Monterey, CA – Scott McLaughlin won the Mission Foods Grand Prix of Monterey, the 18th and final race of the 2026 NTT INDYCAR season, at the scenic WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. The New Zealander finished 1.3739-seconds ahead of Kyle Kirkwood, followed by Alexander Rossi, Felix Rosenqvist and David Malukas.
“My little girl, Lucy, has not seen me win a race yet,” explained McLaughlin, who had been winless for 35 races and dominated by leading 87 of the 95 laps. “Finally, she has Dad coming home with a trophy. I’ve been waiting six years to do donuts. We have been working hard to be better. We had to be solid today. I knew we could do this and finally put the pieces together. We have lots of hard work to do in the off-season to come back stronger next year.”
McLaughlin gave Team Penske their 312th victory by earning his eighth-career win. Although he took the lead from the pole position, after edging out Alex Palou by 0.0177-seconds or 0.030 mph in qualifying, he made three pit stops compared to Palou’s four stops.
“We have to figure out why we used our rear tires more than Kirkwood,” continued McLaughlin. “I’m surprised how bad I was at the end of the black tire stint. We made it progressively better, which you need to do. I was thankful that Kirkwood had reds to put on at the end. He was quick on the blacks. I knew if I could just get through the out-laps, then control that first part of the stint, he would probably die off a little worse than I would. That’s what happened. I had to figure out the feeling I needed to go fast and trust the car. My goal was to keep a two-second gap the whole time.”
Kirkwood, who consistently tried to challenge Palou in the championship fight, ranked Andretti Global second overall by finishing as the runner-up in the standings. The American recovered after falling to third at the Milwaukee doubleheader event held the previous week.
“What a day to finish second in the championship,” said Kirkwood, who is nicknamed the “street king” for having recorded six of his seven-career victories on street courses. “My best (permanent) road course result. I started on alternates (the softer red tire) and moved up to third (from sixth on the grid). I probably could have had a go at Scotty (McLaughlin) at the end on the first few laps on reds. We played it safe, as second-place is the best of the rest and was the right call today. Our number one goal was to make the tires last and to protect our finish in the title fight. (Christian) Lundgaard and Pato (O’Ward) had a very successful year. We wanted to beat them. We have constantly improved as a team. We need to clean up some stuff. The Indy 500 was our worse result for our team. On short ovals we have improved. I hope people consider us the second-best team. We have a lot of momentum going into the off-season and a direction for next year.”
Driving for Ed Carpenter Racing (ECR), Rossi earned his first podium of the season to match his teammate, Christian Rasmussen, who earned the only other team podium (also third) at World Wide Technology Raceway.
“It’s no secret that this has been a pretty terrible year for myself and the whole ECR team with the litany of issues, some out of our control, some in our control,” revealed Rossi, the 2016 Indy 500 winner, finishing his second season at ECR. “Ultimately, road courses have been something that have been a pretty big challenge for us in the second half of this year. Really ever since the Indy GP, there’s been a huge amount of emphasis and effort behind-the-scenes to dig out of that hole. It’s very difficult to do in this championship. We have had to fight through a lot of adversity. It’s a great reward for the effort to get this podium. A great boost going into the off-season. Anything that could go wrong did go wrong: gear boxes, engines, fire in pit lane, and just lack of performance at some events. Anything you could think of has gone wrong across both cars but no one has lost motivation or commitment.”
Drivers were surprised to discover that the 2.238-mile, 11-turn track had less grip than in previous years. More than one said that the red tire was good for only one lap. Each driver was required to run two laps on the harder black primary tires and two laps on new alternates, the red softer tires. The preferred tire appeared to be the reds but the winner, McLaughlin, ran one set of new reds followed by three sets of new blacks. Only seven drivers did more than three stops for tires (including all three Chip Ganassi drivers), which proved to be the wrong strategy.
Palou, who clinched his fifth title in six seasons at the Milwaukee Mile the previous weekend, was a little disappointed to finish eighth after starting on the front row on used red tires.
“We made a mistake on our tire decisions,” explained Palou. “I’m disappointed that we didn’t make the right decision in the race. We started on used alternates and didn’t survive. We then went to another set of used alternates and killed ourselves. I’m happy to see McLaughlin win today and that Kirkwood finished second in the title fight. I’m sad to see Scott Dixon leaving (Chip Ganassi Racing). I know just part of what he knows. He’ll take his secrets with him (to Arrow McLaren).
“This team has been incredible every single year and every single race,” added Palou, about winning another title at only 29-years-old, who could possibly tie or exceed AJ Foyt’s record seven titles, accomplished by the Texan when he was well into his 40s. “I had a rocket ship today. I have the best team around me, all the partners, our sponsors, everybody that supports this team, and Honda, which gives us all the power we need every single time. It’s been a magical year.”
Palou finished the 18-race season with 631 points, followed by Kirkwood with 545, Lundgaard 535, O’Ward 522, and David Malukas with 514 points.
Honda Clinches Engine Manufacturers Championship
Not only did Honda Racing Corporation (HRC) win the Indianapolis 500 when Felix Rosenqvist had the closest victory in history, 0.0233-seconds over Malukas’ Chevy, it won its 12th Engine Manufacturers Championship with two races still remaining in the 18-race season. Honda also powered Palou to the driver’s title. Honda’s 2.2 L twin turbocharged engine scored 10 victories and 13 pole positions.
Silly Season Update
Mick Schumacher has been announced to take the No. 66 car seat of Meyer Shank Racing next season, where he’ll be Marcus Armstrong’s teammate. The pairing will reunite these drivers, who competed in karting when Armstrong was 13-years-old and in later formulas.
Still to be announced are who will fill the two seats at AJ Foyt, Dale Coyne and Juncos Hollinger Racing. Drivers Santino Ferrucci and Rinus VeeKay are likely to return to Foyt and Juncos, respectively.
Policy Change for Drivers Moving Up to INDYCAR
INDYCAR issued a new policy for drivers wanting to move up to the INDYCAR series to prevent a ride-buyer situation by a lesser skilled driver. To qualify, a driver must rank in the top-three of the title fight or win at least two races in 24 months and have competed in 12 INDY NXT events. A driver who has won a single race during the season can request approval to advance. This policy change could affect INDYCAR team owners who are looking for a well-funded driver to join a very competitive driver, who lacks their own budget, as a teammate.
Nikita Johnson, the youngest INDY NXT champion at 18-years-old, prevailed over Enzo Fittipaldi for the title by finishing second at the Laguna Seca season finale. Fittipaldi, grandson of Emerson Fittipaldi, won four events during the 17-race season, the most of any driver. But Johnson earned more points by consistency and two wins. Will either find an INDYCAR seat for 2027?
The highly-competitive 2026 INDY NXT season showcased 10 different winners. The series champion receives an award of US $850,000, a budget to take to an INDYCAR team to fund a rookie oval test, participate in the Indy 500 open test, and to compete in the Indianapolis 500 and one other race. Second-place is awarded $125,000 and third receives a scholarship of $65,000.
Charter Sold – Daly has a Seat for 2027
Rahal Letterman Lanigan sold their third charter, the first charter to be sold by one of the ten teams holding 25 INDYCAR charters, to Dreyer & Reinbold Racing. The Rahal team will have a technical alliance with Dreyer and Reinbold. In recent years, that team has done an Indy 500-only program and has had better results at the most famous oval, which could benefit the Rahal team. Conor Daly was announced for the full 2027 season seat. This sale also reveals what a charter could be valued at, believed to be over US $10 million.
Rookie of the Year and Leader Circle Program
Dennis Hauger had an 18-point lead over Mick Schumacher in the Rookie of the Year battle, that offers a $25,000 award, going into the season finale. The worst Hauger could do was gain only five points by finishing last. But that’s what happened when, on Lap 1, Sting Ray Robb ran into the back of Hauger, spinning him into the tire barriers in Turn Six. His Dale Coyne race car could not be repaired. So Hauger had to watch from the timing stand and sweat out the entire race. Schumacher ran as high as ninth, but he would’ve had to finish eighth to earn more points than Hauger. Schumacher finished 22nd and earned eight points for a season total of 213 compared to Hauger’s 228 points.
Even more significant, Hauger ranked 22nd in the title fight among the 25 regular entries, clinching the Leader Circle Program funding of US $1.7 million, issued to the top-22 entrants as a type of appearance money.
“It’s been a roller coaster this year,” stated Hauger, the 2025 INDY NXT champion. “Thanks to the team and all their support. I’m very grateful to get that title because you can only be Rookie of the Year once. It’s pretty special to earn it. I learned so much being a rookie this year. I’ve tried to learn as much as possible every weekend. I will bring that knowledge to next year. I had a great start to the year with a third starting position at St. Pete. I’ve struggled in qualifying at times and then been good in the race. Then good in qualifying but struggled in the race. It’s been an incredible experience. I don’t know yet what the future brings for me.”
Schumacher, Caio Collet and Sting Ray Robb were the three drivers who finished outside the top-22.
The Zanardi Corkscrew
In honour of “The Pass,” where Alex Zanardi overtook Bryan Herta in 1996 by going off the pavement and onto the dirt through the corkscrew at Laguna Seca, on the last lap with three turns to go, the track named its signature curve “the Zanardi Corkscrew” to celebrate the 30-year anniversary of the move.
There was also a special paint scheme as Palou ran the same lightning bolts on the red nose panel of his car as Zanardi had in that race. Zanardi passed away earlier this year.
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