Scott Dixon in the No.9 PNC Bank Honda and Alex Palou in the No.10 American Legion Honda head to Portland this weekend as the only drivers eligible to win the 2023 NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship.
Dixon who has won the last two races on the IMS road course and at World Wide Technology Raceway is in the hunt for his seventh championship and looking ahead to the weekend he says:
I’m definitely looking forward to Portland and it’s always good to go out west. The track has been an interesting one throughout the years and now this year is coming down to the championship fight. Obviously, the fight is far more widespread this year, and we need a big swing and we will be going for a win. But I always love going to Portland and I love the track because it’s pretty intense, especially turn one on the starts and restarts.”
Alex Palou heads to Portland aiming to wrap up the championship on Sunday. The Spaniard has a championship lead of 74 points and will win if he ends the race 54 points ahead of Dixon heading to Laguna Seca.
“We’ve won at Portland before and I also got my first INDYCAR pole there, so it is a special place. The team is looking good for the championship, and we know that it will stay within the team, which is the most important thing. We have a chance to win it and seal the title there, so hopefully we can bring it home early.”
Marcus Ericsson in the No.8 Huski Iced Spritz Honda is looking forward to the race this weekend saying:
Excited to head to the West Coast; it is always a fun trip. I really enjoy driving on this track and I think it has some unique challenges, particularly the last section of the track with the last chicane and the fast corner. It’s very challenging, but it is fun to drive. Things are always very tight here between drivers and the cars. We need to bring our A-game and I believe we will. We have some good ideas on what to do and have improved our road course package throughout the year. It will be an important weekend and we want to maximize every opportunity at the end of the season here.”
Marcus Armstrong is 20 points clear of the rest of the rookie class as he heads into the final two races of the season.
I’ll be doing my best to get on the pace as soon as possible and maximize the package we have. I have the feeling that it may be a difficult track to nail down, so will try to adapt as best as possible. I think it can be a good circuit for me and it’s reasonably similar to what I’ve raced in Europe, as is Laguna. These tracks are constantly flowing and there’s no reason that we can’t get our best result yet.”