FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, August 28th, 2019

INDYCAR RETURNS TO PORTLAND AS CHAMPIONSHIP RACE BATTLE HEATS UP THIS SUNDAY AT 3:30 P.M. ET ON NBC

IndyCar Grand Prix of Portland Pre-Race Coverage Begins Sunday at 3 p.m. ET on NBC, Featuring Indy 500 Champion Simon Pagenaud

2017 Series Champion Josef Newgarden Leads 2019 Indy 500 Winner Simon Pagenaud and 2016 Indy 500 Champ Alexander Rossi in Standings with Two Races Remaining

2020 NTT IndyCar Schedule to be Announced During Sunday’s Pre-Race Coverage on NBC

 NBC Sports Premieres “Off the Grid: INDYCAR” Saturday at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN, Following Qualifying Coverage from Portland

NBC Sports Celebrates NASCAR’s Throwback Weekend at Darlington Raceway on NBC and NBCSN

STAMFORD, Conn. – August 28, 2019 – The battle for the 2019 NTT IndyCar Series championship heats up this weekend with the penultimate race of the season at Portland (Ore.) International Raceway in Portland, Ore., as NBC Sports presents coverage of the Grand Prix of Portland this Sunday at 3:30 p.m. ET on NBC. Pre-race coverage on NBC begins at 3 p.m. ET.

NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app — NBC Sports Group’s live streaming product for desktops, mobile devices, tablets, and connected TVs — will provide live streaming coverage of the IndyCar Grand Prix of Portland.

NBC Sports’ motorsports coverage this weekend will also include NASCAR Throwback Weekend, with nearly 20 hours of trackside coverage from Darlington (S.C.) Raceway. Race coverage begins with Saturday’s Xfinity Series race at 3:30 p.m. ET on NBC, and culminates Sunday night with the Monster Energy Cup Series’ Southern 500 at 6 p.m. ET on NBCSN.

INDYCAR GRAND PRIX OF PORTLAND – SUNDAY AT 3:30 P.M. ET ON NBC

The 2019 NTT IndyCar championship chase moves to Portland, the last race before the double-points season finale at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca (Sept. 22 on NBC). Last weekend in St. Louis, Josef Newgarden spun on the final lap and lost an opportunity to significantly boost his championship lead. Entering the Rose City, Newgarden’s edge is only 38 points over Indy 500 winner and Team Penske teammate Simon Pagenaud, with Alexander Rossi (-46) and Scott Dixon (-70) still in contention as well. Takuma Sato, who won last week’s race by just four one-hundredths of a second, is the defending winner in Portland.

2019 NTT IndyCar Series Points Standings:

Rank Driver Team Wins Points
1 Josef Newgarden Team Penske 4 563
2 Simon Pagenaud Team Penske 3 525
3 Alexander Rossi Andretti Autosport 2 517
4 Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing 2 493

Coverage from Portland begins exclusively on NBC Sports Gold’s INDYCAR Pass with Practice 1 on Friday at 1:45 p.m. ET, followed by Practice 2 at 5:30 p.m. ET. Practice 3 will stream on INDYCAR Pass on Saturday at 2 p.m. ET, followed by live qualifying on Saturday at 6 p.m. ET on NBCSN. Sunday’s pre-race coverage on NBC begins at 3 p.m. ET and will feature an in-depth look at the championship chase with just two races remaining. Sunday’s pre-race coverage will also include a feature on 2019 Indy 500 winner Simon Pagenaud, as well as the 2020 NTT IndyCar schedule announcement.

NBC Sports’ lead INDYCAR play-by-play commentator Leigh Diffey will call this weekend’s Grand Prix of Portland alongside analysts and former drivers Paul Tracy and Townsend Bell. Kevin Lee, Dillon Welch, Jon Beekhuis, and Robin Miller will report from the pits.

Following is this weekend’s IndyCar coverage schedule across NBC Sports:

Date Coverage Network Time (ET)
Fri., Aug 30 Grand Prix of Portland – Practice 1 NBC Sports Gold 1:45 p.m.
  Grand Prix of Portland – Practice 2 NBC Sports Gold 5:30 p.m.
Sat., Aug 31 Grand Prix of Portland – Practice 3 NBC Sports Gold 2 p.m.
  Portland Indy Lights 1 NBC Sports Gold 1:45 p.m.
  Grand Prix of Portland – Qualifying NBCSN 6 p.m.
Sun., Sept 1 Portland Indy Lights 2 NBC Sports Gold 12:30 p.m.
  Grand Prix of Portland – Pre-Race NBC 3 p.m.
  Grand Prix of Portland – Race NBC 3:30 p.m.
  Grand Prix of Portland – Post Race NBC 5:30 p.m.


NBC SPORTS PREMIERES “OFF THE GRID: INDYCAR” THIS SATURDAY AT 7:30 P.M. ET ON NBCSN, FOLLOWING QUALIFYING COVERAGE FROM PORTLAND

NBC Sports’ episode of “Off the Grid: INDYCAR” will premiere this Saturday at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN, following qualifying coverage from Portland International Raceway. The episode will focus on the home of Honda Indy Toronto, as show hosts Kim Coon and Sam Smith get a street curling lesson from Canadian INDYCAR driver James Hinchcliffe, and scale the city heights with Road to Indy Canadian driver Parker Thompson.

On the streets of Exhibition Place, Sam learns about data engineering from Chip Ganassi Racing’s Kate Gundlach, and Kim sits with INDYCAR driver Graham Rahal to dig into his connection to racing in Toronto. Beyond the track, Sam takes Kim on an adventure to The Great War Flying Museum, where replicas of Eddie Rickenbacker’s planes are flown.

NBC SPORTS CELEBRATES NASCAR’S THROWBACK WEEKEND AT DARLINGTON RACEWAY ON NBC AND NBCSN

NASCAR’s oldest ‘major,’ the Southern 500, marks its 70th running as part of this year’s Throwback Weekend at Darlington Raceway. Additionally, Dale Earnhardt Jr. is scheduled to compete in Saturday’s Xfinity Series race, with his car carrying a paint scheme inspired by his father Dale Earnhardt Sr.’s first-ever Cup Series start in 1975.

NBC Sports begins its Cup Series coverage from Darlington with first practice on Friday at 2 p.m. ET on NBCSN, followed by final practice at 4 p.m. ET and NASCAR America Fan Friday at 5 p.m. ET. Qualifying airs Saturday at 2 p.m. ET on NBCSN. Pre-race coverage on NBCSN begins Sunday at 5 p.m. ET with NASCAR America, leading into Countdown to Green at 5:30 p.m. ET, and race coverage at 6 p.m. ET.

This marks NASCAR’s fifth consecutive Throwback Weekend at Darlington Raceway. This year celebrates specific moments and heroes from the 1990-94 era of NASCAR, and drivers will employ special throwback liveries on their cars. Click here for more information.

MOTORSPORTS ON NBCSPORTS.COM AND THE NBC SPORTS APP

NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app — NBC Sports Group’s live streaming product for desktops, mobile devices, tablets, and connected TVs — will provide live streaming coverage of all NASCAR, IMSA and Lucas Oil Pro Motocross championship coverage airing on NBC and NBCSN via “TV Everywhere,” giving consumers additional value to their subscription service, and making high quality content available to MVPD customers both in and out of the home and on multiple platforms.

NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app are powered by Playmaker Media and available on the iTunes App Store, Google Play, Windows Store, Roku Channel Store, Apple TV and Amazon Fire.

–NBC SPORTS–