QUALIFYING REPORT: BITNILE.COM Grand Prix of Portland

• Coming off a podium finish at Laguna Seca and topping this morning’s practice leaderboard, Colton Herta came into qualifying hoping to build on his history of success on road courses.
• As the first round came to a close, the Gainbridge Honda unfortunately lacked the speed to advance to Round 2, taking the checkered in eighth.
• Today’s result marks the first time the California native has failed to advance out of Round 1 of qualifying at Portland.
• With just one finish outside the top 10 in his five starts at Portland International Raceway, Herta will aim to secure his sixth career road course victory when the green flag waves tomorrow.

“It was a strange qualifying. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get the lap time, and even after the red flag, we just missed putting it all together. The Gainbridge Honda showed speed at times, so there’s pace there. There are opportunities in the race with big strategy windows, so we’ll look to make the most of that tomorrow.”

• Taking on qualifying at Portland International Raceway for the fourth time, Kyle Kirkwood joined his teammates in Group 2, looking to capitalize on the speed that put the JM Bullion Honda in eighth on yesterday’s practice leaderboard.
• Running as high as first in the first round, Kirkwood maintained strong pace throughout the session, but unfortunately was unable to put together a clean lap in the closing moments of the session and did not advance into Round 2. 
• With two street course wins and an oval victory in 2025, Kirkwood enters tomorrow’s BITNILE.com Grand Prix of Portland aiming for a road course win to secure victories on all three types of INDYCAR tracks in a single season.

“We’re scratching our heads a bit on where the pace went. Unfortunately, we just didn’t have the time to really understand what changed from yesterday to today. I’m happy for Marcus. They found something that worked, so we’ll look at what they did and see if we can apply that. Today’s qualifying was not the result we wanted, but we’ll see if we can make something happen tomorrow.”

• Building on his top-10 practice run earlier in the day, Marcus Ericsson led the team in today’s qualifying session as the only Andretti INDYCAR driver to advance to Round 2 after finishing at the top of the leaderboard in Round 1 Group 2.
• Once the green flag waved for Round 2, the Swede climbed as high as sixth. Unfortunately, the Delaware Life Honda dropped a wheel off in Turn 7, costing Ericsson an appearance in the Firestone Fast Six. 
• With 27 career top-10s on road courses and a best finish of sixth at Portland last year, Ericsson will chase the top step of the podium tomorrow.
  

“We were in the mix for the Firestone Fast Six, but unfortunately, I dropped a wheel in Turn 7. We tested here and had good pace, so to miss out today is disappointing. The tires here are a bit tricky, and the gap between the primaries and alternates isn’t straightforward. Tomorrow’s hotter temperatures will play a big role in which tire is best for the race, so it’ll be interesting to see how it all plays out.”

“I’m disappointed with qualifying. I felt we were reasonably competitive on the black tires, but that didn’t translate to the reds. In qualifying, it’s all about the reds. Unfortunately, final practice is tonight instead of tomorrow, so we have a short window to look at it. We’ll make some changes based on what we’ve learned and go from there.”