Scott McLaughlin wins the third act of the NTT IndyCar Series in Alabama. The standard bearer of Penske he triumphs as in the past season at Barber Motorsport Park, preceding his teammate under the checkered flag Will Power And Linus Lundqviustsecond and third respectively. Roger Penske’s team returns to celebrate after the sensational disqualification obtained during the week in the St. Petersburg GP last March.
Penske’s #3 held first position at the start without any particular problems, the New Zealander made the difference in the first kilometers of a test which was neutralized following an impact with the barriers by Pietro Fittipaldi (RLL #30). The Mexican was pushed by the Mexican Pato O’Ward (McLaren #5), determined to recover after an error during the second pass.
Penske continued to control the action with McLaughlin, the strategy became a crucial part of the third stage of the year. The #3 of the grid was taken over by the Dane Christian Lundgaard (RLL #45) and from the Australian Will Power (Penske #12) after 45 of the 90 scheduled laps, the advantage of the former Bathurst 1000 winner was eliminated after a caution to move the car of Alexander Rossi (McLaren #7) in difficulty without the left rear wheel.
Many protagonists, including the riders at the head of the grid, decided not to stop in the pits to change tires, the Spaniard Alex Palou (Chip Ganassi Racing #10) found himself leader at the restart ahead of the Swede Felix Rosenqvist (Shank Racing #60) and others Marcus Ericsson (Chip Ganassi Racing #11).
Everything changed on lap 55 with a crash into Turn 1 by Sting Ray Robb (Foyt #41). The chance was unique for those who delayed their stop, McLaughlin #3 automatically found himself third behind by Linus Lundqvist (Ganassi #8) and Santino Ferrucci (Foyt #14), second and first respectively at the green flag.
The American, forced together with Lundqvist to stop before the checkered flag, led the way with less than 30 laps to go, the pair maintaining their positions ahead of McLaughlin. The key moment of the NTT IndyCar Series Alabama GP came on lap 76 with the final pit stop of Penske’s #3.
The ‘kiwi’ remained ahead of Palou, who also lost position towards Power. The reigning champion was unable to battle with the ‘Captain”s cars, clearly ahead with a solid five-second lead. Fifth joy in IndyCar for the multiple champion of the Repco Supercars Championship, perfect in the 2024 Alabama GP after a complex week for Team Penske.
Power preceded the Swede Linus Lundqvist at the finish, the Scandinavian rookie finished ahead of Rosenqvist, Palou, Lundgaard, Ferrucci, Colton Herta (Andretti #26), Marcus Armstrong (Ganassi #11), Kyle Kirkwood (Andretti #27) and Graham Rahal (Rahal #15). Special mention also for Luca Ghiotto (Coyne #51), 21st in his overall debut in the most important American series reserved for single-seaters.
Now there will be a one-week break for the NTT IndyCar Series, before the very long month of May with the Indianapolis 500. Before the most important test of the year there will also be the Indianapolis GP on the road course located in the Speedway basin, a race scheduled between two weeks.
INDYCAR BARBER RANKING
1 3 RUN Scott McLaughlin Team Penske 90 O 43 31.158 16.616 19.635 1:08.167 121.466 1:07.754 122.206 3
2 12 RUN Will Power Team Penske 90 O 37 1,319 1,319 31,235 16,619 19,745 1:08,273 121,277 1:07,759 122,197 3
3 8 RUN Linus Lundqvist Chip Ganassi Racing 90 O 38 2,442 1,123 31,518 16,694 19,825 1:08,852 120,258 1:08,146
4 60 RUN Felix Rosenqvist Meyer Shank Racing 90 O 122 4,511 2,069 31,720 16,886 20,054 1:09,269 119,534
5 10 RUN Alex Palou Chip Ganassi Racing 90 P 113 5.369 0.858 31.325 16.665 19.868 1:09.559 119.036 1:08.457
6 45 RUN Christian Lundgaard Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing 90 P 9 6.051 0.682 31.470 16.690 19.868 1:09.647
7 14 RUN Santino Ferrucci AJ Foyt Enterprises 90 O 17 6.606 0.555 31.462 16.767 20.023 1:09.371 119.359
8 26 RUN Colton Herta Andretti Global 90 O 22 7.512 0.907 31.735 16.624 20.087 1:09.893 118.467 1:08.770
9 11 RUN Marcus Armstrong Chip Ganassi Racing 90 O 141 8.037 0.525 31.979 16.849 20.177 1:10.001 118.284
10 27 RUN Kyle Kirkwood Andretti Global 90 W 48 8.557 0.520 31.744 16.785 20.207 1:10.212 117.929 1:08.975
11 15 RUN Graham Rahal Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing 90 O 126 9.029 0.471 31.964 16.933 20.192 1:10.238
12 77 RUN Romain Grosjean Juncos Racing 90 O 126 9.450 0.421 31.771 16.805 20.245 1:10.306 117.771 1:09.327
13 18 RUN Jack Harvey Dale Coyne Racing 90 W 0 10.127 0.677 31.691 16.888 20.053 1:10.468 117.501 1:08.676
14 4 RUN Kyffin Simpson Chip Ganassi Racing 90 O 9 10.441 0.315 31.547 16.833 20.104 1:10.542 117.377 1:08.630
15 9 RUN Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing 90 O 22 11.363 0.921 31.641 16.757 19.964 1:10.441 117.546 1:08.526
16 2 RUN Josef Newgarden Team Penske 90 O 35 12.236 0.873 31.476 16.648 19.974 1:11.819 115.29 1:08.323 121.19
17 21 RUN Rinus VeeKay Ed Carpenter Racing 90 O 4 13.509 1.274 31.678 16.695 20.052 1:11.893 115.171 1:08.874
18 28 RUN Marcus Ericsson Andretti Global 90 P 35 13.844 0.335 31.708 16.760 20.196 1:11.087 116.476 1:08.867
19 66 RUN Tom Blomqvist Meyer Shank Racing 90 P 1 14.575 0.731 31.994 16.930 20.210 1:11.167 116.346 1:09.324
20 78 RUN Agustin Canapino Juncos Racing 90 O 6 14.681 0.106 31.547 16.934 20.018 1:11.011 116.601 1:08.528
