News for the Week of August 27 – September 2, 2018

Sato wins the Grand Prix of Portland – Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Takuma Sato won the Grand Prix of Portland at Portland International Raceway. The rest of the Top 5 was Hunter-Reay, Bourdais, Pigot, and Dixon. Full results here. – INDYCAR – (9/2/2018)

The Open Wheel’s Portland Verizon IndyCar Series livery page – The Open Wheel’s photo gallery of all the liveries from the 2018 Grand Prix of Portland at Portland International Raceway is available at the link. – The Open Wheel – (9/2/2018)

O’Ward finishes Lights championship season with Race 2 win at Portland – Andretti Autosport’s Patricio O’Ward finished Indy Lights championship with a Race 2 win and weekend sweep at Portland International Raceway. The rest of the Top 5 was Telitz, Urrutia, Herta, and Franzoni. Full results here. – Indy Lights – (9/2/2018)

Grand Prix of Portland starting grid – The official INDYCAR starting grid with Firestone tire designations for the Grand Prix of Portland at Portland International Raceway is available at the link. – INDYCAR – (9/2/2018)

The Open Wheel’s Portland Lights livery page – The Open Wheel’s photo gallery of all the liveries from the 2018 Cooper Tires Indy Lights Grand Prix of Portland Powered by Mazda at Portland International Raceway is available at the link. – The Open Wheel – (9/2/2018)

The Open Wheel’s Grand Prix of Portland photo gallery – The Open Wheel’s photo gallery of the Verizon IndyCar Series action at the 2018 Grand Prix of Portland at Portland International Raceway is available at the link. – The Open Wheel – (9/1/2018)

The Open Wheel’s Portland Lights photo gallery – The Open Wheel’s photo gallery of the Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires action at the 2018 Cooper Tires Indy Lights Grand Prix of Portland Powered by Mazda at Portland International Raceway is available at the link. – The Open Wheel – (9/1/2018)

INDYCAR confirms Alonso test for next Wednesday – INDYCAR.com has confirmed Fernando Alonso will test a Verizon IndyCar Series car with Andretti Autosport next Wednesday at Barber Motorsports Park. The test will be closed to fans and media. Full story at the link. – INDYCAR – (9/1/2018)

Power takes pole at Portland – Team Penske’s Will Power won the pole for the Grand Prix of Portland at Portland International Raceway with a lap of 57.3467. The rest of the Firestone Fast 6 starting order will be Newgarden, Rossi, Bourdais, Hunter-Reay, and Veach. Full results here. – INDYCAR – (9/1/2018)

O’Ward wins Lights title with Race 1 win at Portland – Andretti Autosport’s Patricio O’Ward sealed the Indy Lights championship with a Race 1 win at Portland International Raceway. The rest of the Top 5 was Herta, Franzoni, Urrutia, and Norman. Full results here. – Indy Lights – (9/1/2018)

Bourdais tops Practice 3 at Portland – Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan’s Sebastien Bourdais was fastest in Practice 3 for the Grand Prix of Portland at Portland International Raceway with a lap of 57.4707. The rest of the Top 5 was Rahal, Power, Rossi, and Sato. Hinchcliffe and Bourdais each made big contact in separate incidents in the session. Full results here. – INDYCAR – (9/1/2018)

Norman takes pole for Lights Race 2 at Portland; O’Ward crashes – Andretti Autosport’s Ryan Norman’s lap of 1:04.0687 was good enough for pole for Indy Lights Race 2 at Portland International Raceway. Championship leader and pole sitter for Race 1 later today Patricio O’Ward crashed hard in the session and qualified P7. The rest of the Top 5 was Telitz, Urrutia, Herta, and Franzoni. Full results here. – Indy Lights – (9/1/2018)

Power goes fastest in Practice 2 at Portland – Team Penske’s Will Power’s lap of 57.4053 topped Practice 2 for the Grand Prix of Portland at Portland International Raceway. The rest of the Top 5 was Andretti, Ferrucci, Dixon, and Harvey. Full results here. – INDYCAR – (8/31/2018)

O’Ward earns pole for Lights Race 1 at Portland – Andretti Autosport’s Patricio O’Ward won the pole for Indy Lights Race 1 at Portland International Raceway with a lap of 1:02.8074. The rest of the Top 5 was Herta, Telitz, Franzoni, and Urrutia. O’Ward needs only to finish ahead of Herta in Race 1 on Saturday to seal the championship before Sunday’s season finale. Full results here. – Indy Lights – (8/31/2018)

Bourdais leads Practice 1 at Portland – Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan’s Sebastien Bourdais posted the fastest lap of Grand Prix of Portland Practice 1 at Portland International Raceway with a lap of 57.3975. The rest of the Top 5 was Dixon, Newgarden, Andretti, and Power. Full results here. – INDYCAR – (8/31/2018)

O’Ward fastest in Lights practice at Portland – Andretti Autosport’s Patricio O’Ward was fastest in the only Indy Lights practice session of the weekend at Portland International Raceway with a lap of 1:03.9334. The rest of the Top 5 was Herta, Telitz, Franzoni, and Norman. Full results here. – Indy Lights – (8/31/2018)

Wickens update from SPM 8/31/18 9:59AM – From Schmidt Peterson Motorsports: “Schmidt Peterson Motorsports driver Robert Wickens was transferred to IU Health Methodist Hospital on Thursday, Aug. 30 to continue treatment in his home of Indianapolis. He will soon undergo further surgery on his lower extremities. Wickens had been in the care of Lehigh Valley Hospital – Cedar Crest since his Aug. 19 incident during the INDYCAR event at Pocono Raceway. The Wickens family and SPM organization want to thank the surgeons, nursing team and the staff at the LVHN facility for their care of Robert the last 12 days.” – SPM – (8/31/2018)

Dixon tops Thursday open test at Portland – Chip Ganassi Racing Teams’ Scott Dixon was fastest in the Verizon IndyCar Series open test at Portland International Raceway on Thursday with a lap of 58.3593. Full report and results from INDYCAR at the link. – INDYCAR – (8/31/2018)

The Open Wheel’s Portland preview – The Open Wheel’s Dylan Reynolds’ preview of the INDYCAR weekend at Portland International Raceway is available at the link. – The Open Wheel – (8/30/2018)

SPM officially announces Munoz to drive No. 6 at Portland & Sonoma – “Schmidt Peterson Motorsports has announced that the No. 6 Lucas Oil SPM Honda has been entered for the final two races of the 2018 Verizon IndyCar Series season. While Robert Wickens continues to recover from his injuries following an incident at Pocono Raceway on Aug. 19, Carlos Muñoz will compete at Portland International Raceway and Sonoma Raceway for SPM.” Full release at the link. – SPM – (8/29/2018)

Report: Munoz to drive SPM No. 6 at Portland – Motorsport.com’s David Malsher reports Carlos Munoz will drive the Schmidt Peterson Motorsports No. 6 this weekend at Portland International Raceway. Munoz would be filling in for the injured Robert Wickens. Full story at the link. – Motorsport.com – (8/29/2018)

Juncos set to enter two cars in ’19 – Motorsport.com’s David Malsher has a great story on Juncos Racing’s plans to expand their efforts in the IndyCar Series in 2019. “Having two cars is the right way to go, definitely, because we want to improve our performance always, and it’s very tough on rookies – or even quite experienced drivers – if they have no one to share data with over a race weekend,” team owner Ricardo Juncos told Motorsport.com. Full story at the link. – Motorsport.com – (8/29/2018)

Portland spotter guide – The spotter guide for the Portland Grand Prix at Portland International Raceway is available at the link. – INDYCAR – (8/29/2018)

Portland entry list – The entry list for the Portland Grand Prix at Portland International Raceway is available at the link. – INDYCAR – (8/29/2018)

Miller’s Mailbag 8/29/18 – RACER’s Robin Miller’s weekly fan Q&A is a great read as always. – RACER – (8/29/2018)

Trackside podcast 8/28/18 – 1070 The Fan’s Trackside with Curt Cavin and Kevin Lee radio show from 8/28/18 is a great listen as always. – 1070 The Fan – (8/29/2018)

Lights entry list for Portland – The entry list for the Cooper Tires Indy Lights Grand Prix of Portland Powered by Mazda at Portland International Raceway is available at the link. – Indy Lights – (8/28/2018)

DCR No. 18 to feature Gorilla livery at Portland – The Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan No. 18 car for Sebastien Bourdais will feature a new Gorilla Automotive Products livery this weekend at Portland International Raceway. See the livery on our No. 18 livery page here. – Vasser Sullivan IndyCar – (8/28/2018)

Gateway gets a 0.23 TV rating – Showbuzz Daily reports NBCSN’s telecast of the Bommarito Automotive Group 500 at Gateway Motorsports Park received a 0.23 TV rating. That’s the same as last year. – Showbuzz Daily – (8/28/2018)

COTA “super interested” in INDYCAR for ’19 – Kevin Lyttle of the Austin American-Statesman Staff reports Circuit of the Americas is very much in the running for a spot on the INDYCAR calendar for 2019. “It would become one of our crown-jewel events,” COTA Chairman Bobby Epstein told the American-Statesman. “I think it would be special for the series, too, with this city and this track…We’re super interested. We’ve had productive conversations. We’re talking to them. It would be exciting to see IndyCar come to Austin.” Full story at the link. – Austin American-Statesman – (8/27/2018)

The Open Wheel’s IndyCar Series pit box sign gallery – The Open Wheel’s photo gallery of the pit box signs from Verizon IndyCar Series teams is available at the link. – The Open Wheel – (8/27/2018)

Reports: Rosenqvist to take over Ganassi No. 10 in ’19 – It appears more sources are reporting Felix Rosenqvist will be the driver of the No. 10 car for Chip Ganassi Racing Teams in 2019 every day. Today it’s the folks at RaceFans.net (story at the link). Last week RACER’s Robin Miller reported the same in his mailbag and RACER’s Marshall Pruett has backed the story as well. – RaceFans.net – (8/27/2018)

The Open Wheel’s Gateway photo gallery – The Open Wheel’s photo gallery of the INDYCAR Bommarito Automotive Group 500 at Gateway Motorsports Park is available at the link. – The Open Wheel – (8/25/2018)

Power wins the Bommarito Automotive Group 500 at Gateway – Team Penske’s Will Power won the Bommarito Automotive Group 500 at Gateway Motorsports Park. The rest of the Top 5 was Rossi, Dixon, Pagenaud, and Veach. Full results here. – INDYCAR – (8/25/2018)

Wickens update from SPM 8/25/18 7:39PM – From Schmidt Peterson Motorsports: “For the first time following his Aug. 19 incident at Pocono Raceway, Schmidt Peterson Motorsports driver Robert Wickens is breathing without medical assistance and speaking with his family. Robert’s family and the entire SPM organization are very pleased to share this information and wish everyone a safe race tonight in St. Louis.” – SPM – (8/25/2018)

Norman wins at Gateway for first Lights win – Andretti Autosport’s Ryan Norman earned his first career Indy Lights victory in a thrilling race at Gateway Motorsports Park. Norman and teammate Colton Herta had an incredible battle for the lead over the last 20 laps. The Top 5 was Norman, Herta, O’Ward, Urrutia, and Telitz. Full race results here. – Indy Lights – (8/25/2018)

TMS announces four-year deal with INDYCAR – “Texas Motor Speedway and INDYCAR have agreed to terms on a four-year sanction agreement for the Verizon IndyCar Series’ return to the world-renowned motorsports facility through 2022. In conjunction with the long-term agreement with the series, Texas Motor Speedway and DXC Technology (NYSE: DXC) announced that the world’s leading independent, end-to-end IT services company will return as the entitlement sponsor for the 2019 event, to be held Saturday, June 8. This will be DXC Technology’s second year in the sponsorship role with Texas Motor Speedway.” Full release at the link. – Texas Motor Speedway – (8/23/2018)

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