Scott McLaughlin ended a two-year drought with victory at Laguna Seca, Kirkwood finished the season as runner-up
Scott McLaughlin concluded the 2026 NTT IndyCar Series season with a commanding victory at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca in California, ending a run of 35 races without a win between his two victories. The Team Penske driver started from pole position on September 6 in the No. 3 Chevrolet and controlled almost the entire Mission Foods Grand Prix of Monterey, crossing the finish line 1.3739 seconds ahead of Kyle Kirkwood of Andretti Global. According to IndyCar's official report, McLaughlin led 87 of the 95 laps, and was mostly out of first place only during pit-stop cycles. Alexander Rossi finished third for Ed Carpenter Racing, while Felix Rosenqvist and David Malukas completed the top five. For the 33-year-old New Zealander, it was the eighth triumph of his IndyCar career and his first since September 1, 2024, when he won the second race of the weekend at the Milwaukee Mile.
The victory carried additional weight because McLaughlin showed speed throughout the entire weekend that translated not only into a strong qualifying result, but also into complete control of Sunday's race. A day earlier he had taken pole position with a time of 1:09.1363, beating already-crowned champion Alex Palou, and IndyCar stated that he thereby delivered Chevrolet its 250th pole position in series history. It was McLaughlin's third pole of the 2026 season and an important indication that Team Penske has a package capable of dictating the pace at one of the most technically demanding road courses on the calendar. At the 2.238-mile, or approximately 3.6-kilometer, Laguna Seca circuit, with 11 corners and the famous Corkscrew complex, track position and tire management often play a decisive role. McLaughlin turned both elements into an advantage that his rivals were only occasionally able to reduce over the 212.61-mile race.
McLaughlin led 87 of 95 laps and did not allow an unpredictable race to develop
From practically the very beginning, the race took the shape that best suited the Team Penske driver. The only full-course caution period was caused by an incident on the opening lap, when Sting Ray Robb hit the rear of Dennis Hauger's car at Turn 6, after which Hauger ended up in the tire barrier. According to the series' official report, the restart came on Lap 4, and McLaughlin immediately rebuilt his gap over the competition. Since there were no additional cautions during the remaining laps to erase the advantages already gained, the race became a test of pure speed, discipline in traffic, tire consumption and precision during pit stops. Team Penske completed McLaughlin's three pit stops without error, allowing the leading driver to maintain control of the strategy and avoid a situation in which he would have had to work his way through heavier traffic.
Official IndyCar data show how pronounced his dominance was: of the 95 laps, he led 87, meaning that most changes in the lead were the result of strategy rather than direct overtaking on track. At the halfway point, the advantage over Kirkwood approached four seconds, but the battle was not yet completely over. In the final stint Kirkwood used the faster but less durable alternate Firestone tire, while McLaughlin ran on the more durable primary compound. The Andretti Global driver reduced the gap to about 1.2 seconds on Lap 72 and briefly created the possibility of a late challenge. McLaughlin, however, increased the gap again in the closing stages and brought the race to an end without facing a serious attack from behind.
That outcome was especially important after a long period without a victory. McLaughlin's previous triumph had come at the Milwaukee Mile in early September 2024, and between that race and the finale at Laguna Seca there were 35 starts without another win. Official IndyCar describes the span between the two victories in its report as 36 races, while Motorsport.com lists the winless streak as 35 races; the difference stems from the way the winning races themselves and the starts between them are counted. Regardless of the wording, it was a period of more than two years during which McLaughlin came close to the top several times, including six podium finishes without a victory, according to IndyCar. That is why the success in Monterey was more than an isolated result: it was confirmation that driver and team can finish a season with the level of performance required to challenge for the title in 2027.
Kirkwood chose points instead of a risky attack
Kyle Kirkwood's second place had a different but equally clear value. The Andretti Global driver arrived at the finale in the middle of an extremely tight battle for second place in the championship, after Alex Palou had secured the title a week earlier in Milwaukee. Before Laguna Seca, Christian Lundgaard had 507 points, Kirkwood 505, Pato O'Ward 503, while David Malukas, with 484 points, faced a significantly more difficult path to second position. IndyCar emphasized before the race that four points separated Lundgaard, Kirkwood and O'Ward, so every position on track could decide who would end the season immediately behind Palou. Kirkwood started sixth and worked his way into second place by Lap 20, after which he mostly matched McLaughlin's rhythm and pitted on the same laps as the leader.
In the closing phase Andretti Global did not force a move that could jeopardize securing second place in the overall standings. Kirkwood explained after the race that the team approached the finish methodically and that the championship was the priority, even though he had enough pace on the softer alternate tire to close on McLaughlin. That decision proved rational: with second place he scored enough points to finish the season as runner-up, 86 points behind Palou. According to the final standings published by Motorsport.com, Palou finished with 631 points, Kirkwood with 545, Lundgaard with 535, O'Ward with 522 and Malukas with 514. McLaughlin's victory took him to 482 points and sixth place in the championship.
For Kirkwood, it was the best final championship position of his IndyCar career so far, and Laguna Seca also confirmed his progress on traditional road courses. During the 2026 season he won the new street races in Arlington and Washington, while second place in Monterey, according to his comments reported by IndyCar, was also his best result on a road course. Andretti Global thereby secured an important result in a season in which the battle behind Palou was considerably more open than the title fight itself. Kirkwood could not get close enough to the champion to threaten his overall advantage, but he finished ahead of both Arrow McLaren drivers and every Team Penske representative. In the context of the team's development, second place in the championship represents a solid foundation for the 2027 season.
Rossi returned to the podium, Rosenqvist fourth in his farewell to Meyer Shank Racing
Alexander Rossi finished third and delivered Ed Carpenter Racing a result that was particularly significant for the team because of the problems it had experienced on road-course configurations during the season. IndyCar states that it was Rossi's first podium since Laguna Seca itself in June 2024, when he was still driving for Arrow McLaren. In the 2026 finale he remained among the leading three for most of the race and did not allow strategic changes to remove him from podium contention. For ECR, it was an important way to end the season, especially because its previous best result on a road course in 2026 had been Rossi's sixth place at Road America. Third position therefore carried broader significance than the finishing place alone: it showed that by the end of the year the team had found a more competitive direction for developing the car on the type of circuit that had caused it difficulties throughout the season.
Felix Rosenqvist finished fourth in his final race for Meyer Shank Racing, while David Malukas secured fifth place and ensured that Team Penske had two cars in the top five. The final championship standings nevertheless show that Malukas was the highest-ranked Penske driver, in fifth place with 514 points, ahead of McLaughlin in sixth and Josef Newgarden in eighth. This illustrates the unusual character of Penske's season: the team had speed and individual strong results throughout the year, but none of its drivers became involved in the final fight with Palou for the title. McLaughlin's victory therefore does not change the overall picture of the season, but it gives the team a clear final reference for what a weekend looks like when qualifying speed, strategy and race execution come together without major mistakes.
At the other end of the standings, Dennis Hauger finished the race last after the opening-lap incident, but still retained the rookie title. IndyCar announced that he ended the season with 228 points, 15 more than Mick Schumacher, while Caio Collet was third among the rookies. Hauger's failure at Laguna Seca therefore did not change the outcome of that separate battle. The race had only one retirement, Hauger's, and as many as 22 of the 25 drivers finished on the same lap as the winner, according to the official results reported by Motorsport.com. That further emphasizes how McLaughlin's advantage was the result of consistently superior pace rather than a large number of incidents or strategic chaos.
Palou already had the title in his hands, but the season ended with another confirmation of his dominance
Alex Palou arrived in California as the already-crowned champion. The Chip Ganassi Racing driver secured the title during the previous weekend in Milwaukee, and official IndyCar states that it was his fifth title in the last six seasons and his fourth consecutive championship. He thereby became only the second driver in series history with four consecutive championships, after Sebastien Bourdais, who achieved the same feat from 2004 to 2007. Palou had six victories and eight pole positions in 2026 before the finale, and he finished the season with a commanding 631 points. His 86-point advantage over Kirkwood confirms that, although the battle for second place remained uncertain until the final race, the question of the champion was not open at Laguna Seca.
The finale itself was not spectacular for Palou. After qualifying second, he lost contact with McLaughlin during the race and finished eighth. It was a significantly more modest result than his previous appearances at this circuit, where he won in 2024 and 2025, but it had no effect whatsoever on the title he had already secured. Chip Ganassi Racing celebrated the championship after the finish, while McLaughlin took center stage in the story of the race itself. Such an ending sums up the season well: Palou was the benchmark for consistency throughout the year, while Laguna Seca showed that his rivals are capable of winning when they find the combination of speed and execution required for an entire race weekend.
Pole position and victory as Team Penske's message for 2027
After the race, McLaughlin thanked Team Penske for its support during the winless period and emphasized that the performance at Laguna Seca represents a step toward the goal that remains winning the championship. His season did not end high enough to be compared with Palou's in terms of overall results, but the Monterey weekend showed the level that is regularly required from a title contender. In qualifying he beat Palou for pole position, in the race he controlled the pace, completed three clean pit stops and did not allow Kirkwood to turn his late strategic advantage into an actual challenge for the lead. Such completeness of execution is more important than the statistics of a single triumph, because it gives Penske a concrete model it will try to repeat next season.
The victory also continued the tradition whereby starting from first place at Laguna Seca often carries exceptional value. IndyCar stated before the race that in 18 of the previous 28 series races at the circuit, the winner had started from pole position. McLaughlin increased that ratio, confirming how difficult it is to pass the leading driver when he has clean air, sufficient speed and a mistake-free strategy. Laguna Seca, opened in 1957, is known for major elevation changes, tight braking zones and the famous Corkscrew, so traffic and tire degradation can easily turn a small mistake into a major loss of time. In those conditions McLaughlin gave his rivals almost no opportunity.
The 2027 season is expected to begin on March 7 on the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida, according to the official IndyCar schedule cited after the finale. Until then, Team Penske will try to turn its Laguna Seca success into a more lasting return to the top, while Andretti Global with Kirkwood will have a clear reference point in its second-place championship finish. Chip Ganassi Racing and Palou will enter the new season as four-time consecutive champions, leaving the competition with a simple but difficult task: turn occasional victories into the level of consistency Palou demonstrated throughout the entire year. With the final race of 2026, McLaughlin showed that the speed is there. The next step will be to prove that the performance from Laguna Seca can be repeated often enough to change the balance of power in the championship.
Sources:
- INDYCAR - official report from the race at Laguna Seca, results, race progression, statements and data on the number of laps led (link)
- INDYCAR - official qualifying report, Scott McLaughlin's pole-position time and the information on Chevrolet's 250th pole position in the series (link)
- INDYCAR - official Mission Foods Grand Prix of Monterey event page, circuit length, number of corners and race distance (link)
- INDYCAR - information on Alex Palou's 2026 title, his victories, pole positions and the historical context of his fifth title (link)
- Motorsport.com - final 2026 championship standings and the points totals of the leading drivers after the finale (link)
- Motorsport.com - report from the finale and information on the 35-race winless streak between McLaughlin's victories (link)