PORTLAND (Aug. 25, 2024) -- For the first time in his career, Santino Ferrucci paced the field leading to the start of the BitNile Grand Prix of Portland at Portland International Raceway Sunday afternoon.
Unfortunately, hot weather conditions played a role in the outcome of the race as both AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolets did not have the pace they enjoyed the previous day which was overcast and cool.
Starting on pole in the No. 14 Phoenix Investors Chevrolet, Santino Ferrucci admitted to braking too early as he and Will Power headed into Turn 1 on the start. Power took the point and Ferrucci slid into second. He relinquished that spot to Alex Palou by lap eight but it wasn't until the first pit stop that the lack of pace truly revealed itself as cars were in fuel saving mode in the early stages.
Despite solid pit stops, the in and out laps during all of Ferrucci's pit stop cycles were not optimal as he was fighting a loose-handling car. With the limited corrections they could make during the race, it wasn't enough to overcome the challenges Ferrucci faced.
"It's tough because Santino was so happy with the car yesterday, we didn't want to gamble on making a big adjustment overnight," said Team President Larry Foyt. "We debated and decided to stick with the package we knew. Obviously, hindsight is always 20-20 but I'm still really proud of this team. I regret that the slower pace made it look like our stops were lacking but that was certainly not the case today--the guys did a great job in the pits."
Ferrucci finished eighth which was enough to put him back into the top-10 in the NTT INDYCAR standings, having slipped to 11th after last weekend. It was his eighth top-10 of the season.
Asked about the start, he explained, "Yeah, I kind of told Will where I was going to go, and that if I got the jump and could get in front of him, I would. I would kind of string him along and pull him down into turn one. He said he was going to go up the inside and just block and give me the line into (turn) two. I don't think he expected me to brake as early as I did, and I definitely didn't mean to either."
After the race, a smiling Santino chats with Larry Foyt and race engineer James Schnabel.
"It was really cool to talk with him (Will) and get some advice on what to do," Ferrucci continued. "And you know he's such a good dude. I'm really happy for him and all the 12 team for them to win. You know, it's great for them in the championship. It was very helpful, like I said, a lot to learn for me there, and can't wait to race him again a little bit more in the next few."
Although he couldn't maintain his top spot, Ferrucci was happy with the effort and the overall results this weekend.
"Incredible weekend all around regardless of the result today," said Ferrucci. "Awesome to have another top ten -- it helps us in the championship. Overall, we just kind of missed the pace with the heat. Nothing we could do there, kind of cycled back on every pit exchange. We just weren't able to get away with the overcut as well as everybody else. Still incredibly proud of the team with what we've accomplished this weekend -- getting a pole is incredible. And now, we move on to the ovals, and hopefully, we can pull off a win."
Starting 24th in the No. 41 Goodheart Chevrolet, Sting Ray Robb moved into the top 20 by lap 13 when the alternate fuel strategies started coming into play. Also fighting oversteer or loose-handling with his car, he managed to stay in the top 20 throughout the race. He appeared to be headed for a top 16 finish but a problem on the final pit stop cost him a couple spots and he finished 18th.
Robb with race engineer Mike Armbrester after the race.
“Long day here in Portland.," the 22-year-old summed up. "We went forward quite a bit. A small mistake on the last stop cost us a few spots, but overall, I think it was a fairly maximized day for the pace that we had. For the conditions, I think that we had a fairly decent car. We made a call at the beginning of the race to trim compared to the cars around us. I’m not sure how that ended up. I think we gained a little, lost a little. Overall, pretty happy with the result. Got some good points out of it and we’re moving forward to two tracks that I think we’re going to do well at.”
Power dominated the race leading 101 laps in the 110-lap event which was slowed by only one caution when Scott Dixon tangled with Pietro Fittipaldi resulting in Dixon skittering off track into the barrier ending his day on lap 1. Fittipaldi was assessed a penalty for avoidable contact.
Current points leader Alex Palou finished second after starting third. Rounding out the top five were: Josef Newgarden, Colton Herta and Marcus Armstrong.
The teams head to Milwaukee this week for the Hy-Vee doubleheader at the historic Milwaukee Mile. Race 1 will stream on Peacock Saturday night with pre-race activity starting at 5:40 p.m. ET. Race 2 will be broadcast on the USA Netwok on Sunday afternoon at 2:30 p.m. ET.
Comments