Scott McLaughlin Tag

By INDYCAR DETROIT – Alex Palou spent plenty of time in the runoff areas Friday afternoon and Saturday morning while finding the limits of grip and speed on the new Streets of Detroit circuit. That education in practice paid off Saturday, as 2021 NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion Palou will start the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear on Sunday from the best position – pole. SEE: Qualifying Results 2021 series champion Palou earned his third career pole and second in a row – he also won the NTT P1 Award forRead More

By INDYCAR DETROIT – Pato O’Ward led an eventful opening practice Friday for the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear, as drivers spent as much time learning the new downtown street circuit as they did paying attention to the time sheets. O’Ward was fastest at 1 minute, 3.0773 seconds in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet on the nine-turn, 1.7-mile circuit in downtown Detroit. The event moved back to downtown Detroit this year for the first time since 1991, as it took place on Belle Isle on the Detroit RiverRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor INDIANAPOLIS – No attack, no chance. Takuma Sato, the 2020 winner of the Indianapolis 500, paced Friday’s Carb Day practice at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, flexing his muscles in the final track time before the 107th running of the Greatest Spectacle in Racing on Sunday. Driving a Chip Ganassi Racing Honda this season on just the ovals, the two-time Indy 500 champion paced the session at 227.855 mph ahead of his teammate, six-time NTT IndyCar Series champion and 2008 Indy 500 winner Scott Dixon. Will Power timedRead More

By INDYCAR INDIANAPOLIS – Past winners Takuma Sato and Scott Dixon both topped 229 mph as Chip Ganassi Racing drivers took four of the top seven spots on the speed chart in the first day of practice Wednesday for the 107th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge. Two-time “500” winner Sato led with a top lap of 39.2261 seconds, 229.439 mph in the No. 11 Deloitte Honda, turned in the final two hours under sunny skies and air temperatures in the mid-70s. 2008 Indy 500 winner Dixon was second at 229.174 inRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer The Month of May” at Indianapolis Motor Speedway is here with the GMR Grand Prix kicking the three-week journey for the NTT IndyCar Series. A field of 27 drivers will embark on what could be another unpredictable grand prix on the 2.439-mile road course. Why the unpredictability? Simple answer being weather. Over the last two years, rain parlayed a key role into the race with Rinus VeeKay (2021) and Colton Herta (2022) conquering the madness. Although initial weather reports indicated heavy downpour and thunderstorms on raceRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat. Sunday’s Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix at Barber Motorsports Park was shaping up to finally be Romain Grosjean’s day, but it was not to be as Scott McLaughlin took over the lead with 19 laps to go and never looked back, banking his first victory of the season. McLaughlin and Grosjean were on differing strategies (three-stop vs two-stop), but on lap 64, their paths merged in a repeat of their battle at St.Read More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – It’s race day in Alabama as the NTT IndyCar Series gets set for the running of the Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix at Barber Motorsports Park. The 90 lap, 207-mile race is scheduled for 3:00 pm ET on NBC, with drivers and teams getting a short half-hour warm-up session to get their cars dialed in for the main event later today. When the checkered flag waved on the session, it was Alexander Rossi at the top of the board in his No.Read More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Romain Grosjean is getting really good at this whole qualifying thing. For the second time in 2023, the Andretti Autosport driver will lead the field to green in an NTT IndyCar Series race after scoring the pole for the Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix at Barber Motorsports Park. The Frenchman started the weekend off on the wrong foot when mechanical issues forced an engine change between first practice on Friday and the start of on-track activity on Saturday, but he didn’t letRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Hello, Palou. The 2021 NTT IndyCar Series champion led the way in the second practice session of the weekend at Barber Motorsports Park ahead of Sunday’s running of the Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix. Palou jumped to the top of the board in his Chip Ganassi Racing Honda with a lap of one minute, 6.278 seconds and that’s where he would remain for the remainder of the session. “We’re looking strong,” Palou said. “I don’t know if the practice results are trueRead More

By INDYCAR BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Scott McLaughlin worked through a bit of road rage and found the fast lane during a late-afternoon traffic jam Friday at Barber Motorsports Park, leading the opening practice for the Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix. McLaughlin turned the best lap late in the session, 1 minute, 6.6610 seconds, in the No. 3 Good Ranchers Team Penske Chevrolet. Like most of the 27 drivers in the field, he struggled to find a gap and clean air to let it rip on the 17-turn, 2.3-mile road courseRead More