Portland’s chaotic Turn 1 gives and takes from Andretti Cape
Portland International Raceway was the setting for Andretti Cape INDY NXT’s final road course event of the season. Michael d’Orlando returned to the team in the #3 Priority / Rising Stars entry, climbing behind the wheel for his first Indy NXT by Firestone race in nearly a year.
Sunday’s 35-lap race got underway with Seb Murray in the 12th position and d’Orlando a few positions behind in 16th. They roared towards the infamous Turn 1 chicane that brings chaos nearly every year, and this time around was no different.
One of the Chip Ganassi Racing entries spun near the front of the field, which caused a blockade as the rest of the field looked for a way past. d’Orlando had planned for such a possibility, and used quick thinking to take an extra wide line through the second part of the chicane. By driving around the stacked up cars, the 23-year-old was able to leapfrog all the way up to seventh position in a matter of seconds.
The immediate nine-position improvement placed d’Orlando in a position that was much more representative of his true pace.
d’Orlando lost one position on the restart, but battled back and retook seventh just a few laps later with a bold dive to the inside at Turn 1. He then focused on managing his Push to Pass and held onto seventh for the remainder of the event. In his return to the series, d’Orlando earned the Jostens Biggest Mover Award and received accolades from up and down the paddock.
Unfortunately, the same Turn 1 chaos that boosted d’Orlando spelled trouble for Murray. The 18-year-old was boxed in by the flurry of cars on the first lap and was forced to take the escape path through the chicane. He rejoined the track down in 15th.
Murray took advantage of other drivers running each other into the grass and gained a couple positions up to 13th on the restart. His charge through the field did not last long, however, as he reported slight damage to his suspension from the early action and slid back to 16th. Murray kept pace with the cars ahead of him, but his #2 Dream Racing Dubai entry no longer had the balance to move forward.
The team will reconvene at the Milwaukee Mile in two weeks’ time, a track where Cape Motorsports earned a podium finish last season.
Seb Murray
We had a really good run into T1, good launch off the green flag. Then we got collected and forced into the runoff. There was a crash to the inside just in front of me, and I had nowhere to go. Not sure the extent of the damage, but it was noticeable for the rest of the race.
It’s been a bit of a rough weekend overall. Had good pace at times, but we weren’t able to put together a comeback today. Thanks to the Cape Motorsports crew for giving me a solid car, but now I’m looking forward to seeing what we can do on the ovals.
Michael d’Orlando
I’ve had some good experiences dealing with Portland’s first turn, and did so again this weekend. Further up the road is where the chaos happened, and starting P16 almost helped a bit because I could see the wreck in front of me and go right through it. I was really happy with the performance as well. It’s been a full year since I’ve driven this car, and we had the pace!
Super proud of everyone’s hard work. Andretti Cape has been phenomenal, especially putting the car together in three hours after my practice wreck. They’re great. And huge thank you to Rising Star Racing and Priority for making this happen. I wouldn’t be here without them. I’m really looking forward to the rest of the season in Milwaukee and Nashville.