out of the pits ahead of Dixon, and giving the kiwi a mountain to climb.

Dixon was unhappy with the call from race control, saying ‘Everybody probably fought with it for most of the race, and then race control kind of messed with the finish of the race a little bit.’

‘I don’t know why they keep doing it, but you know, I guess that’s the way we race under those conditions now.’

It is not the first time Indycar has left the pits open when an incident is deemed not dangerous enough to immediately neutralise the race, but dangerous enough that the AMR Safety Team need to go onto the track to rescue a stricken machine.

For Rosenqvist, this allowed him to come home in a season’s best second place. It’s widely been reported that Rosenqvist will not be returning to Arrow Mclaren in 2024, and this performance was certainly added another feather to his cap if other teams were watching.

Other drivers angered by race control were Alexander Rossi and Helio Castroneves. They were both seemingly blocked by Marcus Ericsson and Alex Palou respectively, with Palou’s move on Castroneves to stop the Brazilian from getting past looking particularly blatant.

The move went unpunished, and some cited the lack of consistency from race control to penalise strictly blocking throughout the season, only to not award a penalty on this occasion as the championship leader was the culprit.

The title race may have run its course, but 2023 still has plenty to give

Now that Alex Palou has wrapped up the title, the Firestone Grand Prix at WeatherTech raceway allows a clean slate for many drivers. Palou will look to finish the season strong, whilst other title contenders such as Josef Newgarden and Scott Dixon will aim to finish on a high.

Alex Palou won this event in 2022, kickstarting his incredible form which has now seen him dominate 2023’s proceedings. Marcus Ericsson will look to sign off with Chip Ganassi Racing on a high, whilst Romain Grosjean may be entering his final race in the Indycar series as his future for 2024 and beyond looks uncertain.

The battle for rookie of the year will be decided at Laguna Seca, with Marcus Armstrong holding a healthy 26 point advantage over Augustin Canapino. The leader’s circle battle is heating up as well, as entrants desperately try to make it into the top 22 and earn the $915,000 reward.

The #29 Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport car currently holds the elusive 22nd spot, but there are 2 more cars within 5 points of the #29 – the #78 JHR is 5 points behind and the #60 MSR is just 3 points back, meaning its all to play for after Portland.

The NTT Indycar Series reaches its conclusion at the Firestone Grand Prix of Monterrey at WeatherTech Raceway on Sunday the 10th September.

2023 BitNile.com Grand Prix of Portland Results