Caio Collet doubled his career win total in INDY NXT by Firestone with a dominant sweep July 26-27 at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.

The second-year HMD Motorsports driver led all 35 laps of both races from the pole and topped the opening day practice session.

SEE: Event Details

Following a week off, here are some storylines ahead of Sunday’s Grand Prix of Portland, a 35-lap race airing at 1 p.m. ET on FS1, the FOX Sports app and the INDYCAR Radio Network.

Can Hauger Rebound?

Entering the INDY NXT by Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey doubleheader, rookie Dennis Hauger appeared to be in control of the championship race.

With five wins -- three on natural road courses -- and a runner-up finish at Road America, Hauger held a 76-point lead over Andretti Global teammate Lochie Hughes and a 94-point margin over Collet.

A sweep seemed possible for the Norwegian, which would have all but locked up the crown in the INDYCAR development series.

Instead, Hauger opened his weekend by crashing in practice. He rebounded to finish second behind Collet in the first race, but and a late-race crash with Hughes dropped Hauger to 16th at the end of the second race, his worst result of the season.

Collet’s perfect weekend closed the gap to just 42 points. Collet also leapfrogged Hughes for second in the standings.

Collet Making Title Run

Collet’s preseason title hopes became a reality, but not in the way he expected.

Rather than leading early with experience from his 2024 Rookie of the Year campaign, he was overshadowed by Hauger’s red-hot start. The Norwegian won four of the first five races while Collet managed just three podiums.

However, once the series hit the ovals, Hauger’s edge shrank.

In the last six races, including two on ovals, Collet has three wins and a runner-up. Hauger has just one victory over that stretch. Two of the final three races of the season will be contested on ovals, as this event at Portland International Raceway is the last non-oval race of 2025.

Is momentum shifting?

Collet has shown strong oval form this season, finishing second and fourth.

Last year in this stretch, he placed fourth at Portland, eighth at Milwaukee, and third at Nashville -- sites of the final three races this year. Hauger, meanwhile, finished fifth and second on ovals this season and holds a 4.66 average finish over the last six races. Collet's? A stellar 2.0.

Pierson Returns Home Following Career Weekend

Josh Pierson heads home to Portland following a breakout weekend at Laguna Seca, where he earned third- and second-place finishes, his best yet.

The HMD Motorsports driver hasn’t won this year, but he’s been a model of consistency: 10 top-10 finishes in 11 starts, including six in the top five.

Fifth in the standings, Pierson has placed fifth, sixth, ninth, fourth, fifth, third, and second, respectively, on natural road courses this year.

This weekend marks his third INDY NXT appearance at Portland. He finished 17th in 2023 and ninth in 2024. Could this be the weekend he finally breaks through on home soil?

Hedge, Miller Quietly Improving

Second-year ABEL Motorsports teammates Callum Hedge and Jack William Miller are quietly gaining momentum.

Hedge is seventh in points, with Miller just behind in eighth.

Hedge has surged from 11th to seventh, with three straight sixth-place finishes followed by a fifth and a third. Miller has posted three seventh-place results in his last five starts and four in his last seven.

Both are riding a steady wave of improvement heading into the final stretch.

Portland Winners Translate To Sundays

Since INDY NXT by Firestone returned to Portland in 2018, every race winner has gone on to start at least one NTT INDYCAR SERIES race.

Past winners include Pato O’Ward (2018), Rinus VeeKay and Toby Sowery (2019), David Malukas and Kyle Kirkwood (2021) and Benjamin Pedersen, Louis Foster and Jacob Abel (2022-24). All but Pedersen and Sowery are in this Sunday’s BITNILE.com Grand Prix of Portland presented by askROI.

Track Specs: 1.964-mile, 12-turn road course

Qualifying Record: Louis Foster, 1:02.1396 (113.783 mph), Aug. 24, 2024

Push To Pass Parameters: 150 seconds of total time with a maximum time of 15 seconds per activation