Scott McLaughlin ended his 35-race winless streak in emphatic fashion at the Mission Foods Grand Prix of Monterey in Laguna Seca, leading 87 of the 90 laps to close out the 2026 NTT IndyCar Series season with this eighth career victory.
The result was more than a long-awaited return to Victory Lane for the Team Penske driver. McLaughlin converted pole into a dominant win after finishing inside the top five every session, delivering the kind of complete weekend that had eluded him throughout the season.
It also marked a significant breakthrough for Team Penske on a road course where the organization had struggled in recent years. For McLaughlin and the No. 3 team, the victory validated months of work and provided momentum heading into the off-season.
A culmination of some hard work
For McLaughlin, the Laguna Seca victory was the result of work that had been building for several months. He pointed towards the Mid-Ohio test as a key moment for the No.3 team, where they began to find a direction that would eventually lead them back to Victory Lane.
“A culmination of some hard work. I think the whole team, all three cars, just been working on basically I think from Mid-Ohio test for us, at least on my car, we found a bit of a direction.”
The pace had been there before Sunday, with McLaughlin having taken poles without being able to convert them into wins. That made finally putting together a complete weekend even more important, particularly at a circuit that had been a difficult one for Team Penske in recent years.
“Always felt, yeah, Raul was my guy. We’ve been having that good energy, that feeling that we could do this, but it was just about putting the parts together.
“Today was fantastic. We’ve had poles. Haven’t quite completed the races. You could see that it was there. Really proud to get our first win together on a road course where the last couple years we probably struggled at the most.”
The relationship between McLaughlin and his engineering group has been an important part of that progress. While Raul Prados has received much of the attention, McLaughlin was also quick to highlight performance engineer Malcom Finch and the wider No. 3 stand.
“Yeah, I’m so happy for him. Malcolm Finch gets forgotten as well. He’s my performance engineer. He’s been fantastic.
“For us to get that success, we never stopped believing. We knew we could do it. It was a matter of putting it together and the feeling that I needed to go fast and trust the car.”
Controlling the final stint
McLaughlin’s win may have looked comfortable form the outside, but the final stint still required careful management. Running the hard tire while Kyle Kirkwood had fresher reds behind him, he knew the early laps would be important to maintaining control of the race.
“Yeah, about the same. I was probably surprised how bad I was at the end of a black tire stint. But we made it progressively better. That’s what you need to do. … That’s a lot of trust in myself and Raul, figuring out what rear bar and front bar we want, all that jazz. Like I said, it’s good.”
McLaughlin was also thankful that Kirkwood had opted for the red tires for the final stint. He believed that if he could survive the opening laps and maintain the gap, the advantage woulf eventually swing back towards him as Kirkwood’s tires faded.
“I was thankful that Kirkwood had reds to put on at the end. He was quick on the blacks. I knew if I could just get through the out-laps, then control that first part of the stint, he would probably die off a little worse than I would. That’s sort of what happened.”
That control became even more important when McLaughlin began to experience a vibration late in the race. Rather than panic, he focused on protection the car and understanding what was happening underneath him.
“It was bad enough for me to think about where I was placing the car, look after the left rear, not run the curbs and stuff like that. I wanted to bring it home more than anything. Thankfully we had reasonable pace and wasn’t pressured. I sort of was able to do what I wanted there.
A win for his daughter
While the result was important for Team Penske and McLaughlin’s season, there was a more personal reason why the victory meant so much to the New Zealand driver.
McLaughlin has spoken throughout his career about his family, and winning the season finale meant he could finally deliver on a promise he had made to his daughter Lucy.
“I’m very excited. I said on TV, for me to win as a dad, I’ve been wanting to win for Lucy so much. That’s the main thing.”
There was a sense of relief mixed with the excitement of finally returning to Victory Lane after such a long wait and with a new addition to the family to watch.
“A bit of everything, to be honest. I’d say a little bit of relief because I’ve been promising Lucy a long time a race win. She has no idea. She gave me nothing on FaceTime before. That’s part of it.”
The victory also gave McLaughlin the chance to end the season on a high after a year that had not always produced results he wanted. Despite the dominant performance, however, he was not ready to simply celebrate and move on.
“Yeah, we’ll celebrate it, but we’ll learn from it, too. I don’t think we were that great across the stints. We need to figure out why we’re using the rear tires a little bit more than the 27 there.
“Yeah, I’m very happy, but there’s work to be done.”
A special win for Team Chevy
The victory also carried significance beyond McLaughlin and Team Penske. By winning at Laguna Seca, McLaughlin became the first Chevrolet driver to win at the circuit since Paul Tracy in 1993.
The statistic was news to McLaughlin when it was brought up in the press conference, but it added another milestone to an already important weekend for Team Chevy.
“Yeah, I didn’t know that. Proud obviously. We got the 249 and 250 poles for them. To get that was a big milestone for Team Chevy. Yeah, to win today was special. I didn’t know that stat, so that’s pretty cool.”
McLaughlin was also quick to point out that the result was not simply down to the No. 3 team, crediting the wider Chevrolet operation for the work that had gone into improving their performance.
“Proud of the effort. It’s been hard for everyone. We worked together really well, all Chevy teams. I feel like we’re going to have to keep working in the off-season, keep getting stronger and better. We know where we need to improve.
“Yeah, I feel like it’s a massive team effort from everyone up in Michigan. Really, really proud. Proud to do it for them. Yeah, we’re going to have to work hard in the off-season to come back better.”
Looking towards 2027
The win gives Team Penske a positive ending to a season that had not always gone according to plan. Jonathan Diuguid pointed towards the organization’s work throughout the year and the progress made on road courses in particular.
“Obviously we didn’t have a lot of time. The off-season is long. It does take a lot of work and effort from a lot of people to kind of the ship, identify what the issues are, then be able to address them with limited testing sessions.”
Road courses had been one of the biggest weaknesses identified by the organization, making the performances at Mid-Ohio and Laguna Seca particularly encouraging.
“Street courses is there, but road courses was the biggest deficit we identified. We had a strong Mid-Ohio race, had a strong race here. I think it just goes to show we’re on the right track and have a good foundation to build on.”
For Diuguid, the result also demonstrated that Penske now has the strength across all three types of circuits needed to fight for championships.
“We’re strong on road courses, street courses and ovals now, which is what it takes to be competitive in the championship. Real excited for 2027 already.”
McLaughlin echoed that focus, recognizing that while the season finale was a major accomplishment, the team cannot afford to stop working.
“Yeah, what a great way to end the season. We have a lot of hard work to do over the off-season to come back stronger, combat against the 10. I think J.D. would agree, it’s just a good finish to the season, gets everyone excited.”
A fitting end to the 60th season
The victory was also a fitting result for Team Penske’s 60th anniversary season. McLaughlin spoke about the pride that comes with wearing the Penske uniform and representing the people who came before him.
“I think it’s just proud to put this uniform on. The people that raced before you, the people that work before you, to celebrate 60 years has been amazing for Roger. To have success is fantastic. Is it as much success as we want? No. We keep continue as we always are talking about: Effort equals results. We will keep working.”
After six years of waiting to finally celebrate a Laguna Seca victory with a donut, McLaughlin may not have perfected the celebration itself, but the result was exactly what he had been looking for.
“It sucked. Look, I was doing donuts, that’s all I can ask for.”
For McLaughlin, the season may have ended with a win rather than a championship, but the No. 3 team’s performance at Laguna Seca gives them something to build on heading into 2027. After a year of searching for the right direction, Team Penske finally showed what it could do when everything came together.
