Portland International Raceway opened in 1961 on the former location of the city of Vanport, which was destroyed by the Memorial Day 1948 flood. The 12-turn, 1.964-mile natural road course is relatively flat but contains several spots for passing opportunities, including a quick chicane at the end of the frontstretch, a hard-braking right-hander (Turn 7) leading onto the sweeping backstretch, and a three-turn complex leading back onto the frontstretch. Al Unser Jr. won the first INDYCAR SERIES race in 1984. In 1997, the race set the now current all-time record for the closest two-car and closest three-car finish in INDYCAR SERIES racing history on a road course. Mark Blundell beat second-place Gil de Ferran by 0.027 of a second, and beat third-place Raul Boesel by 0.055 of a second, in a three-wide finish.
The green flag to begin the race was raised at 2:07 PM ET
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The yellow caution flag was raised during lap 3 at 2:09 PM ET
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The yellow caution flag was lifted at 2:13 PM ET
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After 9 laps, Alessandro de Tullio leads by 1.2433s. Alessandro de Tullio has led the most laps (9) and recorded the fastest lap (lap 9 @ 64.0538s)
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After 18 laps, Alessandro de Tullio leads by 1.9733s. Alessandro de Tullio has led the most laps (18) and Niels Koolen has recorded the fastest lap (lap 17 @ 63.1627s)
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After 25 laps, Alessandro de Tullio leads by 3.0163s. Alessandro de Tullio has led the most laps (25) and Niels Koolen has recorded the fastest lap (lap 17 @ 63.1627s)