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Alex Palou’s third-place finish yesterday at the Bitnile.com Grand Prix of Portland resulted in his fourth NTT IndyCar Series drivers’ championship in five years, as well as his third-consecutive title. The Chip Ganassi Racing driver now has eight victories on the season with two races left of the 2025 season. Honda as a result took manufacturers’ championship. This is Honda’s seventh NTT IndyCar Series manufacturers’ title, and 11th in American Open Wheel Racing. (Read AutoInformed.com on: IndyCar – Palou 8 wins for 14 Taking Grand Prix of Monterey and Avoidable Contact – IndyCar Penalizes Kyffin Simpson)
“Today was a great day. P3 in the race and winning the championship, it was amazing. We started on primary tires today and with how the yellows fell and how many laps we had to do to open the gap, and then we came out in traffic, we couldn’t really fight for the win until the end,” said Palou.
However, Will Power driving the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet held on to the lead in his Chevrolet powered car to take his first win of the 2025 NTT IndyCar Series season. It was his third at Portland International Raceway [Power also won in 2024] and the 45th of his career. It was his third podium of the season. So much time was devoted to the so-called Penske drought by the feeble Fox Sports announcers that they often failed to call real-time action during the race. [Race highlights here and Race Results here]
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“This one did not come easy, you had pressure behind, and you also went lap traffic to deal with in that final stint,” noted Power. “Certainly, it was a battle at the end there, trying to get around lapped traffic and conserve some push-to-pass. I knew we had used reds and the others had new ones, so I was really conscious of looking after the tires. Oh, man. It’s just nice to win. The guys, the whole team, not just my car, but everyone. I think they’ve all put in a great effort this year and we’ve kind of been stomped down a few times. So, it’s good for everyone,” Power said.
The two-time Series’ champion and 2018 Indianapolis 500 winner has 30 victories driving a Chevrolet powered IndyCar. Team Penske now has 86 wins with the 2.2-liter V6 Chevrolet and 123 trips to victory lane.
Christian Lundgaard in a Chevy powered car finished second. Today’s win is the 125th victory for Chevrolet in the V-6 era since returning to the Series in 2012, and Chevy’s 236th overall in the history of IndyCar. It was the ninth time a Chevrolet driver has won at Portland and the 21st and 22nd podiums at the track near the Columbia River.
The NTT IndyCar Series has next weekend off before returning for the Snap-on Milwaukee Mile 250 August 23-24.
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, editor and publisher of AutoInformed, is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn.
He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe.
Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped during a downshift and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap.
AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks.
Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.
Palou Takes Fourth IndyCar Drivers’ Championship
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Alex Palou’s third-place finish yesterday at the Bitnile.com Grand Prix of Portland resulted in his fourth NTT IndyCar Series drivers’ championship in five years, as well as his third-consecutive title. The Chip Ganassi Racing driver now has eight victories on the season with two races left of the 2025 season. Honda as a result took manufacturers’ championship. This is Honda’s seventh NTT IndyCar Series manufacturers’ title, and 11th in American Open Wheel Racing. (Read AutoInformed.com on: IndyCar – Palou 8 wins for 14 Taking Grand Prix of Monterey and Avoidable Contact – IndyCar Penalizes Kyffin Simpson)
“Today was a great day. P3 in the race and winning the championship, it was amazing. We started on primary tires today and with how the yellows fell and how many laps we had to do to open the gap, and then we came out in traffic, we couldn’t really fight for the win until the end,” said Palou.
However, Will Power driving the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet held on to the lead in his Chevrolet powered car to take his first win of the 2025 NTT IndyCar Series season. It was his third at Portland International Raceway [Power also won in 2024] and the 45th of his career. It was his third podium of the season. So much time was devoted to the so-called Penske drought by the feeble Fox Sports announcers that they often failed to call real-time action during the race. [Race highlights here and Race Results here]
Click for more.
“This one did not come easy, you had pressure behind, and you also went lap traffic to deal with in that final stint,” noted Power. “Certainly, it was a battle at the end there, trying to get around lapped traffic and conserve some push-to-pass. I knew we had used reds and the others had new ones, so I was really conscious of looking after the tires. Oh, man. It’s just nice to win. The guys, the whole team, not just my car, but everyone. I think they’ve all put in a great effort this year and we’ve kind of been stomped down a few times. So, it’s good for everyone,” Power said.
The two-time Series’ champion and 2018 Indianapolis 500 winner has 30 victories driving a Chevrolet powered IndyCar. Team Penske now has 86 wins with the 2.2-liter V6 Chevrolet and 123 trips to victory lane.
Christian Lundgaard in a Chevy powered car finished second. Today’s win is the 125th victory for Chevrolet in the V-6 era since returning to the Series in 2012, and Chevy’s 236th overall in the history of IndyCar. It was the ninth time a Chevrolet driver has won at Portland and the 21st and 22nd podiums at the track near the Columbia River.
The NTT IndyCar Series has next weekend off before returning for the Snap-on Milwaukee Mile 250 August 23-24.
About Ken Zino
Ken Zino, editor and publisher of AutoInformed, is a versatile auto industry participant with global experience spanning decades in print and broadcast journalism, as well as social media. He has automobile testing, marketing, public relations and communications experience. He is past president of The International Motor Press Assn, the Detroit Press Club, founding member and first President of the Automotive Press Assn. He is a member of APA, IMPA and the Midwest Automotive Press Assn. He also brings an historical perspective while citing their contemporary relevance of the work of legendary auto writers such as Ken Purdy, Jim Dunne or Jerry Flint, or writers such as Red Smith, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson – all to bring perspective to a chaotic automotive universe. Above all, decades after he first drove a car, Zino still revels in the sound of the exhaust as the throttle is blipped during a downshift and the driver’s rush that occurs when the entry, apex and exit points of a turn are smoothly and swiftly crossed. It’s the beginning of a perfect lap. AutoInformed has an editorial philosophy that loves transportation machines of all kinds while promoting critical thinking about the future use of cars and trucks. Zino builds AutoInformed from his background in automotive journalism starting at Hearst Publishing in New York City on Motor and MotorTech Magazines and car testing where he reviewed hundreds of vehicles in his decade-long stint as the Detroit Bureau Chief of Road & Track magazine. Zino has also worked in Europe, and Asia – now the largest automotive market in the world with China at its center.