SANTINO FERRUCCI

Alex Palou earned the first pole of his IndyCar career and put himself in position to reclaim the championship lead headed into Sunday’s race at Portland International Raceway.

Oliver Askew got a late call from former team Arrow McLaren SP to be the replacement driver for Felix Rosenqvist in Sunday's IndyCar race at Bell Isle.

Scott Dixon was again atop the leaderboard for the final practice before the Indianapolis 500.

The three cars from Rahal Letterman Lanigan were idled or the first 30 minutes of Friday practice for the Indianapolis 500.

IndyCar has punished Rahal Letterman Lanigan for trying to stage a photo in the opening minutes of Indianapolis 500 practice.

FILE - Ed Jones sits in his car during practice for an IndyCar Series auto race at Iowa Speedway in Newton, Iowa, in this Saturday, July 7, 2018, file photo. Ed Jones will return to IndyCar after a one-year absence for a second stint driving for Dale Coyne Racing. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall, File)Ed Jones will return to IndyCar after a one-year absence for a second stint driving for Dale Coyne Racing. “We’re very happy to have Ed Jones back with us. "Ed had a great rookie season at DCR in 2017, which included our best finish of third at the Indianapolis 500.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – IndyCar opened the second week of March giddy to finally start its season. The entire industry left St. Pete in March unsure how IndyCar could survive. Yet here IndyCar is, back on the St. Pete streets preparing to crown a champion in Sunday's season finale. Now this cruel 2020 season closes right back at St. Pete, the only street course to survive the schedule disruptions and where it all fell apart in March. Askew missed two races but returned for St. Pete, his final race in another unpopular firing by Arrow McLaren.

Two-time and defending champ Josef Newgarden, who won the second race of the Iowa doubleheader, has yet to turn 30. Pagenaud, who like Newgarden drives for Team Penske, won the first Iowa race on Friday night. The natural ebb and flow of sports dictates there must be a wave of youngsters waiting to replace them. Not surprisingly, Ferrucci was fired by his Trident Racing team. Take the doubleheader this weekend, where Herta and VeeKay were in contention Friday night before a caution flag waved.