After a tough week for Team Penske which saw McLaughlin and Josef Newgarden both disqualified from the season opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, McLaughlin brought smiles back to the faces of Team Penske as he led home teammate Will Power to a 1-2 finish at Barber Motorsports Park. 

Rookie Linus Lundqvist finished an excellent third from Chip Ganassi Racing, benefitting from the favourable three stop strategy. Felix Rosenqvist led Alex Palou to 4^th as the first of two-stopping drivers, with Christian Lundgaard in 6^th. 

Santino Ferrucci scored his best result since the Indianapolis 500 in May to finish 7^th, and Colton Herta took the championship lead by finishing in 8^th. Marcus Armstrong was 9^th, with Kyle Kirkwood in 10^th. 

Jack Harvey dragged his Dale Coyne Racing car up to a season’s best 13^th, Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach winner Scott Dixon was 15^th, just ahead of Josef Newgarden in 16^th, who endured one of the toughest weeks of his life in the build-up to this event. 

McLaughlin goes back to back at Barber 

Having prevailed on an aggressive three stop strategy at Barber Motorsports Park in 2023, McLaughlin and Team Penske attempted the same moves in 2024. The Kiwi won the NTT P1 award ahead of teammate Will Power on Saturday and led into turn 1. 

Early cautions often hamper the chances of a successful three-stop, and when the yellow came out after Pietro Fittipaldi was put into the wall by Pato O’Ward on lap 6, the advantage swung towards Alex Palou and the two stoppers. 

McLaughlin made his first stop on lap 28, two laps earlier than Palou. On lap 44, Alexander Rossi stopped but his left-rear wheel was detached, and made its way into the gravel trap. The caution came out for a second time, and McLaughlin pitted on lap 47 whilst Palou stayed out. 

Initially, this looked to have hampered McLaughlin’s wining chances when he came out in 18^th, but when Sting Ray Robb ended up in the wall on lap 55, those on the two stop made their final visit to pit lane on lap 56. 

This would require an enormous fuel saving stint of 34 laps to the chequered flag. Once the race restarted, McLaughlin tucked in behind fellow three stoppers Lundqvist and Ferrucci, as they powered ahead of those saving fuel. 

McLaughlin was able to open up a 32 second gap to Palou, and pitted on lap 75, coming out comfortably ahead of the chasing pack. Although a late race caution from a stricken Christian Rasmussen allowed Will Power to close in, the Team Penske cars eased to a 1-2 finish in formation. 

McLaughlin said ‘Yeah, we knew we had a fast car. We knew we were going to be there. There was a bit of confidence walking into the racetrack this weekend, even with myself.’

‘I knew that we were probably on the back foot, then got a somewhat lucky yellow. Stingray I think put it in the fence. That was a way of us getting back to the point where these other guys had to take the fuel and hope they made the fuel.’

Strategy key as Lundqvist impresses 

Having started 19^th, few would have predicted that Linus Lundqvist would end up on the podium. He adopted the aggressive three stop strategy and pitted during the first caution period on lap 8. 

He was the second driver to try this alternate strategy, spending a lot of the race tucked in behind Santino Ferrucci, and the two of them found themselves at the front on lap 56 when the two stoppers came in for the final time. 

Lundqvist pitted five laps later than Ferrucci and jumped him throughout the pit sequence, putting him in 6^th on the road. He made light work of teammates Palou and Armstrong, as well as Rosenqvist, to put himself into 3^rd. 

Although he could not pass Will Power at the final restart for 2^nd, Lundqvist’s first Indycar podium will certainly have been a satisfying one. Ferrucci also came home in 7^th, an excellent result for him and for the AJ Foyt Enterprises team.

Lundqvist was chuffed with his efforts, ‘Man, it was amazing. I think for the first time ever I was not on the save fuel strategy. I was not the one being passed, which was nice.’

‘We came out with sticker reds, no fuel saving. Came out with a bunch of guys that had 25 laps on their tires, a bunch of fuel saving to do.’ 

‘That was a fun stint for me. When the guys came on the radio said I was third, I couldn’t believe it. At the same time I was passing people like Palou. They’re usually high up, we can’t be doing too bad.’

Barber track proves unforgiving

Throughout the course of the weekend, many drivers went beyond the asphalt at Barber Motorsports park, seeking to find the limit and more. Scott Dixon and Pato O’Ward both found themselves in the gravel trap early, hampering their races. 

O’Ward would drop to 23^rd after going off on lap 2, and then the caution came out when he attempted to pass Fittipaldi into turn 11, sending the Brazilian into the wall. O’Ward would also spin around teammate Pourchaire on lap 89, causing him to drop behind the Frenchman. 

Christian Rasmussen tried an audacious pass around the outside of Marcus Ericsson into the museum complex at turns 8 and 9, but ran out of room and ended up in the gravel. Sting Ray Robb’s steering wheel disconnected, and he had a hard hit into the turn 1 wall, bringing out the caution on lap 55. 

The most shocking incident did not involve any of the drivers, but instead the mannequin which hangs from the bridge. Barber Motorsports Park is littered with weird sculptures, and Georgina fell from the bridge onto the edge of the track, and had her hand shaved off by debutant Luca Ghiotto. A truly bizarre incident towards to end of the race. 

Disqualification fallout fuels ruthless driving 

The Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix was a brutal race of attrition, arguably fuelled by the tension in the days leading up to the event. 

Following Wednesday’s news that Josef Newgarden and Scott McLaughlin had been disqualified from the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, few drivers believed the explanation put forward towards them about the reasons for their infringement. 

Newgarden was brash in his pre-race interview, having qualified 8^th. In comparison, McLaughlin looked dialled in and focused – having secured the pole position, he went about his business methodically and with perfect precision. 

The racing against Newgarden was particularly aggressive, and no driver was willing to give an inch. Newgarden was nearly turned around by Marcus Armstrong on lap 33, before being shoved wide by Kyle Kirkwood the following lap. 

Other drivers also were making aggressive moves: O’Ward sent Fittipaldi into the wall as Ferrucci and Herta nearly came to blows on the opening lap, Ericsson and Rasmussen had a scuffle which saw Rasmussen end up in the gravel, and Canapino spun round Rasmussen in the closing stages of the race. 

With tensions high, there is no doubt that this race produced extra drama thanks to the captivating off track storylines. There were a record breaking 289 overtakes at the Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix including 281 for position. The NTT Indycar Series now heads to Indianapolis for the Month of May, with the Sonsio Grand Prix on May 11^th.