Tag: Scott McLaughlin

Long Beach Preview

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Indycar photo

Indycar awakens from its long spring nap today as practice begins for the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach. The series will be on track for seven of the next eight weeks, ending at Road America June 9.

If I had to limit the number of races I go to in a season, this event is one that would stay on my calendar. The entire city embraces the event, and I enjoy walking around the downtown area.

The Long Beach Grand Prix is the second longest consecutive race on the calendar. Milwaukee has run more races, but there have been several years where there were no races.

The future of Indycar at this venue was secured earlier this spring when Part owner Gerry Forsythe purchased the other half of the event from the estate of Kevin Kalkhoven.

Indycar Needs a Good Show

The first two outings- St. Pete and Thermal- were not great races. The tire compound which was designed for the heavier hybrid system,which is not in the cars yet, hindered the racing at the season opener. Thermal was a format that did not work.

I hope the series has made adjustments to provide a better race. If not, the racing may not improve until Mid-Ohio when the hybrid debuts.

Rosenqvist on the Rise

Can Felix Rosenqvist continue his strong start to the season? Rosenqvist started second at St. Pete, won the pole and his heat race at Thermal, and finished second in the feature at Thermal.

He appears to be enjoying his new home at Meyer Shank Racing, and so far has looked like the driver I felt he could be all along.

Andretti- Will Long Beach Dominance Continue?

Andretti Global has won this crown jewel race four of the last four years. The team excelled at street courses in 2023. At St. Pete in March, they weren’t as solid, but Colton Herta finished fifth.

Herta has won at Long Beach, and teammate Kyle Kirkwood won from the pole in 2023.

I can see Herta winning Sunday.

Can Penske Keep Momentum?

Momentum is hard enough to keep week to week, but after a 6 week gap, can Team Penske, which finished first, third, and fourth at St. Pete, come out with another dominant team showing?

Josef Newgarden is the only driver to break up the Andretti streak here, winning in 2022. He and Scott McLaughlin have to be considered contenders.

McLaughlin Fastest in Practice 2

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Scott McLaughlin led as Penske 1-2 in Saturday’s practice at Portland. The defending race winner turned the fastest lap of the weekend, 58.1516 seconds, edging teammate Josef Newgarden by 0.1179 seconds..

Team Penske dominated the weekend in2022 and it appears they are looking to do it again.

Scott Dixon was third and points leader Alex Palou was fifth. Dixon has a slim chance of catching Palou for the title. He must win Sunday to keep his hopes alive.

Results

Quick Thoughts- Nashville Qualifying

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Photo by Travis Hinkle

It was worth the wait. Qualifying for the Music City Grand Prix produced an entertaining show with a couple of surprises and some drama in the finaltwo rounds. In the end, Scott McLaughlin won the pole for the second year in a row.

It took just two days for Linus Lundqvist to prove that he belongs in a full time Indycar seat. Friday’s practice was his first time in an Indycar at a race weekend. He finished 15th in the session. Today Lundqvist advnced to round 2 of qualifying. He starts 11th tomorrow. A top 20 finish would be great, but a top 15 is not out of the question.

Four drivers in The Fast Six also made the final round at Nashville in 2022. Besides Mclaughlin, Romain Grosjean, Pato O’Ward, and Alex Palou battled for the pole last year. Like McLaughlin, Palou also starts from the same spot he took the green flag from a year ago, fourth.

David Malukas is not sure which team he will be with in 2024, but he boosted his chances of a better seat today by earning a fifth place starting spot. It has been a tough year for the Dale Coyne/HMD driver. A day like today should help his barganing power. The next race at gateway is the site of his best career finish, second place.

It is rare to see Scott Dixon in the wall during qualifying. Dixon hit the wall with 18 seconds left in the round. the other five drivers were allowed one timed lap after the track was cleared. The timing of his accident may have kept WillmPower and Josef newgarden out of The Fast Six.

Notes

One the bigger shocks of the session saw marcus Ericsson starting in 20th. The team has been fighting brake issues this weekend.

Christian Lungaard rolls off 13th tomorrow. Lundgaard won the pole and the race at Toronto. It’s a disappointing result for a team that entered Nashville with a lot of momentum.

Mclaughlin’s pole helps Alex Palou by taking a point away from Josef Newgarden.

Reminder- Tomorrow’s coverage begins at noon eastern on NBC and Peacock with the green flag at 12:30.The IndyNXT race is on Peacock at 10:15 Eastern.

Results

1. (3) Scott McLaughlin, Chevrolet, 01:14.6099 (101.327 mph)
2. (5) Pato O’Ward, Chevrolet, 01:14.9395 (100.881)
3. (26) Colton Herta, Honda, 01:15.2416 (100.476)
4. (10) Alex Palou, Honda, 01:15.2462 (100.470)
5. (18) David Malukas, Honda, 01:15.8703 (99.644)
6. (28) Romain Grosjean, Honda, 01:15.9921 (99.484)
7. (12) Will Power, Chevrolet, 01:15.1384 (100.614)
8. (27) Kyle Kirkwood, Honda, 01:15.1641 (100.580)
9. (2) Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet, 01:15.4862 (100.151)
10. (7) Alexander Rossi, Chevrolet, 01:15.5711 (100.038)
11. (60) Linus Lundqvist, Honda, 01:16.0715 (99.380)
12. (9) Scott Dixon, Honda, 01:16.7692 (98.477)
13. (45) Christian Lundgaard, Honda, 01:16.0985 (99.345)
14. (6) Felix Rosenqvist, Chevrolet, 01:15.4638 (100.180)
15. (15) Graham Rahal, Honda, 01:16.1825 (99.235)
16. (11) Marcus Armstrong, Chevrolet, 01:15.5631 (100.049)
17. (06) Helio Castroneves, Honda, 01:16.2203 (99.186)
18. (77) Callum Ilott, Chevrolet, 01:16.0170 (99.451)
19. (21) Rinus VeeKay, Chevrolet, 01:16.3356 (99.036)
20. (8) Marcus Ericsson, Honda, 01:16.0420 (99.419)
21. (14) Santino Ferrucci, Chevrolet, 01:16.6416 (98.641)
22. (30) Jack Harvey, Honda, 01:16.1193 (99.318)
23. (78) Agustin Canapino, Chevrolet, 01:16.6900 (98.579)
24. (51) Sting Ray Robb, Honda, 01:16.3907 (98.965)
25. (55) Benjamin Pedersen, Chevrolet, No Time (No Speed)
26. (29) Devlin DeFrancesco, Honda, 01:16.4369 (98.905)
27. (20) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Chevrolet, 01:17.2417 (97.875)

Quick Thoughts- Children’s of Alabama Grand Prix

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In no particular order, here are some of my thoughts on today’s race. I haven’t seen the replay yet.

Today’s race was an above average race for Barber. The different strategies kept the outcome in doubt, and two asses for the lead in the last 25 laps is about as good as you’ll get on a road course.

The only thing that could have made this race better is if it therebwer no cars on a fuel save strategy. At leastfive cars did not have enough fuel to complete their cool down lap. hen Grosjean pitted on lap 59, I thought it would be a stretch for him to finish the race.

St. Pete Deja Vu– Romain Grosjean and Scott McLaughlin fighting for the lead as McLaughlin comes out of the pits. Fortunately, Barber has a lot more room to battle tham St. Pete did. I hope we see more great fights between these two this season.

How did Grosjean have no push to pass left? He shouldn’t have needed to use much since he led 57 laps.

Grosjean now has five second place finishes in his career. Only two other drivers have had more runner up finsihes without a win. Vitor Meira was an eight time runner up and never won. I think Grosjean’s time is coming,perhaps as soon as May 13.

I watched the race from the turn 15-16 area. there were many close battles for position, some wheel banging, groups of cars all day long.

I am happy to see Will Power on the podium. I was starting to think he had lost his competetive fire.

A nice job by Christian Lundgaard. His sixth place finish is the nbest for a Rahal Letterman Lanigan driver this season.

The drive of the day goes to Felix Rosenqvist. He dropped back quickly to the back at the start from his ninth place grid spot, but fought back to finish eighth.

Josef Newgarden has two finishes of 15th or worse. Like last year he will need to come on strong with a lot of victories to be in contention for the championship.

Honda and Chevy have each won two races. The engines seem more equal this season than they did in 2022 when Chevy seemed to be the better power plant.

Thanks for following along this weekend. Tomorrow is May 1. I might have a couple things to talk about for the next 30 days or so.

McLaughlin Fastest in Barber Friday Practice

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Scott McLauhghlin led a strong Team Penske showing in the first practice for the Children’s of Alabama Grand Prix. Will Power finished third after going off track with about 10 minutes left in the session. Josef Newgarden was seventh fastest.

The practice period stopped three times. Helio Castroneves went off track and stopped against the barrier in turn 14. Romain Grosjean lost an engine and stopped on track. Will Power went off track and into the sand trap in turn 2.

Despite the strong Penske showing, Pato O’Ward was the only other Chevy in the top 10.The McLaren driver finished eighth’

Colton Herta had the second quickest time, but was the onle Andretti car in the top 12. Long Beach winner Kyle Kirkwood was just 22nd fastest.

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing showed improvement with Christian Lundgaard in sixth and Graham Rahal in 12th.

Practice to set qualifying groups is at 11 am Central time tomorrow, with qualificiations at 2 pm Central.

Laid Back Friday

Today was one of the more relaxing Fridays at Barber. The crowd seemed a little low for Friday.

I had a chance to check mout the Indycat=r merchandise tent. Iy appears each driver has at leasy=t two different shirts available. There are some nice designs and colors. Greenlught cars aren’t available for some of this year’s drivers yet, but hopefully they will be out next month.

An advantage of a small crowd is that the trams ran quickly. That won’t be the case the rest of the weekend.

Results

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McLaughlin Leads First Practice

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Sciott McLaughlin ha the fastest lap in the early morning practice for the PPG 375 at texas motor Speedway. His lap of 223.747 edged Pato O’Ward ‘s 223.518 speed. The top five drivers had laps of more than 223. miles per hour.

All three Arrow McLaren cars finished in the top six. Alexander rossi was third, just five hunredths behind O’Ward, and Felix rosenqvist ended the session in sixth.

Andretti Autosport had two cars in the top 10 with Colton Hert fourth and Devlin DeFrancesco fifth.

Scott Dixon was 10th for Ganassi, but teammate Takuma Sato, in his first appearance of the year, finished eighth.

Callum Ilott was seventh quick for Juncos Hollinger racing.

The Lost Boys

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing cars finsihed in the final three spots. Graham rahal complained of understeer during the session. All htree cars had best laps under 220 miles per hour. They have some work to do before qualifying.

The fast speeds were set down early while the track was still cool. At the beginning of the session the track temperature was 57 degrees and the air tempeature was 55.

The belief in the paddock is that the early qulifiers will have an advantage as the track will be cooler than it will be for the end of the qualifying line.

Qualifying begins at 12:15 pm Eastern on Peacock.

Result:

Quick Thoughts- Portland Grand Prix

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A very processional race sets up an intriguing championship fight next week. Scott mclaughlin’s dominant win pulls him within 41 points of Will Power. Scott Dixon and josef Newgarden both trail Power by 20 points, and Marcus Ericsson is just 39 points behind.

This is the closest five drivers have been heading into the final race since 2003. Ericsson and McLaughlin need a lot of help to win the title, but Dixon and Newgarden have a legitimate chance.

Alloowing the race to start at the exit of turn 12 helped avoid a big wreck in turn 1, but as I feared, it made for a rather mundane race.

Someday Christian Lundgaard wiil put a complete race together. Today was not that day. He made a brilliant move in turn 1 to to grab second from Power, but his late error in turn 1 after the caution cost him a top 10.

David Malukas now trails Lundgaard by just five points in the Rookie of the Year standings.

Never count out Scott Dixon. Another bad qualifying turned into a podium finish. He’s been in a couple of championships that went to the finale.

Newgarden may have cost himself a copuple of spots by going with blacks on his final stint.

Rinus VeeKay continues his up and down season. His contact with Jimmie Johnson cost hoim a possible top 10 finish.

I never thought I would see a Portland race with just one caution.

Podium Down Under

For the first time since 2011, all the drivers on the podium were from Australia or New Zealand.

All three drivers wilbe in contention for the win next week. as well. Dixon said tire degradation is extremely high at Weather Tech Raceway. Power repated what he said yesterday about it being a difficult track.

I will have a wrap up of the weekend tomorrow for you to read as I drive to Seattle. Thanks for following along this weekend.

McLaughlin Takes Portland Pole as Penske Sweeps Top Three

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The Penske 1-2-3 wasn’t entirely unexpected, but Scott Mclaughlin winning the pole may have been. McLaughlin took a precious point from one of his teammates in earning his third pole of 2022. Josef Newgarden finished secind but will start eighth due to an engine penalty, and points leader Will power was third. Power will move to second on the starting grid tomorrow.

Christuan Lundgaard was the fastest non Penske qualifier in fourth. Alex palou and Pato O’Ward completed the top six.

None of the Andretti cars made the final round. Colton Herta qualified eighth., just ahead of Alexander Rossi.

Scott Dixon, third in points, and Marcus Ericsson, fourth in the standings, finished the session 16th and 18th.

In the post qualifying press conference, the top three dreivers expressed concern about the start of the race tomorrow. Power suggested that the leaders need to start racing coming out of turn 12 to spread the field out before turn 1. Ideally, Power thinks the race should begin on the back stretch.

Indycar may make a decision about the starting point later today.

While today’s results didn’;t alter the points among the main contenders, any point that drivers behind Power don’t get is to Power’s advantage.

I will have a post up aftyer the final practice later this afternoon.

Results

McLaughlin on Music City Pole

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A frantic penalty filled qualifying session and a great fight in the Fast Six saw Scott McLaughlin come out on top with his second pole of 2022. He will kead the field to the green flag in tomorrow’s second Big Machine Music City Grand Prix. McLaughlin is the onkly driver to win from pole this season. He won the openeing race at St. Pete from the pole. Romain Grosjean will start second, just nissing his second career pole. The lasy minute of the Fast Six saw Christian Lundgaard jump to the top, then he was qickly replaced by Pato O’Ward. Mclaughlin nabbed the pole on his last lap.

Qualifying started 90 minutes late as thunderstorms and heavy rain moved over the track just before Indy lights qualifying was scheduled to begin. Indy Lights will now line up according to entrant points for tomorrow’s race.

The first group in round one got off to a ragged start. Ddevlin DeFrancesco stopped in turn 4 on the initial out lap. DeFrancesco was not allowed to continue. With a minute left in the session and several drivers about to start their hot kap, Colton Herta slid into the turn 4 tires. Herta lost his fastest two laps, but he cost at least two drivers a chance to advance. Simon Pagenaud and Alexander Rossi did not get to turn a lap on the quicker alternate tires. Pagenaud will start 13th and Rossi 17th.

Will Power led a clean group 2, but in the round of twelve Power had to go through the runoff area and rejoin the track. He lost his best lap and will start eighth.

In the Fast Six Christian Lundgaard just missed his frist career pole. He will start third.

Josef Newgarden starngely chose not to switch to the alternate tires in the Fast Six and will star sixth. Is he saving the alternates for the race?

I will have a pre race story tomorrow morning with an updated weather forecast. I have a feeling we could see a repeat of today.