Tymek Kucharczyk may have a golden opportunity to gain ground on his rivals in the INDY NXT by Firestone championship race based on his performance Saturday in the second practice for the Grand Prix of Portland.

The Polish rookie led the session with a best lap of 1 minute, 1.8596 seconds in the No. 71 HMD Motorsports car. That time is under the track record of 1:02.1396 set by Louis Foster in 2024 during qualifying, but track records only can be set in qualifying and the race.

SEE: Practice Results

Just as notable, Kucharczyk’s best lap was dramatically quicker than his time of 1:03.5783 in the opening practice Friday, good for only 12th.

“I felt super comfortable in the car from the get-go,” Kucharczyk said. “I think we made some adjustments in the car that really worked well for me. It was one of the strongest sessions of the year for me.

“This is the moment to be quick, the best position for the qualifying group. It’s beautiful day to go P1.”

Qualifying is next, at 3 p.m. ET today (FS1, FOX One, INDYCAR Radio powered by OnlyBulls). Kucharczyk is third in the standings with four races remaining, 25 points behind leader Nikita Johnson and 24 behind teammate Enzo Fittipaldi.

But both of those drivers continued to struggle on the 12-turn, 1.964-mile road course. Johnson, 13th on Friday, dropped to 14th in this session at 1:02.5585 in the No. 21 Cape Motorsports Powered by ECR car. Fittipaldi only improved from 18th Friday to 13th on a sunny Saturday morning in the Pacific Northwest, stopping the clocks at 1:02.5042 in the No. 67 HMD Motorsports car.

Alessandro de Tullio was second quickest in the 45-minute session at 1:01.9843 in the No. 14 AJ Foyt Racing car. De Tullio has won a series-high seven poles this season and is bearing down on the series record of nine.

Portland native Josh Pierson was third on his home track at 1:02.1183 in the No. 29 Starchive Andretti machine of Andretti Global. Jacob Abel, making his first start in the INDYCAR development series since 2024, was fourth at 1:02.1607 in the No. 48 Abel Motorsports entry.

Lochie Hughes rounded out the top five at 1:02.2111 in the No. 26 Andretti Global car. Niels Koolen, who led practice Friday, dropped to 10th in this session at 1:02.3536 in the No. 10 Chip Ganassi Racing machine.

The 35-lap race starts at 2 p.m. ET Sunday (FS1, FOX One, INDYCAR Radio powered by OnlyBulls).