Scott McLaughlin held on in a tense two-lap sprint for the line to win from teammate Will Power in this morning’s IndyCar race at Barber Motorsports Park.
The Penske #3 had an advantage of over three seconds wiped out entering the final five laps after Christian Rasmussen came to a halt at Turn 13. The Kiwi fended off Power off the restart to take the victory from his teammate and Chip Ganassi Racing rookie Linus Lundqvist.
Marcus Armstrong finished the race ninth, ahead of Long Beach winner Scott Dixon in 15th and Tom Blomqvist in 19th.
McLaughlin led 58 of the race’s 90 laps and ran a three-stop strategy for his win.
The three-time Supercars Champion led the field to green from the pole and held his position off the line to remain at the front.
The first caution came on Lap 5 when Pato O’Ward made contact with Pietro Fittipaldi, sending him into the Turn 13 barriers. The St. Petersburg winner received a drive-through penalty for the incident.
Christian Lundgaard overtook Power on Lap 23 when the Australian ran wide at Turn 5 before coming in for his first stop the following circuit. Power ran longer, pitting on Lap 27, one circuit earlier than McLaughlin.
The Kiwi returned to the lead once the cycle of stops played out and held a comfortable 7.2-second advantage over Lundgaard by Lap 38, but had that wiped when Alexander Rossi lost a left-rear wheel and came to a halt on Lap 43, bringing out the caution.
McLaughlin was among several to stop behind the Safety Car, with defending champion Alex Palou hitting the front from Felix Rosenqvist, Marcus Armstrong, and Santino Ferrucci for the Lap 48 restart.
Sting Ray Robb crashed into the Turn 1 barrier on Lap 55, shaking up the order again as Palou, Rosenqvist, and Armstrong came in for stops from the leading group.
Ferrucci took the restart in the lead from Lundqvist, with McLaughlin returning to third ahead of CGR rookie Kyffin Simpson, Power, and Lundgaard.
Ferrucci stopped on Lap 66, with Lundqvist briefly hitting the front, but was quickly overcome by McLaughlin with 20 laps remaining.
With 15 laps remaining, the leader, Power and Lundgaard, all stopped, with the Kiwi returning to the lead from his teammate, who was over seven seconds clear of third-placed Palou.
Lundqvist took third with 12 laps to go before the Lap 85 Safety Car was called for Rasmussen’s incident.
McLaughlin would hold on off the restart to take a statement-making win, with Power fending off Lundqvist’s challenge for second.
“We just gotta keep rolling,” McLaughlin said. “We know our job. We know what we need to do.
“I’m just super proud of the execution. The Good Ranchers Chevy so good. Couple of yellows didn’t fall our way, but we just showed our pace and super proud of everyone. Let’s keep rolling man. Just execution.
“Execution; that’s our word. And just get going.”
The victory moves McLaughlin to ninth in the championship standings. Colton Herta holds the championship lead over Power by a single point.
Palou, who finished fifth behind Felix Rosenqvist, jumps to third, one place ahead of Dixon, who battled in the mid-pack all race. Dixon is now fourth overall but only seven points behind the leader.
Armstrong’s top ten boosts him to 19th in the standings, while Blomqvist is 22nd.
The famed IndyCar month of May is just days away. The action begins on the Indianapolis Road Course on May 11, ahead of the 108th Running of the Indy 500 on May 26.
Awesome well done Kiwi