Scott McLaughlin continued his control of Portland International Raceway during pre-qualifying practice Saturday for the BITNILE.COM Grand Prix of Portland, leading for the second straight session.
McLaughlin was tops at 58.8605 seconds in the No. 3 Freightliner Team Penske Chevrolet on the 12-turn, 1.964-mile road course. He led practice Friday at 58.3669.
SEE: Practice Results
“We were quick yesterday, thankfully, on the hotter temps,” McLaughlin said. “Cooler temps this morning, the car didn’t feel too much different,” McLaughlin said. “So, you’ve got to trust that.”
Up next is NTT P1 Award qualifying at 3:30 p.m. ET today, followed by final practice at 8:15 p.m. ET today. Peacock and the INDYCAR Radio Network will broadcast both sessions live.
David Malukas continued his strong form with Meyer Shank Racing after recovering from a serious wrist injury in February, ending up second at 58.8868 in the No. 66 AutoNation/Arctic Wolf Honda. Malukas will need as much speed as possible in qualifying, as he will move six spots back on the starting grid as a penalty for an unapproved engine change at the last event, last weekend at World Wide Technology Raceway.
Two-time NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion Josef Newgarden put two Team Penske cars in the top three, third at 58.8942 in the No. 3 TireRack.com Team Penske Chevrolet.
Colton Herta was fourth at 58.9207 in the No. 26 Gainbridge Honda fielded by Andretti Global with Curb-Agajanian. Herta is the closest pursuer to championship leader and two-time Portland winner Alex Palou, 59 points back. Palou was 13th at 59.0208 in this session in the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda.
Alexander Rossi rounded out the top five at 58.9525 in the No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet.
Finding speed at Portland is nothing new for McLaughlin. He won this race from the pole in 2022, his second full season in the series, and qualified second last year before finishing ninth.
But it won’t be easy for any driver to run away in the 110-lap race Sunday (3 p.m. ET, USA Network, Peacock, INDYCAR Radio Network). The field is very tight, with just .7933 of a second separating the top 26 drivers in the 28-car field in this practice.
“We rolled out of the hauler, and this Freightliner Chevy has been great,” McLaughlin said. “When it’s this tight, it’s nice to be able to focus on just some driving stuff and techniques you do with the hybrid.”
There were three significant off-track excursions in the session.
Two-time series champion Will Power went wide in Turn 11 five minutes into the session in his No. 12 Verizon Business Team Penske Chevrolet, bouncing across the grass and sliding into a return road, just narrowly missing two barriers.
About 10 minutes later, Sting Ray Robb spun off track in Turn 11 and made light contact with the tire barrier in his No. 41 Goodheart Vet/Pray.com Chevrolet of A.J. Foyt Enterprises.
Felix Rosenqvist clipped the inside guardrail with the right front wheel of his No. 60 AutoNation/SiriusXM Honda of Meyer Shank Racing, damaging the wheel and suspension and causing the car to hop over two curbs.
None of the three drivers involved in incidents was injured.