Ahead of Friday’s first practice session at Portland International Raceway, IndyCar announced that Ryan Hunter-Reay will be receiving a six-place grid penalty for Sunday’s race.
The veteran Ed Carpenter Racing driver is the only one to receive a grid drop for this weekend’s event, unless another driver is forced to make a change during the weekend.
The #20 entry fell afoul of the series’ regulations regarding total number of engines used throughout the season, with setbacks earlier in the year leading to an extra engine being pulled from the pool late in the season.
Hunter-Reay will be able to take part in qualifying as normal, but will have his starting spot lowered by three rows once the grid lines up on Sunday.
Last weekend there were six drivers that were given grid penalties, including the current points leader Alex Palou and his nearest rival Scott Dixon.
Those engine-use infractions led to nine-place penalties on account of the event taking place on an oval.
Grid penalties for engine use are not uncommon late in each IndyCar season due to failures or damage that knocks a particular power plant out of contention before its prescribed mileage is complete.
There is only one round of the 2023 season following this weekend, and there well could be more drivers taking penalties in Laguna Seca as well.
Qualifying for the Portland Grand Prix takes place Saturday afternoon at 12:30 PM Pacific Time, with the race getting underway 24 hours later.
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