Will Power leads from start to finish in Portland and remains in the fight for the IndyCar championship

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Will Power stayed in the race for the IndyCar championship with a lights-to-flag victory Sunday at Portland International Raceway.

Power started second alongside polesitter Santino Ferrucci – the first AJ Foyt Racing driver to lead the field in a decade – but an alliance between Team Penske and the Foyt organization allowed Power and Ferrucci to work out a plan for the start.

Trailing championship leader Alex Palou by 66 points at the start of the race, Power vowed to be aggressive at the start and drive like three-time Formula 1 champion Max Verstappen. The 43-year-old Australian meant business as he passed Ferrucci at the first corner.

Palou, who started third, finished just under 10 seconds behind in second place, giving Power its third win of the season. Palou wondered if his Chip Ganassi Racing team was being too conservative with its strategy.

“It was hard work catching Will,” Palou said.

Power now sits 54 points behind Palou, the defending champion in Portland, who is seeking his third championship title in four seasons, with three races remaining.

“Good work, guys,” Power radioed to his team. “That makes things a little more interesting.”

Power teammate Josef Newgarden finished third, followed by Andretti Global's Colton Herta, Chip Ganassi Racing's Marcus Armstrong and Andretti's Marcus Ericsson. Penske's Scott McLaughlin finished seventh and Ferrucci, seeking his first career win, dropped to eighth.

“It's unfortunate, but man, I had fun,” Ferrucci said. “Getting the pole was huge for us. It's great to qualify on the pole, we've just been so consistent.”

Ferrucci has finished in the top 10 eight times this season and, at No. 10 overall, is on pace for a breakout season in his contract year with Foyt.

Power won in a Chevrolet, but the three Penske drivers and Ferrucci were outnumbered by six Hondas in the final top 10.

Power has raced at Nashville Superspeedway, the site of the season finale, once before and has one win in six previous starts at the Milwaukee Mile. He will look to cut even further into Palou's lead when the IndyCar Series returns to Wisconsin State Fair Park for next weekend's doubleheader.

Unlike Palou, who has never won on an oval track and has not even competed at the two remaining venues on the schedule, Power has ten victories on oval tracks in his career.

“I really love this series, I'm happy to be involved and see if we can win the championship,” Power said. “We've been very, very good on ovals. Very solid. Obviously, they're two ovals we haven't raced on in a long time, so it's anybody's game. We're going to do our best and give Alex a run for his money.”

Power has 44 career victories, the fourth in IndyCar Series history, and Sunday's victory should narrow the championship race to a trio of drivers. Herta and McLaughlin

Dixon finishes early

Scott Dixon's outside chance of a record seventh IndyCar title likely ended when he was knocked out of the race on the first lap. Pietro Fittipaldi was forced into the curb and bounced back onto the racing line, where he hit Dixon hard. Dixon went off the track and crashed into the barrier.

That ended his race – and his title chances – on the first lap. It is only the second time in 399 races that Dixon has been eliminated on the first lap – a streak that stretches back to a race in Japan in 2005.

Although Fittipaldi received an avoidable contact penalty, Dixon believed that Kyle Kirkwood was the offender and Fittipaldi was in a helpless position.

“(Kirkwood) caused all of that in my opinion, to be honest,” Dixon said. “He just lunged and didn't give me any space, pushed me away and then you try to recover. Does Fittipaldi get a penalty there? No fault of his. The penalty should have been given to (Kirkwood).”

Dixon finished last and is winless in eight career starts at Portland, dropping to fifth in the standings and 101 points behind teammate Palou.

Next

IndyCar returns to the Milwaukee Mile next weekend for a doubleheader after eight years away from racing on the Wisconsin oval. IndyCar raced at Milwaukee from 2004 to 2009 and then again from 2011 to 2015.

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