McLaughlin Drives To First IndyCar Victory At St. Pete

Scott McLaughlin celebrates in victory lane after winning Sunday’s NTT IndyCar Series season opener on the streets of St. Petersburg. Photo: Penske Entertainment/Chris Jones

Scott McLaughlin delivered on the promise he showed to Team Penske when it signed him straight from touring cars to race in the NTT IndyCar Series, earning his first career victory Sunday in the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.

McLaughlin drove his No. 3 Team Penske Chevrolet from the pole to victory by .5095 of a second over reigning series champion Alex Palou, who applied heavy pressure to McLaughlin over the closing laps as they raced among and through slower traffic.

New Zealand native McLaughlin made his series debut at this event in 2020 after winning three straight Australian V8 Supercars championships and then raced in his first full season of open-wheel competition in 2021.

He finished 14th in the standings, with a best finish of second, and earned series Rookie of the Year honors despite the strain of not seeing his family since 2020 due to pandemic-related global travel restrictions. McLaughlin sat in front of his winning car in Victory Lane, celebrating with his family via videoconference on his phone.

“Thank you to Roger Penske, everyone,” McLaughlin said. “Yeah, DEX Imaging jumping on board, trusting me, and then Roger Penske and Tim Cindric giving me the opportunity to come here.

“I miss my mom and dad dearly and my family. Wish you guys were here. What a day.”

Will Power finished third, 2.461 seconds behind his winning teammate. Colton Herta finished fourth, while Romain Grosjean rounded out the top five in his first start for Andretti Autosport.

McLaughlin became the second consecutive driver to earn his first series victory in the season opener. The driver who pulled off that feat last year – Palou, at Barber Motorsports Park – stretched McLaughlin to his limit over the last 13 laps of the 100-lap race on the 14-turn, 1.8-mile temporary street circuit.

A fascinating duel between drivers on two-pit stop and three-stop strategies unfolded into a straight fight between McLaughlin and Palou – and their two-stop plans – after six-time series champion Scott Dixon made his third and final pit stop on lp 80, surrendering the lead to McLaughlin.

McLaughlin led Palou by 2.150 seconds when Dixon pitted. It appeared only a caution period would bunch the field, as McLaughlin controlled the pace from the front. That caution never came, as this race featured an all-time event low of just one yellow-flag period, but slower traffic turned the closing laps into a scintillating dance between McLaughlin and Palou.

With 13 laps remaining, McLaughlin Jimmie Johnson, who was racing to stay on the lead lap. McLaughlin had to find a spot on the concrete barrier-lined circuit to thread the needle and pass seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Johnson, and that slight delay helped Palou – Johnson’s teammate – close to within .625 of a second.

From there, the gap between the two lead cars ranged from three-tenths to eight-tenths of a second. It appeared on lap 96 that Palou might get a chance to try to pass McLaughlin as both cars approached rookie Tatiana Calderon. But Calderon pulled off the racing line on the front straight to let both McLaughlin and Palou scream past.

“Oh, man, it was crazy,” McLaughlin said of Palou’s pressure. “Really struggled those last couple laps just to keep my head and then save the fuel and all that sort of stuff.

“But we did it. Chevy gave us the fuel mileage. Drivability this weekend has been a change, and to win at DEX Imaging’s home race is unreal. Oh, my God, I’m just – love you Australia, New Zealand, miss you guys. Thinking of everyone in the Queensland floods at the moment.”

Palou continued to close on laps 98 and 99 but couldn’t get close enough to pass. Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport rookie Devlin DeFrancesco was right in front of the lead pair on the final lap, trying to stay on the lead lap. McLaughlin, who along with Palou was saving Push to Pass power until the final lap to conserve fuel, never let Palou challenge over the final trip around the circuit.

“It was close,” Palou said. “It was really, really close, but I don’t think we had the pace he had today. Like he was on rails, and he knew where to go fast and where to obviously save some fuel at the end. I was just there trying to make some pressure so hopefully he made a mistake or anything, but no, he was all good.

“Congrats to him. I’m super happy that he got his first win. Yeah, I’m happier that we got our first podium of the year.”

McLaughlin led 49 of the 100 laps to earn the victory in his 18th career series start. It was the 223rd series victory for Team Penske.

Now that the box for a first victory is checked, is McLaughlin’s win in his first race aligned with Team Penske engineer Ben Bretzman a preview of a possible championship season?

Palou parlayed his first career win last year in the season opener at Barber Motorsports Park into his first Astor Challenge Cup for Chip Ganassi Racing. And the winner of the season opener in the last three seasons has gone on to win the title in the same year – Palou in 2021, Scott Dixon in 2020 and Josef Newgarden in 2019.

NTT IndyCar Series
Compared with Aromasin and Arimidex, key competitors, Letrozole (Femara) is 2-5 times more powerful than Anastrozole and Exemestane in the inhibition of the enzyme glacialridgebyway.com viagra low price aromatase, and it is 10-20 times more potent at the cells level! Letrozole is kept for a long time in the body, but some time is needed to get it to work. Shilajit is one of viagra discount online the famous herbs by which this problem can be controlled. Strong parasympathetic nerves are responsible for closing the ejaculatory valve and prevent free samples viagra semen leakage and premature ejaculation. But in the heart, effect of the same purchase generic cialis http://www.glacialridgebyway.com/windows/Glacial%20lakes%20State%20Park.html medicine can prevent heart muscle from thickening and early-stage heart failure, this report is prepared according to research published in the open access journal medicine. Streets of St. Petersburg – St. Petersburg, FL
Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg – February 27, 2022

1. (1) Scott McLaughlin, Chevrolet, 100, Running
2. (10) Alex Palou, Honda, 100, Running
3. (2) Will Power, Chevrolet, 100, Running
4. (3) Colton Herta, Honda, 100, Running
5. (5) Romain Grosjean, Honda, 100, Running
6. (4) Rinus VeeKay, Chevrolet, 100, Running
7. (11) Graham Rahal, Honda, 100, Running
8. (7) Scott Dixon, Honda, 100, Running
9. (8) Marcus Ericsson, Honda, 100, Running
10. (22) Takuma Sato, Honda, 100, Running
11. (15) Christian Lundgaard, Honda, 100, Running
12. (16) Pato O’Ward, Chevrolet, 100, Running
13. (23) Jack Harvey, Honda, 100, Running
14. (17) Helio Castroneves, Honda, 100, Running
15. (6) Simon Pagenaud, Honda, 100, Running
16. (9) Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet, 100, Running
17. (21) Felix Rosenqvist, Chevrolet, 100, Running
18. (12) Kyle Kirkwood, Chevrolet, 100, Running
19. (19) Callum Ilott, Chevrolet, 100, Running
20. (13) Alexander Rossi, Honda, 100, Running
21. (20) Conor Daly, Chevrolet, 100, Running
22. (18) Devlin DeFrancesco, Honda, 100, Running
23. (26) Jimmie Johnson, Honda, 99, Running
24. (25) Tatiana Calderon, Chevrolet, 97, Running
25. (14) Dalton Kellett, Chevrolet, 62, Mechanical
26. (24) David Malukas, Honda, 23, Contact