Alex Pallow won his eighth victory in a brilliantly controlled race with some careful attention in the 2025 IndyCar season.
Starting with Paul, Parow’s pure pace allowed him to continually build a gap to his competitors, winning the race in seconds.
“To be honest, it’s a great job that everyone at DHL’s Chip Ganassi Race (and) at Honda gave us everything we needed to be as fast as we did,” Paloo said.
“It was a great, great weekend (and A) and it was a great year. Today was a different thing. (It was) so much fun being here.
Pow was joined on the podium by Arrow McLaren driver Christian Landguard, who drove seventh to second, including a bold move from his teammate and Pallow Championship rival Pat O’Ward.
Lundgaard continued to move forward, and the decision to pit the lap earlier than the second running Colton Herta got her on track at the final corner, holding him down on the final lap after the puck was bundled with a slow warning.
Lundgaard said:
“We can’t thank this team enough because it ended up being a red race. Apparently this is the most podium we’ve had in a year, so we’re extremely proud of the No. 7 Velo Arrow McLaren Chevrolet team.”
Hertha took the final podium position and Oward came in fourth despite the need to beat Paloo and continue his championship fight.
Although it appears to be competitive early on, O’Ward’s stint against hard tyres dropped him out of the fight.
Sitting fifth behind Scott Dixon, who has moved up the field through good strategies since the 19th, Audward managed to pass Chip Ganassi’s driver after the final attention, but at that point it will be the best he will achieve this time.
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Alex Pallow decided to go to Pat O’Ward in the final moments that seemed to have been caught off guard, leading the field from the start.
The only top five car in the hard compound, Colton Herta narrowed down to a Turn 2 complex with the Arrom Claren, leaving little room for the exit ode when he pushed the car across the outside curb.
Robert Schwartzman and Connor Daley were entangled with each other towards Turn 4 after Connor Daley didn’t see Schwartzman heading outward towards the corner.
However, it was Kyffin Simpson and Felix Rosenqvist who pulled their first attention to turn 5.
Simpson, who was behind Rosenqvist, tweaked the Swedish driver with his gratitude for turning his chip ganasi car into a wall with a gravel trap on top of the hill.
Rosenqvist was also sent to the gravel trap thanks to Shob, but somehow managed to move on with it again. He returned to the track after three laps with the lead pack.
On reboot, Parow led the field with a neatly continued pack behind it throughout the first lap.
Herta seemed to chase after Palou on one lap after the Spaniard grew on turn one, but Oward began to get Andretti Driver into the Andretti Driver ahead.
Ord’s teammate Christian Landguard made an impressive sixth pass to David Marcus after restarting in Turn 4, allowing Graham Lahal to look into Turn 5.
However, Marcus put his shoulders out and protected his position with the wheels except for Rahal. Rahal stopped behind Christian Rasmussen, allowing Ed Carpenter’s racing driver to pass Marca on lap 9.
A second notice was given to lap 11 after Dayle Coyne Racing driver Jacob Abel spun the car into a barrier at 2 turns 2 after the rear brake issues got him into a very large gravel trap.
The lead that Paloo started building had eradicated, and drivers down the field had the opportunity to make their first pit stop.
This included Kyle Kirkwood, Scott Dixon and Nolan Siegel, who took part in races where he needed to recover from his bad qualifications.
On reboot, Parow wasted no time rebuilding his lead, putting 2.5 seconds on Hertha within a few laps.
Meanwhile, Oward began to look constantly irritated behind Hertha.
100 points behind Palou in the championship, it was important that O’ward beat or finish the Spanish driver ahead of him to keep his championship hopes alive.
In an attempt to get out of Hertha’s dirty air, Audward 24 rounds undercuts Hertha. Paloo was also expected to respond to cover the Mexicans, but both lead drivers went out.
After O’Ward’s pit stop, Rinus Veekay spins off the track into turn 4 by Kyle Kirkwood, avoiding him from behind.
It was expected to be cautious, but IndyCar officials waited until Colton Hertha and Alex Pallow responded to the incident and pited to pull it out.
Out in front of O’ward, Hertha looked vulnerable to the McLaren driver, but his attention was abandoned, as he prepared to move.
Lead driver Pit Stop handed over local hero Nolan Siegel.
Siegel was joined by Scott Dixon and Callum Ilott at the top of the pack, and he pitted with him much earlier, and benefited from attention.
Ilott’s position was particularly impressive as the British driver began on the 24th.
Siegel had a big snap when he came to the exit of the corner to bring the race back to the green, but managed to hold onto the car and the lead.
And sixth, O’ward was overtaken by his teammate Christian Landguard, relegating him to the seventh.
This forced Herta Herta to embrace the breathing space as Lundgaard began to maintain O’Word with a gap between Andretti drivers and a gap of 2 seconds within a few laps.
Siegel managed to take the lead after a few laps, and Paloo chased the young man from behind. His tenure at the front desk ended on lap 37.
Fatigued by being in the back, Paw moved on to Siegel’s outside of Turn 3 before Siegel entered the pit of a pair of fresh hard tyres and rejoined on the 21st.
Scott Dixon, the first pit of an alternative strategy car, darted in search of new tires after quickly starting to fall in succession in positions defeated by Hertha and Landguard.
O’ward was once again the frontrunner’s first pit. It appears this decision was made due to lack of attention for the third time and pace after being threatened from behind the New Garden.
Back at Lundgaard in 7 seconds before he pits, O’Word circulated into the track 13th right in front of Callum Ilott, who was in front of O’Word before he pits.
Lundgaard pits after O’ward and came out comfortably in front of his teammate in the seventh.
Both Hertha and Palou loaded the pits on the same lap, covering the land guard at Dane’s early pit stops, putting Andretti Driver, the second-most slippered American driver, in a position to attack the final corner.
Hertha was unable to help with a pit run with a nut on the right wheel that he decided to escape from the gun and roll down the pit lane.
The front mechanic had another mechanic on hand, but lost a sixth.
Just outside the top three, Scott Dixon came in fourth when the race entered the final 30 laps. A strong drive from the 19th, Dixon won the pit on lap 68, returning to 10th.
In another strategy, Dixon’s pit stop produced a cannon effect among the top runners, with Lundgaard pitting the lap alongside Herta later.
O’ward also came to his final stop and pited on the same lap as Dixon, but managed to avoid being undercut by Ilot behind him, which had problems with Rear Jack during his stop.
Palou decided to stay longer than his competitors a few laps, but eventually surrounded by traffic and forced the car behind him not to take too long.
Following the last round stop, Dixon returned to fourth.
Everything seemed calm as the race entered the final 20 laps, but Marcus Erickson paid another attention after dipping his tires into gravel around Turn 6 and stepping into the Lahar Straight.
Getting back on track, both Ericsson took a long time to move on again, and despite being stuck on the blind coat of arms of arms, officials called attention.
Erickson entered the pit after the incident and retired from the race after much deliberation between him and the team.
The race turns green on 15 laps and Parow drives far again, but Herta does his best to pass Land Guard.
O’ward also tried his best to pass Dixon to Turn 2, but he got off track and dipped in gravel from the car, making him vulnerable to passes from behind.
Siegel attempted an ambitious move in a few laps to raise Corktz, but after two drivers came into contact, he found himself running down the hill.
Wanting to run to the end under the green flag, Santino Ferucci shattered these dreams as he locked his back and swung back into the gravel trap at the top of the Corkts. Ferucci was lucky that Alexander Rossi didn’t get together on a spin.
Another simple note was taken when Palou left again. Dixon ran towards Turn 2 and eventually allowed O’ward to be able, allowing nearly Ilott, who Dixon defended to defend fifth place.
On his final lap, Herta did his best to make a move at Land Guard, but kept the Danish driver in front of the Andretti machine.
“That was good. You know, whenever I come back here, I’m very happy,” Hertha explained after the race.
“This place is great for me, great for my family and it’s a real treat. What comes out here, especially in IndyCar, is a real driver’s truck.
“(I’ve always been happy to be on the podium here. Gainbridge Honda is so fast that it brings this momentum to Portland.”