IndyCar returns to one of its fastest tracks in Portland

Athletes from both the most competitive IndyCar racing series, NTT, as well as the developmental NXT racing series were in Portland Sunday for the the 2026 OnlyBulls Grand Prix.

Thousands packed the Portland International Raceway grandstands to watch both series.

IndyCar has been at Portland International Raceway since 1984. Races began in the Championship Auto Racing Teams, or CART, era, which led to the Champ Car series. After an 11-year hiatus, races made a modern-day return in 2018.

The nearly 2-mile circuit opened in 1961 on the former site of the city of Vanport, Oregon, and it still uses the old Vanport street alignments. This makes the track unique to the IndyCar racing series, because Portland’s course is unusually flat.

Drivers have to prioritize braking points on the course, maintaining momentum through long corners and maximizing exit placement into two long straights.

Portland’s is one of the fastest IndyCar racing series courses, with cars reaching top speeds of more than 170 mph, and lap times often under one minute.

Not every fan at the raceway was content to just watch from the stands on Sunday. Parker Kincaid, 12, has spent the past two years working in the pits for Meyer Shank Racing, helping change tires, clean cars and hand out tools.

“I’ve been working on cars since I was two,” Kincaid said.

Kincaid began spending more time near the team’s garage until, eventually, they let him start working on the car.

“Once I turn 16, I’m gonna move out to Ohio and work full time with them,” he said.

Alessandro de Tullio of A.J. Foyt Enterprises won the 35-lap NXT IndyCar series race, as 22 of the 24 racers finished the race.

In the 110-lap NTT IndyCar series race, 19 of 25 racers finished, with Alex Palou of Chip Ganassi Racing winning with a time of 1:55:03.

“Pretty much nobody expected those reds and soft tires to be that fast and that good, especially for so many laps,” Palou said, referring to the choices his strategist made for the race.

Barry Wanser, Chip Ganassi Racing senior manager of race operations and race strategist for Palou, said it’s not easy winning in IndyCar.

“When you look at this track, normally with that much green flag running, you’d probably put all but seven or eight cars a lap down,” he said. “I think there were 19 cars on the lead lap, so that goes to show just how much performance there is here at this track and speed, even throughout the field.”

Palou has been racing for Chip Ganassi Racing for six seasons, since 2021, and he has won four IndyCar championships so far.

IndyCar will be making its return to Portland this time next year for the annual race at PIR.