Scott McLaughlin snaps winless drought with Laguna Seca Win

Monterey, Calif. — Scott McLaughlin snaps his 35-race winless drought in the NTT INDYCAR Series as he dominates the Mission Foods Grand Prix of Monterey from Weather Tech Raceway Laguna Seca.

This is his first win of the season and the eighth of his INDYCAR career.

McLaughlin started from the pole and scampered away from the second place driver Alex Palou off the get go. From there it was a straight forward green flag race for head strategist Tim Cindric to call for the group.

He would hold off subtle advances by Kyle Kirkwood throughout the remainder of the event and lead a race-high 87 laps to win his first race since September 1, 2024.

Even with the pole and subsequent victory, the New Zealander failed to make the jump inside the top five in the final standings. He finished the season as the second-leading pole man from sixth.

The Top Ten

Right behind him on the podium was Kyle Kirkwood. He was the final driver to miss the final Firestone Fast Six of the season but made up the lost ground quickly in the race.

Second in the standings was all to play for in the Mission Foods Grand Prix of Monterey and Kirkwood secured the standing spot after his podium result.

Joining those two with the final spot on the podium was Alexander Rossi. Rossi finished out the season with a bang by delivering his best result in qualifying and the race of his season.

The podium also marked his first with the team and in two seasons when he did it last here at Laguna Seca with Arrow McLaren in 2024

Then, this seasons Indianapolis 500 winner Felix Rosenqvist passed David Malukas late for fourth. Malukas settled for fifth after his tight battle with Rossi during the second half of the race failed to yield him a position.

Christian Lundgaard finished out his final race with Arrow McLaren with a top ten from sixth. The two-time winner on the season his heavily linked to Scott Dixon’s old ride with Chip Ganassi Racing in 2027.

Marcus Armstrong delivered top ten speed all weekend in his seventh-placed finish. He will slide over to the No. 60 from his No. 66 after Rosenqvist’s departure back to Arrow McLaren for next season.

Then the 2026 champion Alex Palou and chief strategist Barry Wanser suffered a rare strategy blunder. They started on the outside pole but finished eighth.

Finally Marcus Ericsson and Kyffin Simpson rounded out the top ten from ninth and tenth.

Below is the full results of the final INDYCAR race of the season, the Mission Foods Grand Prix of Monterey.

Full Results