The 2021 Grand Prix of Portland was an IndyCar motor race held on September 12, 2021 at the Portland International Raceway. It was the 14th round of the 2021 IndyCar Series season.

The race was won by Álex Palou, who started on pole, with Alexander Rossi finishing second and Scott Dixon third.

Background The event was held over the weekend of September 11-12, 2021 at the Portland International Raceway in Portland, Oregon. It marked the return of the circuit to the calendar, as the race was canceled in the year prior due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The race was the 14th race of the 16-race season. It was held three weeks after the Bommarito Automotive Group 500 at the World Wide Technology Raceway in Madison, Illinois, which was the last oval race of the season, and was the first of three races in the triple-header finale, which continued in the Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey at Laguna Seca (September 19) and culminated in the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach at the Long Beach street circuit (September 26).

Will Power was the previous race winner, having won the 2019 event.

Championship standings before the race Pato O'Ward returned to the top of the driver standings with a ten-point lead, after he finished second in the Bommarito Automotive Group 500, where championship rival Álex Palou crashed out, losing out again on a large points haul following the premature end of his race in the Big Machine Spiked Coolers Grand Prix. Josef Newgarden climbed up to third following his race win at Gateway, demoting Scott Dixon to fourth, above his teammate Marcus Ericsson, who sat fifth.

Honda retained their lead of the manufacturer standings over Chevrolet.

Entrants 27 drivers entered the race, including IndyCar Series debutant Callum Ilott, driving for Juncos Hollinger Racing, who return to the series after being absent in the 2020 season.

The race also marked Oliver Askew's first race for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. KeyMeaningRookiePast winner Driver Team Engine2 Josef Newgarden Team Penske Chevrolet3 Scott McLaughlin Team Penske Chevrolet4 Dalton Kellett A. J. Foyt Enterprises Chevrolet5 Patricio O'Ward Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet06 Hélio Castroneves Meyer Shank Racing Honda7 Felix Rosenqvist Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet8 Marcus Ericsson Chip Ganassi Racing Honda9 Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing Honda10 Álex Palou Chip Ganassi Racing Honda12 Will Power Team Penske Chevrolet14 Sébastien Bourdais A. J. Foyt Enterprises Chevrolet15 Graham Rahal Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda18 Ed Jones Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan Honda20 Conor Daly Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet21 Rinus VeeKay Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet22 Simon Pagenaud Team Penske Chevrolet26 Colton Herta Andretti Autosport with Curb-Agajanian Honda27 Alexander Rossi Andretti Autosport Honda28 Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti Autosport Honda29 James Hinchcliffe Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport Honda30 Takuma Sato Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda45 Oliver Askew Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda48 Jimmie Johnson Chip Ganassi Racing Honda51 Romain Grosjean Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware Racing Honda59 Max Chilton Carlin Chevrolet60 Jack Harvey Meyer Shank Racing Honda77 Callum Ilott Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet

Practice Practice 1 took place at 12:00 PM ET on September 11. Only one pre-qualifying practice session was held. Álex Palou set the fastest time, after spinning out of track halfway through the session, though no damage was suffered. Meyer Shank Racing drivers Hélio Castroneves and Jack Harvey set the second and third fastest time respectively. + Top Practice Speeds Driver Team Engine Lap Time110 Álex PalouChip Ganassi RacingHonda00:58.7824206 Hélio CastronevesMeyer Shank RacingHonda00:58.8850360 Jack HarveyMeyer Shank RacingHonda00:58.8887 Source:

Qualifying Qualifying took place at 3:15 PM ET on September 11. Álex Palou won pole position with a time of 00:58.7701, ahead of Alexander Rossi in second and Scott Dixon in third.

Qualifying classification Driver Team Engine Time Round 1 Group 1 Group 2 1 10 Álex Palou Chip Ganassi Racing HondaN/A 00:58.7971 00:58.7691 00:58.7701 1 2 27 Alexander Rossi Andretti Autosport Honda 00:59.0177N/A 00:58.9571 00:58.8573 2 3 9 Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing HondaN/A 00:58.8684 00:58.8200 00:58.8673 3 4 7 Felix Rosenqvist Arrow McLaren SP ChevroletN/A 00:58.6912 00:58.9629 00:58.9505 4 5 15 Graham Rahal Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda 00:58.9369N/A 00:58.9338 00:59.0067 5 6 26 Colton Herta Andretti Autosport with Curb-Agajanian HondaN/A 00:58.8450 00:58.9459 00:59.2796 6 7 5 Pato O'Ward Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet 00:59.2142N/A 00:58.9732N/A 7 8 18 Ed Jones Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan HondaN/A 00:58.9330 00:59.0247N/A 8 9 45 Oliver Askew Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda 00:59.1960N/A 00:59.0837N/A 9 10 8 Marcus Ericsson Chip Ganassi Racing Honda 00:58.8094N/A 00:59.0901N/A 10 11 59 Max Chilton Carlin Chevrolet 00:59.0735N/A 00:59.2346N/A 11 12 14 Sébastien Bourdais A. J. Foyt Enterprises ChevroletN/A 00:58.9390 00:59.2419N/A 12 13 29 James Hinchcliffe Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport Honda 00:59.2537N/AN/AN/A 13 14 12 Will Power Team Penske ChevroletN/A 00:59.0032N/AN/A 14 15 3 Scott McLaughlin Chip Ganassi Racing Honda 00:59.3563N/AN/AN/A 15 16 20 Conor Daly Ed Carpenter Racing ChevroletN/A 00:59.0974N/AN/A 16 17 06 Hélio Castroneves Meyer Shank Racing Honda 00:59.4190N/AN/AN/A 17 18 2 Josef Newgarden Team Penske ChevroletN/A 00:59.1371N/AN/A 18 19 77 Callum Ilott Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet 00:59.5008N/AN/AN/A 19 20 60 Jack Harvey Meyer Shank Racing HondaN/A 00:59.1463N/AN/A 20 21 51 Romain Grosjean Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware Racing Honda 00:59.6344N/AN/AN/A 21 22 21 Rinus VeeKay Ed Carpenter Racing ChevroletN/A 00:59.1885N/AN/A 25 23 48 Jimmie Johnson Chip Ganassi Racing Honda 00:59.7120N/AN/AN/A 22 24 30 Takuma Sato Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing HondaN/A 00:59.1953N/AN/A 26 25 28 Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti Autosport Honda No TimeN/AN/AN/A 27 26 22 Simon Pagenaud Team Penske ChevroletN/A 00:59.6591N/AN/A 23 27 4 Dalton Kellett A. J. Foyt Enterprises ChevroletN/A 00:59.7438N/AN/A 24 Source: Notes Bold text indicates fastest time set in session. - Romain Grosjean initially finished seventh in Group 1, but had two of his fastest times deleted due to a penalty for interference, dropping him down to eleventh. - Rinus VeeKay was given a six-place grid penalty due to an unscheduled engine change, following his crash at the Bommarito Automotive Group 500. - Takuma Sato was given a grid penalty due to an unscheduled engine change, following engine problems at Practice 1. - Ryan Hunter-Reay was handed a grid penalty due to an unscheduled engine change, after experiencing engine issues that led him to be unable to set a time in qualifying.

Final Practice Final Practice took place at 6:15 PM ET on September 11. This session was held after the qualifying sessions. The session ended with no major incidents. Scott Dixon set the fastest time, with Josef Newgarden in second and Ed Jones in third. + Top Practice Speeds Driver Team Engine Lap Time19 Scott DixonChip Ganassi RacingHonda00:59.411122 Josef NewgardenTeam PenskeChevrolet00:59.6296318 Ed JonesDale Coyne Racing with Vasser-SullivanHonda00:59.6403 Source:

Race The race started on 3:00 PM ET on September 12. The start of the race was marked with a chaotic dash into Turn 1, which caused several drivers to make contact. As a result, James Hinchcliffe had to retire from the race, and the first caution of the day was brought out, with Pato O'Ward taking the lead in lap 1. The race resumed in lap 10 and O'Ward led for 29 laps, until he entered the pits. Graham Rahal inherited the lead from O'Ward. The race lead was subsequently held by numerous drivers as the race continued, until it fell again to Rahal on lap 44.

On lap 52, as Rahal led the race, Dalton Kellett and IndyCar debutant Callum Ilott each went off-track, in Turn 1 and Turn 7 respectively, due to mechanical issues, which brought out the second caution of the race. The race resumed after 5 laps of caution. The race lead continued to cycle through several drivers, as Will Power and Simon Pagenaud made contact in Turn 7, which brought out the race's third caution in lap 86. In this lap, Álex Palou took the lead of the race, where he would stay until the end of the race. Another caution was brought out in lap 90 for two laps as Sébastien Bourdais and Oliver Askew made contact in Turn 2, which resulted in the latter retiring from the race.

Palou finished first, clinching his third win of the season and therefore retaking the championship lead from O'Ward, who finished 14th. Alexander Rossi and Scott Dixon finished second and third respectively, rounding up an all-Honda podium.

Race classification Driver Team Engine Laps Time/Retired PitStops Grid LapsLed 1 10 Álex Palou Chip Ganassi Racing Honda 110 2:07:04.1304 3 1 29 52 2 27 Alexander Rossi Andretti Autosport Honda 110 +1.2895 3 2 40 3 9 Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing Honda 110 +4.4406 3 3 4 36 4 60 Jack Harvey Meyer Shank Racing Honda 110 +8.2208 2 20 5 33 5 2 Josef Newgarden Team Penske Chevrolet 110 +8.9566 2 18 30 6 7 Felix Rosenqvist Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet 110 +9.3231 3 4 28 7 8 Marcus Ericsson Chip Ganassi Racing Honda 110 +10.3425 3 10 1 27 8 26 Colton Herta Andretti Autosport with Curb-Agajanian Honda 110 +12.2628 3 6 24 9 3 Scott McLaughlin Team Penske Chevrolet 110 +13.9438 3 15 5 23 10 15 Graham Rahal Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda 110 +17.5449 2 5 36 23 11 18 Ed Jones Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan Honda 110 +18.1590 2 8 2 20 12 30 Takuma Sato Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda 110 +18.7513 2 26 18 13 12 Will Power Team Penske Chevrolet 110 +19.8312 7 14 17 14 5 Pato O'Ward Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet 110 +20.8494 3 7 28 17 15 28 Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti Autosport Honda 110 +25.5636 3 27 15 16 20 Conor Daly Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet 110 +27.3972 3 16 14 17 21 Rinus VeeKay Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet 110 +31.9461 3 25 13 18 14 Sébastien Bourdais A. J. Foyt Enterprises Chevrolet 110 +32.4259 3 12 12 19 59 Max Chilton Carlin Chevrolet 110 +33.2897 3 11 11 20 48 Jimmie Johnson Chip Ganassi Racing Honda 110 +33.7026 4 22 10 21 22 Simon Pagenaud Team Penske Chevrolet 109 +1 Lap 3 23 9 22 51 Romain Grosjean Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware Racing Honda 95 +15 Laps 4 21 8 23 06 Hélio Castroneves Meyer Shank Racing Honda 91 +19 Laps 4 17 7 24 45 Oliver Askew Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda 89 Contact 3 9 6 25 77 Callum Ilott Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet 77 Mechanical 3 19 5 26 4 Dalton Kellett A. J. Foyt Enterprises Chevrolet 50 Mechanical 1 24 5 27 29 James Hinchcliffe Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport Honda 1 Contact 0 13 5Fastest lap: Romain Grosjean (Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware Racing) – 00:59.4381 (lap 83) Source: Cautions: 4 for 20 laps

Lead Changes: 12

Championship standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Driver Points 11 Álex Palou477 12 Pato O'Ward4523 Josef Newgarden4434 Scott Dixon4285 Marcus Ericsson402 Source:

Engine manufacturer standings Manufacturer Points 1 Honda 1210 2 Chevrolet 1115 Source:

Note: Only the top five positions are included.

References