Graham Rahal secured pole position in Portland today. He set a 58.4576 second lap ahead of Scott Dixon and Alex Palou in third. Rahal drove his No. 15 PeopleReady Honda fielded by Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing to add an NTT P1 Award to the one he won last month at the Gallagher Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Rahal turned the fastest lap on primary tires. These are supposed to be the slower tire per Firestone.
After the qualifying session Rahal had the following words, “Yesterday, we really struggled on the red tires. This morning we saved a set of blacks (primary tires) compared to everyone else, and it just worked out to be able to go to the new blacks (in qualifying). Everybody has pushed real hard to get our team back to this point, and it’s nice to have two poles here at the end of the year.”
Championship contenders Scott Dixon and Alex Palou finished fourth and fifth. Scott Dixon qualified with a 58.5803 second lap time in the No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. Dixon is attempting to keep his championship dreams alive for a record-tying seventh championship. He trails teammate Alex Palou by 74 points entering the Portland Grand Prix. Dixon must cut that gap to 53 points or less after the to carry the title race to the season-ending Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey. That race will take place on Sunday, Sept. 10 at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.
Live coverage of this year’s 110-lap race starts at 3 p.m. ET Sunday on NBC, Peacock and the INDYCAR Radio Network.
Full Qualifying Results Below