Scott McLaughlin Avenges His 26 INDYCAR Foes at Barber

A tremendous bonce back weekend for Scott McLaughlin and Team Penske in Alabama. (Photo: Chris Owens | Penske Entertainment)

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — On a week where Team Penske endured its blackest cloud in recent memory, they ended it with a convincing 1-2 finish as Scott McLaughlin completed the redemption arc with a win in Sunday’s Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix at Barber Motorsports Park.

The always laser focused McLaughlin was a man on a mission as he led a race-high 58 of 90 laps en route to his fifth career INDYCAR victory and second in a row at Barber.

More importantly, he is no longer last in the championship trail as the leader of “The Thirsty 3s” improved from 29th to ninth in points, trailing new championship leader Colton Herta by 42 points heading into “The Month of May” at Indianapolis.

A Sunday drive he will never forget, as in his eyes, it was the best one he has had in his accomplished racing career. Going forward, execute is the word for McLaughlin and “The Thirsty 3s” side of the Penske organization.

“We did what we thought we could do. It was execution,” said McLaughlin. “Like, probably one of the most I guess you could say so proud of the execution, the way that the team, particularly on the three cars, stuck together.

“We just kind of kept executing. That’s our word for the rest of the year. Keep knocking ’em out. Points are points. Points are imaginary things. You just, like, get them. It’s a reward at the end of the race.

“It’s about executing. The higher you finish, the more points you get. Ultimately it’s a bonus at the end of the season. We’re here to just take it race by race and see what happens towards the end.”

McLaughlin improves from 29th to ninth in the INDYCAR standings heading into The Month of May at Indianapolis. (Photo: Chris Owens | Penske Entertainment)

Behind McLaughlin and No. 3 “Meat Wagon” machine was Will Power, who can feel a victory coming his way soon, but he will have to wait another race to snap his two-year winless streak. As a mistake and enduring hot conditions, highlighted with grass clogging his helmet cooler, was on the mind of the two-time INDYCAR champion.

For now, he will head to the Sonsio Grand Prix at Indianapolis trailing Herta by a single point after 3 of 17 rounds completed.

“Very pleased with the podium. Actually made a little mistake there in the race, went off. It’s very rare for me. I was very disappointed in myself,” said Power.

“We had such a gap that I came back on. I couldn’t believe it. I only lost one. I thought I can get back past Lundgaard. He was quick, but I knew I had a bit more fuel than him. Just get close to him, go a lap longer. But it was a tough race, man.

“The car is so hot now, you don’t get any air. No air comes in these vents, no air comes in the helmets. They got to do something there. It was full wide open for us the whole race. Serious pace there.”

Rounding out the podium was Chip Ganassi Racing’s Linus Lundqvist, whose pit strategy worked favorably as the rookie scored his best result in his young INDYCAR career.

In some ways, he would like to say it is a win, but the Swede knows there is more he can bring to the table for Ganassi’s No. 8 squad. Alas, Lundqvist was really thrilled how the final stint fared and was astonished how a podium finish unfolded.

“That was a fun (final) stint for me,” said Lundqvist. “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. Super happy and super proud of this for the whole 8 crew. It’s amazing.”

A chaotic race at Barber ends with Scott McLaughlin, Will Power and Linus Lundqvist on the podium. (Photo: Chris Owens | Penske Entertainment)

Sunday’s no holds barred contest began with immediate chaos as Rinus VeeKay entered the first turn too hot and clipped Sting Ray Robb, sending him around. The opening lap contact also involved Kyffin Simpson and Jack Harvey, but everyone soldiered on.

However, VeeKay was penalized for avoidable contact and the already fiery Ed Carpenter Racing driver had to go back to square one after injector issues in qualifying resulted the fast racer to roll off 27th. VeeKay would rally hard and at one point reached the top-10, but cautions and various strategies hurt his chances in staying there and wound up 17th.

Not long after the opening lap incident, driver’s aggression levels kicked into high gear. Such as Santino Ferrucci divebombing Colton Herta for position in the treacherous fifth turn. Both men rubbed sidepods as no driver on the grid were putting up anyone’s shenanigans.

A lap later, Pato O’Ward entered Turn 5 too hot and loops it around as dirty air played a role on the issue as he avoided running into Christian Lundgaard. Then on Lap 6, O’Ward’s day worsen when a hope in the rumble strips resulted him to punt Pietro Fittipaldi and stuffed him into the tire barriers, bringing out the first full course caution.

Both men were livid about the incident, but for different reasons. On one end, Fittipaldi was angry at O’Ward for clearly taking him out of any chances of a good points day. On the other end, O’Ward was upset at INDYCAR Race Control for handing him a drive-through penalty for avoidable contact, which he argued that it was “a freaking race incident” over the radio.

Fittipaldi returned to the race 18 laps behind the leader before retiring later on to finish 27th while O’Ward crossed the line in an agonizing 23rd. Before the race ended, O’Ward would get into the back of 22nd place finisher Theo Pourchaire, and again penalized for avoidable contact, creating more ire within the organization.

O’Ward’s teammate Alexander Rossi would not fare better as he brought out the second caution on Lap 44. Not for his own troubles, but his No. 7 pit crew fumbling their scheduled pit stop. As soon as Rossi exited pit road, his left rear wheel wasn’t secured and came off.

Consequently, Rossi lost 16 laps when he returned before also retiring before the race concluded and was credited with a 25th place finish.

Following Rossi’s wheel coming off, a different kind of bizarre sequence of events occurred on Lap 52.

One of Barber Motorsports Park’s featured attractions are its sculptures, like the symbolic spider, the state of the art museum, and it’s random placement of mannequins. It’s the latter that created some buzz after Georgina, a dressed up female mannequin, fell off the bridge where folks can head into the museum.

Georgina stuck the landing before landing on the ground which Fittipaldi was the first to pass by the lifeless mannequin. Unfortunately, Georgina’s day went from bad to worse when INDYCAR debutant Luca Ghiotto ran into her, but such fiasco did not bring out the full course caution.

It was later reported that Georgina was picked up by the AMR Safety Team and made it back to the paddock with a severed right hand. Even race winner McLaughlin stopped by and met the mannequin icon.

“Georgina” during Friday practice as coincidentally, Pietro Fittipaldi flashes by. (Photo: Chris Jones | Penske Entertaiment)

Despite the race soldiering on, the third caution ultimately came out on Lap 55 when Robb’s steering wheel broke which sent him into the Turn 1 barriers, ending his afternoon in 26th.

Robb explained after the accident he noticed only the wires were holding the steering wheel on his No. 14 Chevrolet, unaware if the opening lap contact from VeeKay had a contributing role on the issue.

“I think the steering wheel just kind of came off my hands in Turn 1,” said Robb. “To be honest, when I hit the wall, it felt like hitting a marshmallow, so that barrier did a good job slowing me down a little. It was a weird thing. It went sideways and was holding onto the wheel, and the wheel was not doing anything.

“After I was getting ready to jump out of the car, I can see just the wires that were holding the wheel on. The tubs was still attached, but the steering wheel itself wasn’t attached the hub. I don’t know if that was contact from earlier that caused that, but it was a rough weekend.”

While one AJ Foyt Racing driver’s day ended early, another one flourished as Santino Ferrucci’s three-stop strategy panned out favorably as he was leading the field for several laps before pitting with 25 to go. Ferrucci, who led twice for 14 laps, brought the No. 14 Chevrolet home in seventh for his second top-10 finish of the season.

Ferrucci’s scheduled stop moved Lundqvist to the point before making his final stop five laps later. Like Ferrucci, Lundqvist’s strategy worked in more ways than one as his No. 8 Honda, on fresh tires, was a rocket. Passing the likes of Felix Rosenqvist and Alex Palou to work his way up to the final step of the podium after rolling off 19th.

More than a smile from the INDYCAR rookie after a strong weekend at Barber Motorsports Park. (Photo: Joe Skibinski | Penske Entertainment)

While all of that went down, McLaughlin was back in first and appeared to have the win in the bag. Then with five laps to go, Christian Rasmussen, who has had a series of incidents and close calls, lost control of his No. 20 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet and then stalled in Turn 13, bringing out the final caution of the afternoon. McLaughlin’s 3.5-second lead over Power was gone and the race came down to two laps.

When the green flag waved, no contest nor team orders played a role for McLaughlin as he pulled away with ease, but the battle for second was where all eyes were towards as Lundqvist was all over Power.

As McLaughlin cruised to victory once again in Alabama, Power was able to fend off the Ganassi rookie to cap off a Penske 1-2 finish. A much needed outcome after being slammed by the press, paddock and fans alike following the penalties assessed earlier this week regarding illegal usage of Push to Pass at St. Petersburg in early March.

McLaughlin’s engineer Ben Bretzman explained McLaughlin’s raw pace and staying committed to the three-stop strategy were the key ingredients to a superb day for the No. 3 squad. However, each caution proved to be a nail biter, especially when McLaughlin restarted in 17th after the caution for Rossi, but cooler heads prevailed along with the caution for Robb resulted in the tasks being done as intended.

“He did an amazing job with the speed when he needed it. When we got that first yellow, we were okay and then the Rossi yellow, that really put us behind,” said Bretzman. “We were in a situation where we were going to pass a lot of course. Sting Ray’s caution kind of brought us back into play. It was going to be how fast can he go.

“He got cleared for about six or laps there and put laps that were faster than anyone. He pulled out and got ahead of (Palou) before he came around. It was raw pace when we needed it.”

Penske will look to continue its momentum at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course, the site of the fourth round of the INDYCAR campaign. Race coverage begins Saturday, May 11 at 3:00 p.m. ET on NBC. Alex Palou is the defending race winner at the 2.439-mile road course.

The Thirsty 3s delivered the goods on a cloudy Sunday afternoon. (Photo: Joe Skibinski | Penske Entertainment)

2024 Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix Results