Round 18 and the final one of the 2026 IndyCar season has been completed at Laguna Seca is in the books, view the full race report here.
New Zealander Scott McLaughlin started on pole position ahead of the champion Alex Palou. Rosenqvist, Rossi, Malukas and Kirkwood completed the top 6. Lundgaard, Ericsson and Collet all had six-place grid penalties for unapproved engine changes.
Green flag…but not for long
As the top 3 neatly got away at the start, Kyle Kirkwood was on the move. He cleared Malukas and Rossi to move himself into 4th.
At the back, Sting Ray Robb clouted into the back of Dennis Hauger as they approached turn 6, sending the Norwegian into the tyres and sustaining damage himself. He was given a 10-second stop and hold for it.
McLaughlin, Palou, Rosenqvist, Kirkwood, Rossi, Malukas, Simpson, Armstrong, Foster and O’Ward was the top 10 when the caution was thrown. Josef Newgarden pitted for reds under the caution and dropped to 23rd.
The race resumes
On lap 5 as the race restarted, Kyle Kirkwood continued his charge by overtaking Felix Rosenqvist for 3rd.
In the lower end of the midfield, Rinus VeeKay passed Scott Dixon into turn 4 for 15th. He was up four places after making that move. At the end of lap 10, the six-time champion boxed to get off the hards, with Rasmussen following a lap later as he was fighting the #9 before that.
Just outside the top 10, Ericsson passed Lundgaard for 11th.
Pit stops begin for the leaders
Simpson, Lundgaard, Siegel and Grosjean all came in at the end of lap 16 as they had to respond to Dixon. However, that failed as he jumped them all, and the same for Ericsson when he responded a lap later.
At the end of lap 18, Alex Palou pitted as his used reds started to drop, with David Malukas also in. The Spaniard went for the used alternates once more. McLaughlin and Kirkwood came in two tours later.
Rosenqvist, who went to the end of lap 21, then followed them in. The Swede had rejoined ahead of the #27 and #12 but could not defend on cold tyres.
In the battle for a net 9th, Christian Lundgaard made a lovely move into turn 3 on Kyffin Simpson.
Down at turn 2, Josef Newgarden passed Will Power for 16th following a small touch. Louis Foster also came through.
Once Rossi and Ferrucci pitted at the end of lap 25, everyone had made a stop that was still in the race.
As Scott Dixon pitted at the end of lap 27, Christian Lundgaard pounced on Marcus Armstrong into the final corner as he was bottled up behind his fellow Kiwi in the corners before.
McLaughlin led Palou, Kirkwood, Malukas, Rossi, Rosenqvist, Lundgaard, Armstrong, Simpson and Schumacher on lap 28.
With Palou struggling on his used reds, he was backing cars up. Alex Rossi made a brilliant move on David Malukas into turn 4. A lap later, the Spaniard was eaten up by Kirkwood and the #20 in consecutive corners as the tyres went off a cliff. He then boxed and went to blacks.
Second round of stops
With Palou out of contention following the tyre strategy call, McLaughlin continued to hold a 3s lead over Kyle Kirkwood, with Alex Rossi keeping close to the Andretti driver. Ferrucci, Malukas, Rosenqvist, Collet, Lundgaard, Dixon, Newgarden and VeeKay completed the top 10 as lap 50 started. The AJ Foyt cars ran long as Collet pitted at the end of the 49th tour.
In the pit lane, Armstrong and Rasmussen had very slow stops as their crews could not fit one tyre each at any kind of normal pace.
Trying to defend against Pato O’Ward into turn 2 after the Mexican had a painful 14s stop, Will Power went massively deep and off track, handing the position to the McLaren driver.
As the final round of stops approached, Kyle Kirkwood got the gap to Scott McLaughlin down to under 2s as the Andretti driver was faster. Unfortunately for the #27, he caught traffic on the in lap and lost 2 seconds.
David Malukas in P4 was also flying, closing in on Rossi.
Entering turn 6, Nolan Siegel got wide and went through the dirt at high speed. Fortunately for the leaders, he avoided hitting the tyres.
Final round of stops
McLaughlin retained the lead. Having pitted before the top 3, Malukas found himself right behind Rossi after the exchange. After having a go into turn 2, the #20 fended him off.
Once everyone made their scheduled final stops, McLaughlin led Kirkwood, Rossi, Malukas, Rosenqvist, Lundgaard, Armstrong, Palou, Ericsson and Simpson.
With seven laps to go, Felix Rosenqvist sent it on Malukas for P4 as the Team Penske driver fell off on reds. However, he was deep in turn 2 and Malukas bravely fended him off. However, the Swede learned his lesson and made the pass a lap later with the #12 having no traction.
At the front, Scott McLaughlin managed things masterfully to take his first win since Milwaukee in 2024. Kyle Kirkwood sealed second in points with P2. A fantastic drive by Alex Rossi saw him secure his first podium at ECR.
Rosenqvist was 4th on his final start for MSR, with Malukas, Lundgaard, Armstrong, Palou, Ericsson and Simpson completing the top 10. The Dane secured 3rd in points as he leaves McLaren.
