Scott McLaughlin on pace to a runner-up finish in the Firestone GP at St. Petersburg. (Photo: Donald Jenney | The Podium Finish)
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – After back-to-back career-high years in 2023 and 2024 that saw him finish third in the championship standings, Scott McLaughlin entered the 2025 NTT IndyCar Series season with sky-high expectations. Instead, it became a season to forget.
From a pace-lap crash into the inside frontstretch wall at the Indianapolis 500 to a winless campaign that ended with a disappointing 10th-place finish in the standings, McLaughlin endured a frustrating year. As a result, a fast start to 2026 became paramount.
The 32-year-old New Zealander, now entering his fifth season with Team Penske and the famed “Thirsty Threes”, wasted no time delivering. McLaughlin captured the NTT P1 Award in St. Petersburg on Friday afternoon, earning back-to-back poles on the 1.8-mile, 14-turn street course.
“Just really pumped,” McLaughlin said. “Everybody knows the slog we went through last year, so to start on this note is fantastic.”
When the green flag waved to open the 2026 season, McLaughlin maintained a steady gap in his No. 3 DEX Imaging Team Penske Chevrolet over 2022 Indianapolis 500 winner Marcus Ericsson. The pair began to distance themselves from the rest of the field while running the more durable black primary Firestone tires, as Dennis Hauger, Alex Palou, Romain Grosjean and Marcus Armstrong struggled behind them on the faster wearing red alternate compounds.
Marcus Ericsson navigates the streets of St. Petersburg on his way to a solid sixth-place finish in the Firestone GP. (Photo: Chris Jones | Penske Entertainment)
The race’s turning point came on Lap 35 when McLaughlin made his first pit stop, handing the lead to Ericsson in the No. 28 Delaware Life Honda. Andretti Global brought Ericsson to pit road one lap later, relinquishing the lead to Palou, who was attempting the overcut strategy despite his red alternate Firestones rapidly deteriorating.
Palou pitted on Lap 38 and successfully blended back onto the track ahead of both McLaughlin and Ericsson. From there, he controlled the race.
McLaughlin made his final stop on Lap 68, bolting on a fresh set of red alternate tires in hopes of chasing down Palou with the added grip. The charge, however, never materialized. No driver was able to get within 5.5 seconds of the eventual race winner.
“Our Chevy was fast, but it’s just a mixed bag with which tire you start on,” McLaughlin said. “Maybe we come back here again and start on reds and just get them out of the way. Overall, we made the passes we needed to make at the right times, and I thought we maximized our day.”
Despite falling short of victory, McLaughlin secured the strong start he needed as he begins his push for the 2026 NTT IndyCar Series championship.
“I think his (Tim Cindric’s) big test is going to be Phoenix,” McLaughlin said. “Having the confidence to go there and put the right front wing in at the right time for qualifying and all that stuff — there’s a lot of trust on both sides. That’s a good thing to already have in race one.”
Next up for the NTT IndyCar Series is a return to Phoenix Raceway on Saturday, March 7, for the Good Ranchers 250, part of the “Desert Double” weekend alongside the NASCAR Cup Series.
