Starting from pole Car 3 Scott McLaughlin won the Mission Foods Grand Prix of Monterey his 8th Series win. This is his 1st win & 7th Top 5 of 2026. 2nd Pace Car 27 Kyle Kirkwood, started from 6th place posted his 10th Top 5 of 2026. 3rd Place Car 20 Alexander Rossi, started from 4th place posted his 1st Top 5 of 2026.
4th Place Car 60 Felix Rosenqvist, started from 3rd place followed by 5th place Car 12 David Malukas, started from 5th place. 6th Place Car 7 Christian Lundgaard, started from 11th place followed by 7th place Car 66 Marcus Armstrong, started from 8th place. 8th Place Car 10 Alex Palou, started from 2nd place followed by 9th place Car 28 Marcus Ericsson, started from 14th place. Lastly in the Top 10 was Car 8 Kyffin Simpson, in 10th place, started from 7th place.
The race had 1 Caution for 3 Laps: 1st Caution on lap 1 for Contact: Cars 19 and 77 in Turn 6.
The race had 6 Lead Changes among 4 drivers. Lead Change Summary: 1 3 McLaughlin, Scott, 20 60 Rosenqvist, Felix, 21 20 Rossi, Alexander, 25 3 McLaughlin, Scott, 44 60 Rosenqvist, Felix, 45 66 Armstrong, Marcus, 47 3 McLaughlin, Scott. Leader Summary: 3 McLaughlin, Scott 87, 20 Rossi, Alexander 4, 60 Rosenqvist, Felix 2, 66 Armstrong, Marcus 2.
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NTT INDYCAR SERIES Statement:
Alex Palou clinched his fifth NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship after finishing 10th in the Snap-on Makers and Fixers 250 race at the Milwaukee Mile in the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. It was the Spaniard’s fourth straight title, tying a series record set by Sebastien Bourdais from 2004-07.
Palou, 29, also became the youngest driver in series history to win five titles. A.J. Foyt was 32 when he earned his fifth championship in 1967. Only Foyt, with seven, and Scott Dixon, with six, have won more INDYCAR SERIES titles than Palou.
“Incredible,” Palou said. “I owe everything to this team. So proud of this team. It is great to have another championship and ready for the next one.”
Photo Courtesy of INDYCAR
McLaughlin Ends Drought With Dominant Laguna Seca Win
MONTEREY, Calif. (Sunday, Sept. 6, 2026) – Scott McLaughlin ended a long winless streak and the 2026 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season in style, dominating the Mission Foods Grand Prix of Monterey for his first victory in more than two years.
Pole sitter McLaughlin drove the No. 3 DEX Team Penske Chevrolet to victory by 1.3739 seconds over the No. 27 Sam’s Club Honda of Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood. The win was the eighth of McLaughlin’s INDYCAR SERIES career and his first since Sept. 1, 2024, in the second race of a doubleheader weekend at the Milwaukee Mile, snapping a drought of 36 races.
“My little girl (Lucy, born in October 2024) hasn’t seen me win yet, and now she has,” McLaughlin said. “So, Dad’s coming home with a trophy, baby. Let’s go!
“These guys and girls at Team Penske have stood behind me the whole time. Congrats to Alex (Palou) on his fifth (championship), but we’re working hard to beat them, and today was a big step in the right direction.”
Alexander Rossi finished third in the No. 20 Java House ECR Chevrolet for his first podium finish since placing third at this event for Arrow McLaren in June 2024.
Felix Rosenqvist placed fourth in the No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb Agajanian Honda. David Malukas put two Team Penske cars in the top five in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet.
Alex Palou punctuated the fifth NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship that he clinched last weekend at Milwaukee with a quiet drive to eighth place in the No. 10 DHL Lightning Bolt Honda of Chip Ganassi Racing after he won this race the last two years. But Palou and the CGR team celebrated its record-tying fourth consecutive season title with donuts on the front straightaway by the driver and again in a boisterous post-race Astor Challenge Cup presentation.
McLaughlin left absolutely no doubt about his dominance in this race on the 11-turn, 2.238-mile road course. He only trailed during pit stop sequences and ended up leading 87 of 95 laps, erasing all memories of the six podium finishes without a win since his last triumph.
There was only one caution period in the race, for a Lap 1 incident in which Sting Ray Robb’s No. 77 Juncos Hollinger Racing – Goodheart Chevrolet hit the rear of Dennis Hauger’s No. 19 Ault Block Chain Honda of Dale Coyne Racing in Turn 6, sending Hauger spinning into the tire barrier.
McLaughlin had no problem pulling away from the field on the restart on Lap 4, and his precise driving and Team Penske’s clean, quick work during three pit stops took care of the rest.
“We had to be solid,” McLaughlin said. “That’s what it’s going to take to win a championship. What a great warmup we had. Bring on 2027.”
Kirkwood, who started sixth, had climbed to second by Lap 20 after Palou pitted to switch to a different tire strategy and shadowed McLaughlin for the rest of the way, pitting at the same time as McLaughlin on all three stops. McLaughlin’s lead was nearly four seconds at the halfway point, but Kirkwood pulled as close as 1.2 seconds on Lap 72 due to running his final stint on the faster but less-durable Firestone Firehawk alternate tire.
But McLaughlin eased away in the closing laps on the more durable Firestone primary tire, as Kirkwood admitted he and the Andretti Global team took a safety-first approach to ensure the driver would finish a career-best second in the standings. Kirkwood ended up 86 points behind champion Palou.
“Second in the championship, and that’s my best road-course finish,” Kirkwood said. “We just played it super clean, super methodical. I wish I could have had a go at Scotty there at the end on the better tires, but we knew who we were fighting, and that was for the championship, mostly. So, we played it safe there. Second place is best of the rest.”
2016 Indianapolis 500 winner Rossi also was a fixture in the top three for most of the race, producing the best day for ECR since teammate Christian Rasmussen won in August 2025 at Milwaukee. Rasmussen also finished third this year at World Wide Technology Raceway, but road courses have been a weak spot for ECR this season. The best previous finish on this type of circuit was sixth by Rossi in June at Road America.
“I don’t think I could state the significance of it just with how challenging this year has been for the whole organization and how much road courses have been a huge struggle of ours,” Rossi said. “There was a lot of doubt coming into this event whether we could find a direction, so I think this is just a huge reward for all the effort.”
Despite finishing last in the 25-car field due to the incident with Robb, Hauger hung on to win series Rookie of the Year honors. He finished with 228 points, 15 ahead of Mick Schumacher of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing in the rookie race.
The 2027 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season opens Sunday, March 7 on the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida.
Mission Foods Grand Prix of Monterey Race Results:
WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca September 6, 2026
Position Starting Position Car Driver Lap Status
1. 1. Car 3 McLaughlin, Scott D/C/F 95 Running
2. 6. Car 27 Kirkwood, Kyle D/H/F 95 Running
3. 4. Car 20 Rossi, Alexander D/C/F 95 Running
4. 3. Car 60 Rosenqvist, Felix D/H/F 95 Running
5. 5. Car 12 Malukas, David D/C/F 95 Running
6. 11. Car 7 Lundgaard, Christian D/C/F 95 Running
7. 8. Car 66 Armstrong, Marcus D/H/F 95 Running
8. 2. Car 10 Palou, Alex D/H/F 95 Running
9. 14. Car 28 Ericsson, Marcus D/H/F 95 Running
10. 7. Car 8 Simpson, Kyffin D/H/F 95 Running
11. 10. Car 5 O’Ward, Pato D/C/F 95 Running
12. 21. Car 14 Ferrucci, Santino D/C/F 95 Running
13. 12. Car 26 Power, Will D/H/F 95 Running
14. 9. Car 45 Foster, Louis D/H/F 95 Running
15. 20 Car 2 Newgarden, Josef D/C/F 95 Running
16. 19 Car 76 VeeKay, Rinus D/C/F 95 Running
17. 16 Car 9 Dixon, Scott D/H/F 95 Running
18. 23 Car 18 Grosjean, Romain D/H/F 95 Running
19. 22 Car 15 Rahal, Graham D/H/F 95 Running
20. 18 Car 4 Collet, Caio (R) D/C/F 95 Running
21. 17 Car 21 Rasmussen, Christian D/C/F 95 Running
22. 13 Car 47 Schumacher, Mick (R) D/H/F 95 Running
23. 25 Car 77 Robb, Sting Ray D/C/F 94 Running
24. 15 Car 6 Siegel, Nolan D/C/F 94 Running
25. 24 Car 19 Hauger, Dennis (R) D/H/F 0 Contact
Stats:
Time of Race: 01:59:29.6163
Avg Speed: 106.756
Lead Changes: 6
Caution Laps: 3
Fastest Lap: 112.440 mph ( 71.6544 sec) on lap 38 by 76 – Rinus VeeKay
Fastest Leader Lap: 112.332 mph ( 71.7233 sec) on lap 8 by 3 – Scott McLaughlin
Next Event: March 7 on the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida
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