IndyCar: Colton Herta tops first 2019 Portland practice

Colton Herta topped the speed chart in the opening practice session for the penultimate race of the 2019 IndyCar season, the Grand Prix of Portland, at Portland International Raceway.

Harding Steinbrenner Racing rookie Colton Herta topped the speed chart and led a Honda onslaught in the first of three practice sessions for the penultimate race on the 17-race 2019 IndyCar schedule at Portland International Raceway, the Grand Prix of Portland.

Herta topped the speed chart in this opening practice session for this 105-lap race around the 12-turn, 1.967-mile (3.166-kilometer) Portland International Raceway natural terrain road course in Portland, Oregon by recording a top lap time of 57.4293 seconds (123.3029 miles per hour) in his #88 Honda.

Herta led a top three Honda sweep of his practice session, as Andretti Autosport’s Alexander Rossi and Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon rounded out the top three by finishing in second and third place in their #27 Honda and #9 Honda, respective, but Honda’s dominance did not stop there.

Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden, who finished in fourth place in his #2 Chevrolet, was the only Chevrolet driver who finished in the top 10.

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Andretti Herta Autosport’s Marco Andretti finished in fifth place in his #98 Honda ahead of Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports’ James Hinchcliffe in sixth in his #5 Honda and Andretti Autosport’s Zach Veach in seventh in his #26 Honda.

Chip Ganassi Racing rookie Felix Rosenqvist finished in eighth place in his #10 Honda ahead of Andretti Autosport’s Ryan Hunter-Reay in ninth in his #28 Honda. Hunter-Reay finishing in ninth put all four Andretti Autosport cars, all five including Herta as a part of the team, inside of the top nine.

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Takuma Sato rounded out the top 10 by finishing in 10th place in his #30 Honda.

Team Penske teammates Will Power and Simon Pagenaud finished in 11th and 12th place in their #12 Chevrolet and #22 Chevrolet, respectively. The highest finishing non-Team Penske Chevrolet driver of this practice session was A.J. Foyt Enterprises’ Matheus Leist, who finished in 13th in his #4 Chevrolet.

Here are the full practice results of the opening practice session for the 2019 Grand Prix of Portland at Portland International Raceway.

Practice Results
1st – Colton Herta
2nd – Alexander Rossi
3rd – Scott Dixon
4th – Josef Newgarden
5th – Marco Andretti
6th – James Hinchcliffe
7th – Zach Veach
8th – Felix Rosenqvist
9th – Ryan Hunter-Reay
10th – Takuma Sato
11th – Will Power
12th – Simon Pagenaud
13th – Matheus Leist
14th – Max Chilton
15th – Sebastien Bourdais
16th – Graham Rahal
17th – Jack Harvey
18th – Ed Jones
19th – Santino Ferrucci
20th – Tony Kanaan
21st – Spencer Pigot
22nd – Charlie Kimball
23rd – Conor Daly

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The second practice session for the Grand Prix of Portland is the final on-track activity of the day. It is scheduled to begin at 5:40 p.m. ET, and it is set to be broadcast live on NBC Sports Gold from Portland International Raceway. NBC Sports Gold is also set to broadcast the third and final practice session for this race tomorrow afternoon beginning at 2:00 p.m. ET.

The qualifying session for the 2019 IndyCar season’s penultimate race is scheduled to take place tomorrow evening, and it is set to be broadcast live on NBC Sports Network beginning at 6:00 p.m. ET. Then on Sunday, September 1, the race itself is set to be broadcast live on NBC beginning at 3:00 p.m. ET, and it is scheduled to begin shortly thereafter at 3:35 p.m. ET.