Alex Palou recovers in Portland for 3rd win, IndyCar lead

PORTLAND, Ore. — Alex Palou recovered from a near firstlap disaster at Portland International Raceway to win for the third time this season and reclaim the IndyCar points lead.

The victory put the Spaniard back on top of the standings for the ninth time in 14 races this season. The second-year IndyCar driver had lost a 42-point lead in back-toback races and came to Portland down 10 points to Pato O’Ward.

But Palou won the pole to earn one point and start the race down just nine to O’Ward. But the start nearly ruined this race as Palou and his Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Scott Dixon hurtled toward the first turn on the permanent road course.

Felix Rosenqvist appeared to clip Dixon, causing Dixon to lock his brakes as he and Palou rode side-by-side. Neither Ganassi car was going to make the turn and both followed Rosenqvist through a runoff to avoid crashing.

The off-course adventure dropped Palou to 17th and Dixon to 18th when the race restarted on Lap 11 — the first lap under green. But in all the ducking and weaving to avoid a multi-crash accident, O’Ward had cycled from seventh on the start to the lead before he even made it through the first turn.

“We kept our heads down and we knew the race was very long,” Palou said of the 110-lap event.

Although O’Ward led 28 laps, he couldn’t put a complete race together and the Ganassi drivers slowly picked their way back into contention. Palou had returned to the lead and was out front for a pair of restarts in the final 20 laps, holding off Alexander Rossi both times to preserve the victory.