Scott McLaughlin Tag

By INDYCAR PORTLAND, Ore. – Alex Palou put a decisive stamp of authority on a dream season, winning the BITNILE.COM Grand Prix of Portland on Sunday at Portland International Raceway to clinch the NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship. Palou, from Barcelona, Spain, earned his second series title in the No. 10 The American Legion Honda fielded by Chip Ganassi Racing after claiming his first championship in 2021 with the team. He became the first driver to seal the INDYCAR SERIES title with one race to spare since Sebastien Bourdais claimed ChampRead More

By INDYCAR PORTLAND, Ore. – Graham Rahal earned two poles in an INDYCAR SERIES season for the first time in 14 years, and he also gave the rest of the field something to think about entering the BITNILE.COM Grand Prix of Portland on Sunday. Rahal turned a top lap of 58.3195 seconds in the No. 15 PeopleReady Honda fielded by Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing to add an NTT P1 Award to the one he won last month for the Gallagher Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course. And unlike the otherRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer PORTLAND, Ore. – Last Sunday’s Bommarito Automotive Group 500 at World Wide Technology Raceway certainly had its opinions. Some see it as Scott Dixon dominating the race as he lapped all but the podium en route to his second win of the season. Others look at the oval debut of the Firestone alternate tires as either overhyped or arguably worsening the product at Gateway. On paper, the race saw 10 lead changes but Dixon and Josef Newgarden led a combined total 221 of 260 laps. It’sRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer PORTLAND, Ore. – Over the next two weekends, two Chip Ganassi Racing drivers will duking it out for the Astor Cup. But only one will hoist the trophy as Alex Palou and Scott Dixon are separated by 74 points heading into Portland International Raceway. Both men are poised in bringing CGR its 15th American Open Wheel Racing championship. However, should Palou exit Portland with a 55-point lead, he’ll win his second INDYCAR title in three years. To put it into perspective, no driver has locked upRead More

By INDYCAR MADISON, Ill. – No driver in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES makes the improbable possible more than Scott Dixon, and he did it yet again Sunday at World Wide Technology Raceway. Dixon showed every bit of his masterful ability to save fuel and navigate traffic to win the Bommarito Automotive Group 500 presented by Axalta and Valvoline on Sunday in the No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, earning his 55th career victory and second win this season. He only needed three pit stops due to saving fuel,Read More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor NASHVILLE – There’s something about Kyle Kirkwood and winning on street courses in 2023. For the second time this season, the newest member of the Andretti Autosport stable was cool, calm, and collected under pressure as he put on a masterclass in Nashville to win the Big Machine Music City Grand Prix. After starting eighth, Kirkwood cycled to the lead a couple of different times as pit stop strategy played out, but once he cycled back to the top spot on lap 54, it was hisRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor NASHVILLE – Scott McLaughlin will have the best seat in the house when the green flag waves on Sunday’s Big Machine Music City Grand Prix after scoring his second straight pole in Nashville. Emulating the “Thirsty 3’s to the Moon!” moniker that his No. 3 Team Penske has embraced this season, it was almost as if the New Zealander had strapped the RS-25 rocket engine on display in the fan zone to his Chevrolet as he blasted around the 11-turn, 2.1-mile street course in one minute,Read More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor NASHVILLE – As if the Nashville street course wasn’t challenging enough on its own, Mother Nature decided to up the ante for NTT IndyCar Series practice on Saturday morning, throwing rain and a wet track into the mix. The second practice of the Big Machine Music City Grand Prix weekend was originally scheduled for 11:40 am ET and a planned hour-long session. However, with the rain causing standing water at certain points around the 11-turn, 2.1-mile course, the session was eventually shortened to just a half-hourRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor NASHVILLE – Will Power struck the first blow of the Big Machine Music City Grand Prix weekend by leading Friday’s opening practice session. The driver of the No. 12 Team Penske Chevrolet jumped to the top of the board with a lap of one minute, 16.4042 seconds to finish the session just ahead of current NTT IndyCar Series points leader Alex Palou.  good start. Certainly had good cars here last year. Just the race is a very different story to being quick in practice and qualifying.Read More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor NEWTON, Iowa – Break out the brooms. For the second day in a row, Team Penske pilot Josef Newgarden dominated at Iowa Speedway to make a clean sweep of the HyVee INDYCAR Weekend and score his sixth career win at the 0.894-mile oval. After banking a win on Saturday, Newgarden picked right up where he left off on Sunday, powering his way forward from a seventh-place start to take over the lead with a bold two-for-one pass on teammates Will Power and Scott McLaughlin on LapRead More