Ed Carpenter Racing PR

RACE NOTES – BITNILE.COM Grand Prix of Portland

Posted on by Patrick Stephan

BITNILE.COM GRAND PRIX OF PORTLAND RACE NOTES

FINISHING POSITIONS 

11th: RINUS VEEKAY No. 21 askROI.com Chevrolet

26th: CHRISTIAN RASMUSSEN No. 20 GuyCare Chevrolet 

NEXT RACES: Hy-Vee Milwaukee Mile 250s, August 31 (Peacock, 6 p.m. ET) & September 1 (USA Network, 2:30 p.m. ET)

CHRISTIAN RASMUSSEN, NO. 20 GUYCARE CHEVROLET

CHRISTIAN RASMUSSEN, No. 20 GuyCare Chevrolet, Finished 26th: “A day that could have been. The pace in the No. 20 GuyCare Chevrolet was pretty good and I think we could have had a Top 12 today. Unfortunately, sometimes people don’t look where they are going and I got hit. We had to come in and change the front wing and that put us a lap or two down. It was kind of over from there. Looking beyond that, it was a pretty good weekend. Super close qualifying, we were right there with everybody, then good pace in the race and making moves.”

RACE RESULTS:

START: 16th

FINISH: 26th

STATUS: Running

LAPS COMPLETED: 108/110

OF NOTE:

  • Though this weekend was Christian Rasmussen’s first NTT INDYCAR SERIES event at Portland International Raceway, he had previously driven at the Pacific Northwest road course as he made his way up through the ranks. In yesterday’s qualifying, he missed a transfer position to the second round by .07 seconds. He started 16th, up one spot from where he qualified after another competitor had a grid penalty. 
  • Rasmussen was having a strong race, running just outside of the Top 10. On Lap 63, Romain Grosjean re-fired his stalled car and drove directly into Rasmussen. The front wing of the No. 20 GuyCare Chevrolet was damaged and Rasmussen was forced to pit, losing a lap to the leaders in the process. Grosjean was given a drive-through penalty for unsafe conduct, but the damage was done to Rasmussen’s race and he fell to 26th. With no additional caution periods, Rasmussen did not have any opportunities to make up additional positions.

RINUS VEEKAY, NO. 21 ASKROI.COM CHEVROLET

RINUS VEEKAY, No. 21 askROI.com Chevrolet, Finished 11th: “I had a good start and pretty good pace. The No. 21 askROI.com Chevrolet felt really good, actually a lot better than in warm up yesterday so we made some really good changes. We maximized what we had with everything we had going on. I am pretty proud of the team and of myself. Almost got another Top 10, but still pretty happy. Great job by everybody and on to the next one!”

RACE RESULTS:

START: 14th

FINISH: 11th

STATUS: Running

LAPS COMPLETED: 110/110

OF NOTE:

  • Rinus VeeKay’s weekend at Portland International Raceway was off to a quick start as he turned Top 10 lap times in the all cars practice on Friday and Saturday morning in Practice 2. He missed transferring to the second round of qualifying a mere .03 of a second and was left with the 15th position on the starting grid. By virtue of another competitor’s grid penalty, he started today’s BITNILE.COM Grand Prix of Portland from the 14th position. 
  • VeeKay had a great start, picking up three positions in the first few corners. The first and only caution flag of the day flew in the middle of the first lap with VeeKay running 11th. With no other caution periods, VeeKay was tasked with hitting a difficult fuel number to make it to the end. He was successful, bringing the No. 21 askROI.com Chevrolet home in 11th. He has finished no lower than 11th in his last five races.