Lundgaard quickest on Primary and Alternate Firestone Firehawk race tires

The No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet of Christian Lundgaard was the quickest driver on both the Primary (black) and Alternate (red) Firestone Firehawk race tires, ending Friday’s NTT INDYCAR SERIES practice session at the top of the combined timesheet. The Dane’s lap of 58.5320 seconds on the 1.964-mile, 12-Turn Portland International Raceway road course led two other Chevrolet-powered drivers in the top six, with Josef Newgarden in the No. 2 Astemo Team Penske Chevrolet and David Malukas in the No. 4 A.J. Foyt Racing Gallagher Insurance Chevrolet, joining Lundgaard.
Lundgaard’s stellar day began by leading the 40-minute portion of practice, where all 27 drivers utilized only the black tires with a lap at 59.1037 seconds. Newgarden, Pato O’Ward in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet, and Will Power in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet were also part of the top ten in the first portion of practice.
Lundgaard’s best lap was set in the first portion of group running, where 15 cars ran the red tires for the first time. Newgarden and Conor Daly, returning to a road course for the first time with Juncos Hollinger Racing, made up three of the top six.
Only championship leader Palou beat Malukas in the second portion of the group running, featuring 15 cars utilizing the red tires. O’Ward was the fifth quickest, with Christian Rasmussen in the No. 21 Ed Carpenter Racing Liquid Science Chevrolet and Nolan Siegel in the No. 6 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet finishing with a half second of Palou.

Friday Practice Results from the Bitnile.com Grand Prix of Portland

Tune-In Alert

Saturday

NTT INDYCAR SERIES Practice #2 – noon (ET)/11am (CT)/10am (MT)/9am (PT) – FS1/INDYCAR Radio Network/SIRIUSXM 218
NTT INDYCAR SERIES Qualifying – 2:30pm (ET)/1:30pm (CT)/12:30pm (MT)/11:30am (PT) – FS1/INDYCAR Radio Network/SIRIUSXM 218
NTT INDYCAR SERIES Warm Up – 8:30pm (ET)/ 7:30pm (CT)/6:30pm (MT)/5:30pm (PT) – FS2/INDYCAR Radio Network/SIRIUSXM 218

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Sunday

Bitnile.com Grand Prix of Portland (110 laps) – 3pm (ET)/2pm (CT)/1pm (MT)/noon (PT) – FOX/INDYCAR Radio Network/SIRIUSXM 218

WHAT THEY’RE SAYING (QUOTES):

A.J. FOYT RACING

David Malukas, No. 4 A.J. Foyt Racing Gallagher Insurance Chevrolet:

“Yeah, I did feel good. Obviously, a little bit of an unknown until we got that group running. It was so chaotic during the first half of that practice. We weren’t getting any laps, and a little bit of a guessing game on what the car needed. But yeah, in that group running, we got a lot of answers that we needed, and it feels very good.”

It’s going to be quite an increase in temperature across the next two days. What how does that factor into some conversations you have with the team tonight?

“It’s a lot of guessing what the car and these tires are going to do at that high temperature. All factors, from the car to the tires, and even myself, we were trying some different things with the cool suit to prepare for those higher temperatures come Sunday. But I’ve a really good team behind me and we’ll make sure that this Gallagher Chevy gets up there.”

Santino Ferrucci, No. 14 A.J. Foyt Racing Sexton Properties Chevrolet:

Yeah, very interesting FP1 for us with learning. (We’re) just lacking a ton of front grip. So, see if we can’t make some overnight changes and make it better.

ARROW MCLAREN

Pato O’Ward, No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet:

“We’ve got some work to do for tomorrow. I don’t think we’re in as bad as shape as last year but definitely not quite where we want to be yet. I think we can get there, though.”

Nolan Siegel, No. 6 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet:

“It was an awesome full team effort to get the car out to Practice 1 after we noticed an issue with the hybrid before the session. They worked quickly to get the No. 6 Chevy out to the track on time. A major thank you to the entire crew. As for Practice, we’ve got some work to do to get the car on the window. We were pretty good balance-wise and did a few tests. But really, I’m happy that we were able to get out there at all, and we’ll push forward for a smoother day tomorrow.”

Christian Lundgaard, No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet:

“Continue that momentum (from practice, on what he needs to do the rest of the weekend). I think it’s been really nice for everybody to have a nice little weekend off. Regroup. Recharge. In Toronto, I spoke about the mental capacity of these people, on this crew, There is no racing without the truckies (truck drivers). There is no racing without the mechanics, and we all needed that a little bit of a week off. Luckily, we get another one next week. So, if we can execute this week and carry this momentum, then we can have a good end to the season”

It’s going to get really hot later this weekend. How does that change things? How will it change the tire wear?

“I already feel it. It is hot. I think it feels a lot warmer today, than I think it really is. It’s just going to be worse Sunday. I’m not so worried about tomorrow. It’s going to be physical for sure.”

ED CARPENTER RACING

Christian Rasmussen, No. 21 Ed Carpenter Racing Liquid Science Chevrolet:

“Okay start. A little bit to find from us. I didn’t really quite nail the laps, so there was a little bit of left on the table there, but I think we’re in the area of where we need to be. We just need to find a little bit extra.”

Where can you find that little bit extra on this track?

“It’s a lot in Turns four, five, six, and seven. That’s kind of most of the track here. I lost a little bit in seven, which was a driver mistake, so there was a little bit of time left in it. We’ll fine tune it.”

JUNCOS HOLLIGER RACING

Conor Daly, No. 76 Juncos Holliger Racing Chevrolet:

‘Honestly, I’ve been looking forward to this one since last year, because in my INDYCAR career, I’ve never got to come back to a place with a team and to capitalize on what I think we had you last year, which was great potential. Obviously, we saw it with Romain (Grosjean) qualifying. We missed this whole practice session last year, so it feels really good to do it. The car is good here, so it feels good. We just didn’t have the tires in the window for our lap, so we left a little bit out there. But, it was good work from the AM/PM Arco Chevy team. This is a big one for us. We really want to do this, do this well, since the off season is coming up, and we’ll see how it goes.”

TEAM PENSKE

Josef Newgarden, No. 2 Astemo Team Penske Chevrolet:

“It was a good start, and I’m really proud of the team. They came with a good plan, a good car and we rolled off in a great spot. We’ll see if we can keep that up. I think Team Chevy has brought a good package too. It feels like we’ve got something to fight with and just need to have a good clean run tomorrow and get ourselves up front. That’s going to help us most for the weekend.”

Scott McLaughlin, No. 3 Odyssey Battery Team Penske Chevrolet:

“The Verizon Chevy didn’t feel too bad, but definitely lacking pace. Lacking pace here is like, if you’re a couple of tenths off your way off. Yeah, definitely got to find some more there. It’s always the case, when you turn up with last year’s car and it’s never the same. The tires change, the track changes and people improve. We’ll go back and do some homework and find some time.”

Will Power, No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet:

“The Verizon Chevy didn’t feel too bad, but definitely lacking pace. Lacking pace here is like, if you’re a couple of tenths off your way off. Yeah, definitely got to find some more there. It’s always the case, when you turn up with last year’s car and it’s never the same. The tires change, the track changes and people improve. We’ll go back and do some homework and find some time.”

NTT INDYCAR SERIES News Conference
Friday, August 8, 2025
David Malukas
Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: We are now joined by David Malukas for AJ Foyt Enterprises. P2 in group two this afternoon.

How would you describe your start to the weekend?

DAVID MALUKAS: Yeah, it was a little bit chaotic to start the session. It was just a lot of red flags there. Couldn’t really get a lap in. It took a while. Once we did, tires were kind of past their life. It was a little bit of a guessing game going into the group running.

Thankfully everybody got spaced out, we got in a lot of laps on the primaries and the alternates. Got a lot of answers we needed. I think we know the direction we need to go and close that gap up to the front.

THE MODERATOR: Pole position last year for the team good start. This is turning into a Foyt track?

DAVID MALUKAS: Yeah, we’ll see. We’ll see when qualifying comes. So far things are trajectoring [sic] in the correct direction, things are looking good. Close that gap and we’ll see what tomorrow brings.

THE MODERATOR: Questions for David.

Q. Is your hand okay? It’s been wrapped for a few weeks now.

DAVID MALUKAS: Yeah, no, I mean, obviously in the beginning or when I started driving back again in 2024, last season, I had to get it wrapped. Just give it that extra support in the car. Now I kind of just do it as habit. I feel a little bit lost without it.

It’s more kind of there from a mental aspect than a physical standpoint. The hand has been fine ever since the start of the season.

Q. Is it not weird, but with all the rumors and chatter, to have Penske Gallagher colors on your car, does that make things awkward at all for you?

DAVID MALUKAS: No. I mean, it’s same old, same old. When it comes to the sponsorship, there’s an alliance between Foyt and Penske. Obviously that transcends through sponsorship, as well.

Q. What do you think the temperatures are going to do throughout the weekend in terms of the tire performance?

DAVID MALUKAS: What are the tires going to be doing? It’s a bit tough to say. These are the tires from I think INDYCAR road course. It’s going to be a little bit of a guessing game. We know a little bit going into it after Indy road course, Mid-Ohio, some answers from the primaries, alternates. We will see what the data brings.

Obviously I think after practice, try to get more information. We won’t really know much until warm-up for the race. Obviously qualifying alternates are going to be a lot quicker. But for the race we’ll have to wait and see.

Q. David, I know this is a track where Santino started on pole last year, had a fairly solid run. I know things change from year to year. Temperature will have a big role on Sunday. Where do you feel like your guys’ package is coming into this weekend? What did you learn from practice?

DAVID MALUKAS: Yeah, I mean, obviously the team was dominant last year so we’re kind of building off of that car, that setup.

Things have changed. Different tire compound of course. Temperatures are going to be different. So there’s some little finite things that we need to fix.

I think we’re in the window, which is good for us. I think road courses this year has been something we’ve had a little bit of a decline with. I think our street course car and oval car has been a little bit more up there. Trying to be a little bit more competitive.

I think Portland is higher up as of right now for practice. But things can change and drastically change come qualifying for tomorrow. But I have a good team behind me, so I think we’ll get this Gallagher car up there.

Q. Will Power told us he’s going to have to wait till the finale to figure out what his future holds. Do you have any sense of what you might be doing next year or have an idea when you might know those plans?

DAVID MALUKAS: No, from my side it’s same old, same old. As of right now I signed a multi-year deal with Foyt. That’s kind of where the trajectory goes right now.

Q. You’re currently top 10 in points. Where does that weigh up against your pre-season targets? Is top 10 in points something that really matters to you?

DAVID MALUKAS: Yeah, of course it matters. We always want to be performing and performing consistently. I think as of right now top 10 in the points, I think it’s somewhat on trajectory of what I expected.

Beginning half of the season, thought it was going to be a bit more of a struggle bus ride trying to figure out the crew, what I want with the car. Month of May was a good turnaround for us. From that point on we’ve had a much better second half of the season.

Yeah, I think we’re going to keep continuing that. We have three more to go. Try to maintain that top 10 in the points.

Q. How is your Football Manager save going?

DAVID MALUKAS: I finally got him to the championship not that long ago. Took me a bit longer than I wanted to (smiling). I’m in the championship now. Got one more to go.

Q. The run down to turn one on race day, how important is it to be either on the inside or outside rows leading into that complex of corners?

DAVID MALUKAS: Tough to say. Depending on what row you’re going to be starting in.

I think outside would be preferred. If you can hold around the outside of one, then you’re on the inside of two. I also see people still hold that line going on the inside for three and four.

It’s kind of 50/50. I don’t know. We’ll see how it plays out.

Q. With the expected temperatures and the other classes running this event, is that going to help with tire grip?

DAVID MALUKAS: Oh, of course. It will change drastically with all the cars going on. Especially INDY NXT. Anytime they’re right before us, the track has a big turnaround. I think grip-wise it will be increasing and it will only help us.

Q. When the engine alliance between AJ Foyt Racing and Team Penske was created, it was really to help AJ Foyt pick up its game. You have done that to the point where you’re out-pointing Team Penske. In some ways are you satisfied by that? Is that kind of a cool stat to know this engineering alliance, we’re getting it done better than the team that is supposed to be the top team?

DAVID MALUKAS: Yeah, I mean, from our side, we focus on what’s going on in our team. Yeah, there’s not much of a feeling or play into that perspective. It’s just how good can we get the AJ Foyt team. We want to be in the top 10 points, finish on a strong note. That’s what we’re focused on.

GM PR