McLaughlin closes out IndyCar season on a high with crushing Laguna Seca win

Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin came into the Mission Foods Grand Prix of Monterey at Laguna Seca as the man to beat and finished it as IndyCar’s final race winner of the season, breaking a two-year and 35-race winless streak with a dominant victory around the 11-turn, 2.238-mile road course.

“My little girl hasn't seen me win yet, and she finally has,” McLaughlin said after the race. “So, Dad's coming home with a trophy, baby. Let’s go! Karly, I love you, babe. It's been hard, I know.

“The DEX Imaging Chevy was unbelievable. These guys and girls on my team, Team Penske, have stuck behind me the whole time. Congrats Alex [Palou], on his fifth [title]. We're working hard to be better, but today was a big step in the right direction, so... and I've been waiting six years to do donuts. They sucked, but I was like, let's go! I was really happy. We had to be solid.

“That's what it's gonna take to win a championship. What a great warm-up we had. So, yeah, bring on 2027.”

McLaughlin’s win is Chevrolet’s 245th all-time, 135th since the introduction of the 2.2L twin-turbo V6 in 2012 and sixth at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. It's also his eighth with Team Chevy, tying him with Sam Hornish Jr. for 10th all-time with Chevrolet power.

It was also a day of triumphs for the rest of the podium, with second-place finisher Kyle Kirkwood turning in the best road course result of his IndyCar career and ECR’s Alexander Rossi going third to score his first podium finish since 2024, which he earned at the same track. Kirkwood also secured second place in the drivers’ championship.

"We played it a little bit safer than I might have hoped for the last race of the season, but we had to for the championship. We made all the decisions based on that," Kirkwood said. "Probably could have had a go at Scottie [McLaughlin] at the end on the first few laps on reds. The number one goal was to make the tires last. That's what we did. Came home with a second, which is something to be proud of."

Dennis Hauger’s quest to become Rookie of the Year was put in jeopardy six turns into the race when Sting Ray Robb hit him from behind, sending the Dale Coyne Racing driver into the barrier and bringing out a caution. The incident earned Robb a 10-second stop-and-go penalty for the contact and opened the door for Mick Schumacher to clinch the ROTY title with a finish of eighth or better, but he dropped to the back of the pack by the halfway mark and was unable to improve from there.

Alex Palou and the No. 10 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda team had a race to forget, finishing eighth after a second-place start. An early strategy call to aim for the undercut on McLaughlin ultimately left the five-time champion on the backfoot, and a string of pit stop errors throughout the 95-lap race forced him to spend most of his Sunday afternoon climbing back into the top 10.

McLaughlin grabbed the lead at the start and never let go. Brandon Badraoui/Lumen via Getty Images

Lap 1 and Robb makes contact with Hauger in Turn 6 and forces him into the barrier, bringing out a caution so the No. 19 car could be recovered. Robb receives a 10-second stop and go penalty for the incident.

Lap 4 and the race is back to green.

Lap 8 and McLaughlin holds the lead, with no meaningful threat from Palou seen since the first lap.

Lap 10 and Scott Dixon pits for a set of softer alternate tires. Rasmussen also pits, exchanging his alternates for harder primaries.

Lap 13 and Kirkwood is up to third after starting sixth. Rinus VeeKay pits to change onto a set of hards.

Lap 18 and Palou pits for new softs to go for the undercut on McLaughlin. The No. 10 crew encounters a slight delay with the swapping of the right front tire. He comes out P9 behind rookie Caio Collet.

Lap 19 and McLaughlin pits for hards, with Malukas, Kirkwood and Dixon also making stops. Palou cuts the 3.4s gap to the race leader down to 1.9s.

Lap 24 and Josef Newgarden makes light contact with Will Power, pushing Power wide but causing no damage to either car.

Lap 25 and Rossi pits for hards, rejoining in fifth place.

Lap 26 and Team Penske’s David Malukas is up to fourth, joining the battle for the podium.

Lap 27 and Christian Lundgaard passes Marcus Armstrong on the inside of Turn 1. Armstrong attempts to retake the position in Turn 2, but Lundgaard holds. McLaughlin’s lead has grown to 2s.

Lap 30 and Kirkwood gets past both Palou and Rossi to slip into second place.

Lap 31 and Palou pits for a front wing adjustment and a new set of hards.

Lap 32 and McLaughlin’s lead is up to 4.5s.

Lap 38 and VeeKay sets the fastest lap of the race with a 1m11.654s.

Lap 44 and Felix Rosenqvist has moved up to fourth place. McLaughlin, Rossi, Kirkwood and Palou all make stops.

Lap 54 and Power locks up, going deep at Turn 2.

Lap 68 and Kirkwood gets within 2s of McLaughlin. Nolan Siegel runs wide at apex of Turn 6 and nearly hits the barrier but manages to rejoin without damage.

Lap 69 and Scott McLaughlin pits for a front wing change. Kirkwood and Rossi also stop.

Lap 75 and Rossi starts pulling away from Malukas, who was well within striking distance for several laps.

Lap 84 and Kirkwood’s strategist Brian Herta tells him to adjust rear brake bias to protect his tires. Kirkwood is on 14-lap old softs with 11 laps left to go.

Lap 87 and Rosenqvist gets within half a second of Malukas, with Malukas beginning to fade on 19-lap old softs. Malukas holds onto P4 for the moment.

Lap 89 and Rosenqvist gets the job done in Turn 3. He moves up to fourth.

Lap 95 and the checkered flag is out. Scott McLaughlin wins.

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