Álex Palou left no room for error as he stormed to victory at the Portland GP, Round 13 of the 2026 IndyCar season. After starting second and shadowing pole-sitter Felix Rosenqvist through the opening stint, the Spaniard overcut the Swede during the first pit cycle to take control of the race. From there, the four-time champion managed his pace flawlessly to claim his sixth win of the year and take a massive step toward another series title.
Second place was all that remained for Meyer Shank’s Rosenqvist. The Swede showed flashes of speed on soft tires during his first and third stints—temporarily closing the gap to Palou—but never mounted a true threat for the lead. In the closing laps, he held off a late charge from Andretti’s Will Power to preserve P2.
Rinus VeeKay secured Juncos Hollinger’s best result of the season in fourth, running a clean, consistent race among the leaders, though he finished more than eight seconds adrift of the final podium spot. Kyle Kirkwood brought his machine home fifth, four seconds behind VeeKay.
Marcus Ericsson placed sixth as the second Andretti entry in the top order. After passing Palou at the start to challenge Rosenqvist, the 2022 Indy 500 winner lost performance over the long run, eventually finishing ahead of Scott McLaughlin, who led the Team Penske contingent in seventh.
Josef Newgarden mounted a strong recovery drive after pitting under the race’s only yellow flag, triggered early by Graham Rahal. The American dropped to the rear from 14th on the grid, but used clean air to lead laps during strategy cycles before taking the checkered flag six positions ahead of where he started.
Christian Lundgaard delivered another standout drive, surging from 25th and last on the grid to finish ninth for Arrow McLaren. The Dane made quick work of the field early on, breaking into 15th by lap four before ultimately edging out Kyffin Simpson for a top-10 result.
Caio Collet endured a quiet race to finish 20th after lining up 24th. The Brazilian struggled to make headway in traffic and lost ground during slow pit work from the Foyt crew, though he pulled off a clean pass on teammate Santino Ferrucci and matched Palou’s pace in the final stint.
IndyCar returns to action next weekend, August 14–16, for the inaugural Markham GP, marking the series’ sole international round of the season in Canada.
How the Portland IndyCar GP Unfolded
The green flag flew at 5:26 PM (BRT), with Felix Rosenqvist holding the lead into Turn 1 while Marcus Ericsson jumped Will Power for third to put pressure on Álex Palou. Rinus VeeKay went side-by-side with Power but had to defend from Kyle Kirkwood after slight contact between the two.
Caio Collet initially cleared Sting Ray Robb at the launch before losing the spot, only to retake it on lap two alongside moves on Mick Schumacher and Nolan Siegel to claim 11th.
On lap four, Ericsson dived down the inside of Palou at Turn 1, utilizing his alternate soft tires to take second. Further back, Lundgaard continued his charge, slicing from 25th up to 15th in four laps.
The full-course caution came out on lap seven when Graham Rahal lost control at the final corner and stranded his car in the run-off area. Under the safety car, Newgarden, Ferrucci, Marcus Armstrong, Siegel, Rahal, and Robb pitted early to split strategies.
At the lap 10 restart, Rosenqvist led Ericsson, Palou, Power, VeeKay, Kirkwood, Simpson, Scott Dixon, Louis Foster, and McLaughlin, with Collet in 18th.
McLaughlin moved up to ninth on the restart, while Lundgaard cleared Alexander Rossi and Dennis Hauger for 13th. Collet passed David Malukas—who ceded spots after blocking the Carpenter car—to take 17th, running on the tail of Pato O’Ward.
Malukas reclaimed 17th on lap 12, forcing Collet back into the clutches of Newgarden on fresh soft rubber, who also made his way past the Brazilian.
Up front, Rosenqvist maintained a narrow 1-second lead over Ericsson. Palou sat 2 seconds back in third, with Power trailing another 2 seconds behind before a gap to VeeKay, Kirkwood, Simpson, Dixon, McLaughlin, and Romain Grosjean.
Green-flag pit stops began on lap 20 as Foster shed his soft tires, followed by O’Ward on hards a lap later. Rasmussen and Siegel pitted on lap 22.
As primary hard tires began outperforming worn softs, Rosenqvist stretched his margin over Ericsson to 1.5 seconds. Andretti called Ericsson in on lap 25, prompting Kirkwood, Dixon, and Grosjean to follow suit. Rosenqvist, Palou, Power, VeeKay, Simpson, McLaughlin, Lundgaard, Hauger, Rossi, and Malukas formed the temporary top-10, with Collet up to 12th.
The order shuffled as McLaughlin pitted on lap 27, bringing Collet into the top 10 until Lundgaard, Hauger, VeeKay, Simpson, and Collet completed their respective stops over the next two laps.
Palou closed on Rosenqvist as Ericsson locked up at the chicane on lap 31. The Spaniard inherited the lead on lap 32 when Rosenqvist pitted; Palou came in one lap later, executing the overcut to re-enter ahead of the MSR entry.
Newgarden and Ferrucci led briefly on their alternate strategy ahead of Palou, Rosenqvist, and Power. Armstrong brought his car to the pits on lap 35 with mechanical issues, while Ferrucci pitted on lap 36, rejoining behind Collet.
When Newgarden and Robb finally made their second stops, Palou assumed the official lead with a 3.5-second buffer over Rosenqvist, followed by Power, Kirkwood, VeeKay, Ericsson, McLaughlin, Simpson, Lundgaard, and Dixon, with Collet in 20th.
In clear air, Palou stretched his advantage to 5.5 seconds by lap 43. Further down, Collet fell to 21st as his soft tires degraded, losing a spot to RLL’s Schumacher.
O’Ward opened another round of pit stops on lap 49. Palou built his lead to 7.5 seconds before making his second stop on lap 57. A slow service by the Ganassi crew allowed Rosenqvist to briefly cycled back into P1.
Among the drivers who had pitted during the caution flag, Newgarden and Robb finally made another pit stop. As a result, Palou inherited the lead, holding a 3.5-second advantage over Rosenqvist. Power, Kirkwood, VeeKay, Ericsson, McLaughlin, Simpson, Lundgaard, and Dixon rounded out the top 10, while Collet ran in 20th.
With clear track ahead, Palou capitalized to stretch his lead over the field—the Spaniard pulled more than 5.5 seconds clear of Rosenqvist by lap 43.
Nearing the end of his soft tires’ stint, Collet lost a spot to Schumacher, who moved up to 20th in RLL’s #47 machine.
A new pit-stop window opened on lap 49 when O’Ward pitted again, with Foster following suit two laps later.
By lap 52, the race appeared firmly under Palou’s control as his lead over Rosenqvist grew to 7.5 seconds. Power, VeeKay, and Ericsson completed the top five just as Kirkwood, Rasmussen—who had run near the front for several laps—and Siegel made their stops.
Dixon pitted on lap 54, while Lundgaard came in on lap 55 alongside Grosjean. Both stopped just ahead of Ericsson and McLaughlin—at that same moment, Foster made the most of his warm tires to pass Ganassi’s #9 car. Palou—following a slow pit stop by the Ganassi crew—and Rahal headed to the pits on lap 57, handing the lead over to Rosenqvist.
Rosenqvist pitted on lap 60, temporarily giving Power the lead. The Australian came in on the next tour, however, as did Simpson. Ferrucci and Schumacher made their stops shortly after, leaving Newgarden and Robb as the only drivers yet to pit among those who had stopped under the earlier yellow flag.
Simpson executed a brilliant pass on Lundgaard on lap 65. The Ganassi driver pulled alongside the Dane out of the first chicane and, after slight contact between the two, carried more speed into Turn 3 to sweep past the McLaren entry.
Palou reclaimed the lead when Newgarden made his stop on lap 67. Despite the slow Ganassi pit service, the Spaniard held a 4.4-second gap over Rosenqvist, who was steadily chipping away at the deficit on soft tires. Power, Kirkwood, VeeKay, Ericsson, McLaughlin, Newgarden, Simpson, and Lundgaard held down the remaining top-10 positions.
Rosenqvist trimmed Palou’s lead to 2.3 seconds on lap 72 while pulling 5 seconds clear of Power. Meanwhile, Collet sat 21st, chasing Ferrucci 2 seconds ahead.
Final stops began on lap 79 with Kirkwood. Facing traffic, Rosenqvist pitted on lap 81 for fresh hard tires, with Palou covering the strategy on the next lap to stay ahead.
Power stayed out to lead temporarily, losing time behind the lapped car of Robb before pitting on lap 88.
Palou emerged from the final pit cycle with a 3-second cushion over Rosenqvist, who had Power closing in behind. VeeKay, Kirkwood, Ericsson, McLaughlin, Newgarden, Simpson, and Lundgaard held the remaining top-10 spots.
Collet passed Ferrucci on track after the American’s final stop, setting personal best lap times in the 1m01.5s range.
With 15 laps to go, Palou pushed his lead to nearly 6 seconds. Behind him, Power closed within a second of Rosenqvist with a push-to-pass advantage, but the Swede’s hard tires stabilized over the final 10 laps, extending his gap over the Australian to 1.5 seconds.
Lundgaard passed Simpson on the penultimate lap to claim ninth. Unchallenged up front, Palou crossed the line 5 seconds clear of Rosenqvist to take the victory, with Power, VeeKay, Kirkwood, Ericsson, McLaughlin, Newgarden, Lundgaard, and Simpson completing the top 10.
