The NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship is headed for its final stretch run, and those drivers and their teams still harboring title aspirations have one more chance this season to showcase their skills on road courses.

Ahead of three oval races to end the season, this weekend’s BITNILE.com Grand Prix of Portland at Portland International Raceway is another classic road course. With its picturesque mountain backdrop, it has been the scene of some classic open-wheel racing over the years.

SEE: Portland Event Details

Championship contenders Alex Palou of Chip Ganassi Racing (twice) and Team Penske drivers Will Power and Scott McLaughlin are former series race winners at this 12-turn, 1.964-mile circuit. Palou won last year’s race and went to victory lane from the pole in 2021. Power won the 2019 race; McLaughlin did so in 2022.

Meanwhile, Colton Herta of Andretti Global with Curb-Agajanian, Scott Dixon of Chip Ganassi Racing and Pato O’Ward of Arrow McLaren are among those who very much want to be clutching the Astor Challenge Cup at season’s end. Which one will? This weekend figures to go a long way to setting the table for that championship push that still includes three oval races (Aug. 31 and Sept. 1 at The Milwaukee Mile and Sept. 15 at Nashville Superspeedway).

Palou has qualified 18th and 16th, respectively, in the two last NTT INDYCAR SERIES races, last month on the streets of Toronto and last Saturday night at World Wide Technology Raceway. But remarkably, the reigning series champion still extended his points lead with a pair of fourth-place finishes. Can he execute as well this weekend?

Palou enters the event with a 59-point lead over Herta. Ten of Palou’s 11 career victories have come on natural terrain road courses, including wins in 2021 and 2023 – his title seasons – at PIR. Herta used a fifth-place finish at WWTR to jump to second in the standings.

Let’s assess the top five in points entering Sunday’s 110-lap race (3 p.m. ET on USA Network, Peacock and INDYCAR Radio Network) and each of their chances of dethroning Palou.

Alex Palou

Best Opportunity Ahead: Portland International Raceway

With 54 points the maximum number a driver can score for a race weekend, Palou knows he will leave Portland International Raceway with the championship lead. In fact, Sunday’s race is a prime opportunity for Palou to build an even larger margin on the competition. He has two wins and 98 laps led in his last three races at Portland. On natural road course starts this season, Palou has a series-best 2.6 average finish. Can his gap negate that he has never raced at the Milwaukee Mile or Nashville Superspeedway? It should be noted that his maiden oval starts at other oval tracks (Texas Motor Speedway, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Iowa Speedway and World Wide Technology Raceway) produced finishes of 23rd, 28th, 11th and 15th, respectively.

Colton Herta

Points Behind Palou: 59

Best Opportunity Ahead: Milwaukee Mile

Herta lost two points to Palou in the standings at WWTR but jumped to second with a fifth-place result. Like Palou, Herta is also winless in 29 oval starts, but there is reason for him to be optimistic heading to the Milwaukee Mile and Nashville Superspeedway. While Herta finished 23rd, 11th, fifth and fifth, respectively, on ovals this season, he was fourth fastest in the Milwaukee test and took part in both Nashville test sessions this summer. Portland is also a place Herta should shine with three top-eight finishes in four tries and boasting a third-best 5.4 average finish on natural road courses this season. The obstacle for Herta is mistakes. The No. 26 Gainbridge Honda group has produced some in recent seasons between pitting too soon from the lead in 2023 at Road America to speeding on pit road at Mid-Ohio while running second to crashing while running second in this year’s Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge. If Herta and his team can avoid mistakes, a great opportunity is ahead.

Scott Dixon

Points Behind Palou: 65

Best Opportunity Ahead: Nashville Superspeedway

Dixon lost 12 points to Palou at WWTR with an 11th-place result. But with the two drivers in front of him in points winless on ovals, can Dixon, who has won 22 oval races in his career, make a last-ditch effort for a record-tying seventh championship? Nobody in the field has as many Milwaukee Mile starts (12) as Dixon. The 2009 race winner could use that to his advantage on Palou, who has never raced there. At Nashville, Dixon has three consecutive victories (2006-08) and should be a favorite. Does his third-best 5.5 average finishing position on ovals this season come to fruition or will Portland put him too far back to make use? Winless in seven starts, Portland is one of four active tracks where Dixon has never won – the others are St. Petersburg (0-for-20), Barber Motorsports Park (0-for-14) and Iowa Speedway (0-for-21). Dixon has the 15th-best average finishing position on natural road courses this season at 14.6. It would help to qualify better. He started 13th at Barber Motorsports Park, sixth at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, 10th at Road America and WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca and 14th at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. If that trend continues for Saturday’s knockout qualifying session, Dixon could lose ground on Palou for the championship.

Will Power

Points Behind Palou: 66

Best Opportunity Ahead: Ovals

Power has the opposite path as Palou. As a past Milwaukee winner in 2014, he was fastest in both tests at Milwaukee (June 11) and Nashville (Aug. 8). He won the second leg of the Iowa Speedway doubleheader (July 14) and while he was collected in a crash on the final restart at WWTR, he had a fast No. 12 Verizon Business Team Penske Chevrolet and led a race-high 117 of 260 laps. That could bode well for the final three-race stretch. But Portland has been problematic for the two-time series champion. Among his last five Portland starts, Power has finished 13th or worse in three of them. However, his 4.6 average finish on natural road courses this season trails just Palou. His Road America victory and pair of runner-up results to Scott McLaughlin at Barber Motorsports Park and Palou in the Sonsio Grand Prix at Indianapolis Motor Speedway give Power optimism to limit the damage this weekend and pounce on Palou over the final three oval races.

Scott McLaughlin

Points Behind Palou: 73

Best Opportunity Ahead: Portland International Raceway

McLaughlin chopped 10 points off his deficit to Palou at WWTR following NTT P1 Award honors Friday and a runner-up finish Saturday. The Team Penske driver is a past Portland winner (2022) and while he finished ninth last season, he qualified second. He has four top-six finishes in five natural road course starts this season, including a win at Barber Motorsports Park on April 28. His 6.8 average finishing position in those races ranks him fourth. That’s why Portland is his best opportunity despite McLaughlin being tied with Josef Newgarden with a series-best 3.0 average finishing position on ovals. McLaughlin also was third in the Milwaukee test and has earned nine top-five finishes in 11 short oval starts, including earning his first oval win of his career on July 13 at Iowa Speedway. The obstacle is, even if McLaughlin goes on a run and wins multiple races among the next four, is his deficit too big to overcome?