Qualifying Report: BitNile.com Grand Prix of Portland

PORTLAND, Ore. (Aug. 9, 2025) -- At Portland International Raceway this afternoon, David Malukas continued to set the pace for AJ Foyt Racing with his third Firestone Fast 6 appearance this season and eighth top-10 qualifying run in 15 sessions this year.

Malukas qualified the No. 4 Gallagher Insurance Co. Chevrolet in the fifth position after advancing through the first two rounds. He will start fourth because NTT P1 Award winner Christian Lundgaard incurred a six-position grid penalty resulting from an unauthorized engine change following Friday's practice session.

Malukas gives feedback to his race engineer James Schnabel, who engineered Santino Ferrucci's car last year on his pole-winning run.

"Good run today but a frustrating session, to be honest." Malukas revealed.  "So many things didn't go our way at all in qualifying. [In] Group 1 I made a mistake, so ended up having to do a Drive Through penalty. And then by the time we went back out, the red flag comes out. So they tell me, we have one lap to push. Tires are cold and I scrape the lap together. Made it to the fast 12. And again, guys in front of us doing different strategies. Tires are cold and we're getting caught up behind them, try to push, and tires are cold. And we barely, again, scrape into the Fast Six.

"And then in the Fast Six, we're on a different strategy. We push on lap three, but Palou goes off and causes a yellow and we have to back out and try to save fuel for the last one. So it was a chaotic session, but the guys gave me an incredible rocket ship. I mean, it was so fast! The fact that we're scraping laps together and still making it through every single time just goes to show how good this car is and how capable it was. Obviously, it hurts, because I think we had a chance, an opportunity, to fight for that pole. But in the end, it is what it is, and we'll take a p5, and starting p4 tomorrow with the penalties. So good day for the number 4 crew in the Gallagher car."

Santino Ferrucci was also affected by the red flag for Robert Schwartzman's off track excursion in the Round 1 Group 1 session. He was in sixth position in the No. 14 Sexton Properties Chevrolet which would have been good enough to transfer to the next round. However, he wasn't able to post a quicker lap in the final one-lap run as a couple others did so he dropped to eighth position in Group 1, which put him 15th on the grid. However, like Lundgaard, Ferrucci's car also had an engine changed after yesterday's practice so Ferrucci drops to the 21st position on tomorrow's grid.

"Obviously, I think we're struggling," Ferrucci said.  "We've been struggling a lot this year in qualifying, and we've been struggling with the same thing in the car...To be honest with you, this lap was good. I saw [Rinus] VeeKay go off, but I wasn't sure if he got back in front of me. This isn’t the reason why we didn't advance. We just kind of missed it by two-tenths, it’s a bit of a shame. We really needed to complete our first run before the red, and I think that's what it would have got us in. Going out in the back here and having to sit in the traffic and check up, you just can't get the tires in quick enough. So, it is what it is. We'll take the grid penalty tomorrow as well, and we'll what we do best and race our way forward. I love this track. I love this team. I think we'll do a great job."

Trailing Lundgaard in the run for the pole were Pato O'Ward, Felix Rosenqvist, Will Power, Malukas and Alex Palou who went off track in the session. He caused a local yellow so he lost his best lap.

The 110-lap race will be broadcast by FOX Sunday afternoon starting at 3 p.m. ET.