| CHEVROLET IN THE NTT INDYCAR SERIESMission Foods Grand Prix Of Monterey2.238-mile, 11-turn Weather Raceway Laguna Seca road courseMonterey, CaliforniaSaturday Qualifying ReportSeptember 5, 2026 MONTEREY, California (Sept. 5, 2026) – Scott McLaughlin, in the No. 3 DEX Team Penske Chevy, earned Chevrolet’s 250th pole in the final race of the 2026 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season. McLaughlin’s earned his third pole of the season and 14th of his career, moving into a tie for fifth on the Team Chevy all-time list with Michael Andretti and Danny Sullivan. “Oh, it was pretty solid,” said McLaughlin. “It wasn’t my best lap, but it was good enough for a pole. I said all week, the car-the last couple of days-the car has had really good speed, just almost effortless speed. I’m really proud of the guys. I lost my voice, because I’m yelling so much, so I’m really proud of everyone. Long race tomorrow for the Dex Chevy. That’s 250 poles for Team Chevy. So I’m really proud for them. Hopefully we can transition this to a win.” Jim Hurtubise was the first Chevrolet-powered pole winner, using a Chevrolet small-block originally built for the Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport at the one-mile dirt oval at Langhorne Speedway. “Congratulations to Scott McLaughlin and Team Penske on securing Chevrolet’s 250th INDYCAR pole,” said Mark Stielow, Director – Motorsports Competition Chevrolet Programs. “Two hundred and fifty poles is more than a number—it reflects Chevrolet’s enduring commitment to performance and the collective effort of our engineers, partners, teams and drivers. This is a significant achievement for everyone who has helped build Chevrolet’s INDYCAR legacy. To accomplish this milestone at the iconic WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, helps us end the 2026 season on a high note” Will Power (47 poles), Team Penske (160 poles) and Iowa Speedway (15 poles) lead the driver, team and tracks on the all-time earned pole list for Chevrolet. Since the introduction of the 2.2L Twin-Turbo V6 in 2012, Chevrolet power has won 58.2% (146) poles. Chevrolet-powered earned pole notes Mission Foods Grand Prix Of Monterey qualifying results: |
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 Alexander Rossi in the No. 20 ECR Java House Chevrolet qualified 4th, his best road or street course qualifying result of the season |
| What They’re Saying – Mission Foods Grand Prix Of Monterey Scott McLaughlin, No. 3 DEX Team Penske Chevrolet qualified on pole, Chevrolet’s 250th pole in INDYCAR:“Oh, it was pretty solid. It wasn’t my best lap, but it was good enough a pole. I said all week, the car-the last couple of days-the car has had really good speed, just almost effortless speed. I’m really proud of the guys. I lost my voice, because I’m yelling so much, so I’m really proud of everyone. Long race tomorrow for the Dex Chevy. That’s 250 poles for Team Chevy. So I’m really proud for them. Hopefully we can transition this to a win.” Alexander Rossi, No. 20 ECR Java House Chevrolet qualified 4th:“Road courses have been a big struggle for us, really all season. At a test we had a couple of months ago, we really understood something we hadn’t prior to that and have just been building off of it. This sport is so challenging, there’s no magic pill or overnight fix, it’s just a process. Sometimes we have to really go through it before we find our way out. The No. 20 Java House Chevrolet has been through a lot this season so it’s nice to get a decent qualifying on the books before the year comes to a close. The group behind me is an amazing group who just keeps pushing forward each weekend. Huge thanks to the whole ECR organization, and congrats to Team Chevy on their 250th pole. Tomorrow is a great opportunity for ECR to end this season in a really special way.” Christian Lundgaard, No. 7 VELO Arrow McLaren Chevrolet qualified 5th:“We just kept improving the car through the weekend so far. I actually thought we had a chance to pull off the pole on the used Firestone Reds that were on the car. We wanted to save an extra set of new Reds for the race. I think ultimately it’s going to be a tire degradation race, and maybe the alts are faster but we don’t really know quite yet so we wanted the option. We know we need to finish ahead of the 27 car and 5 car to secure second in the championship, and we felt that was the best route to have both sets on deck for the race tomorrow. I’m proud of the team with what we pulled off in Qualifying.” David Malukas, No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet qualified 6th:“The past month, with this injury flair up with the wrist coming out of Mid-Ohio. This past month we’ve had this drop in form and all these races. It’s more just surviving. I’ve got two days left here where we’re testing a lot of good stuff with the Verizon Chevy. Qualifying is easy on the wrist. You only push for two laps and then it gets to recover. But these races take a toll. We’re doing what we can. Tomorrow is going to be about surviving. Hopefully this wrist can take one more. This is a tough one on it. The team has done a good job and hopefully we can finish it off on a high note.” Caio Collet, No. 4 Combitrans Amazonia Chevrolet qualified 12th:“I think it was a pretty decent qualifying. Another fast 12. We were really happy in Q1 with the strategy, and also I did a really good lap. Then in Q2, we tried to make the car better but I think it didn’t really work well. Also we got a bit out of sequence with the guys in front, so I didn’t really have a clean lap, which is a bit unfortunate. But I think it would not have changed much because I have the engine penalty anyway. So two or three spots, I think I could have done a P8 or P7 maybe but still with the engine penalty, we will still start a little bit outside the top 10. I think we have a pretty decent race car, and hopefully we can move forward tomorrow.” Pato O’Ward, No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet qualified 13th:“We’re focused on the race now, starting 12th. Today was a bit underwhelming based on what I thought we could accomplish in Qualifying today. We just missed it there by a smidge to transfer, bummer.” Nolan Siegel, No. 6 NTT DATA Arrow McLaren Chevrolet qualified 16th:“It didn’t feel too bad, just missed it on the execution a little bit. It’s disappointing because we’ve been strong all weekend up until now. I just ended up in kind of a funky spot on track, didn’t get the tires in the right window and then didn’t execute the session as well as we needed to. So, missed it by just a couple hundreds and Kind of been the story of our year. So, we’ll be in it tomorrow and, have a car for it. Excited to finish the season strong.” Christian Rasmussen, No. 21 Splenda Stevia Chevrolet qualified 18th:“That was a difficult qualifying session, especially after we had a fairly strong practice session and felt like we had a good car underneath us. It’s a bit disappointing to qualify 18th, but we know we have the pace to move forward. We’ll have to fight our way through the field tomorrow, but I’m confident we can make up some ground and have a strong race to finish the season!” Rinus VeeKay, No. 76 Juncos Hollinger Chevrolet qualified 19th:“That was a tough qualifying. I think we just struggled there to get the balance right with the track progression with the car on reds. We just missed it unfortunately. Starting 19th with a time that is only four tenths off P1. So it wasn’t terrible. Just with how tight it is, we just missed the ball a little bit. Not ideal, but we’ve race from the back to the front this year. Looking forward to doing that again. I think we can have a great weekend.” Josef Newgarden, No. 2 Astemo Team Penske Chevrolet qualified 20th:Santino Ferrucci, No. 14 Homes For Our Troops Chevrolet qualified 21st:“Just really standard qualifying. Nothing to really say about it. Just obviously missing speed. So we’ll figure out what’s going on and go from there.” Sting Ray Robb, No. 77 Juncos Hollinger – Goodheart Chevrolet qualified 25th:“Really frustrating qualifying. But it’s the best car we’ve had all weekend. We made some steps forward, and I think we have a good idea what we need for the race. But tomorrow is a new day but we won’t have a warm-up. See how it plays out. I think the degradation is going to big here compared to the past couple of seasons at Laguna Seca. The aggregate level has changed a lot over the past couple of years. So back to maybe 2022 grip level because I had my best finish here in INDY NEXT, winning by 11 seconds. So that would be really cool if we could run it back.” |
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| Scott McLaughlin celebrates pole #250 for Team Chevy with his Team Penske crew |
| NTT INDYCAR SERIES News ConferenceSaturday, September 5, 2026Scott McLaughlinPress Conference THE MODERATOR: Scott McLaughlin joins us. Third NTT P1 award of the season.Congratulations. 250 by the way for Team Chevrolet. Another big milestone there. Your thoughts. It was close. SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Yeah, no, it was close. I don’t know if all of us did a really good lap. That’s what is so hard about Laguna. If you can do it enough, be committed in the right spots. Yeah, I felt like from the jump this weekend, we’ve come with a philosophy we’ve been working on the last, I don’t know, four months or something like that, basically since our Mid-Ohio test. Been feeling better and better. Put it all together today. Really proud of Raul, my engineer. We’ve been clicking. I’ve been saying it. It just feels really good right now. Really proud for him and the team. Proud for Chevrolet. That’s fantastic. To be the guy that’s won 249 and 250 as well. We’ve had some good times together, for sure. Here’s to many more. Really proud. Felt like a lot of hard work. It’s been hard the last couple years, especially on road courses, not only for me but the team. I feel like we’re really starting to just find a bit of direction. We got a long way to go to be consistent week in, week out as well. We’re working hard. Really proud. THE MODERATOR: Strong qualifying performances like this, is that something going into the off-season that you can hang your hat on a little bit? SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: The biggest thing for us was road courses was almost our hurdle, bogey. We felt good on short ovals, felt good at Indy. On street tracks I feel like I’ve had really good speed there from the jump. I haven’t really worried about that car. The road course car is something we’ve really struggled with, and this tire. Personally, but I think as a team as well, now just to get a pole is a really good motivating thing for the whole team. We have a long way to go for tomorrow. There’s no doubt I think we’ve got great pace on both compounds. We’ll sue where it leads. Really, really happy for Raul, to be honest. This is his pole. He’s a great friend of mine. Had an up-and-down season just like I have the last few. Just really cool to see him happy and jovial. THE MODERATOR: Questions for Scott. Q. You and Raul on the new driver-engineer relationship, second half of the season, that curve is going up. What’s working now? What have you found?SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Yeah, he’s just at lot more comfortable with the tire, with the car, how the tracks change. Yeah, temperature adjustment. So finicky in INDYCAR, you can miss it just by a bee’s thing. If you just miss it, you’re off, you’re out. There’s been a couple times where we’ve had pretty good pace and we’ve missed the Fast 12. It doesn’t show our pace. I’m so happy to have qualified well for him today and prove that the trajectory, where we’ve been going with the car is great. Like I said, this is his pole more than anything. Q. Can you share how great race engineers engineer the cars, but the most successful ones the engineer is engineering the driver…SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: We’re very good friends. My wife calls him my second wife. We text all the time (smiling). We’re always talking and thinking about the car and the race car. We’re talking about the 500 today. It’s great to have a guy like that Ben was like that for me, but he was very engineering, where Raul is probably a little bit more, like, driver. Helps me with a little bit driving. Why can’t you do that? What do I need to do with the car to make you do that? He calls me out if I’m slow here, whatever. That’s a good thing. Not that Ben didn’t do it, but just a little bit different way we do it. I’ve learned a lot about the race car this year, what different parts do. I think the guy next to me before is where he excels. Raul has known him since he was like four years old. I have a bit of a book in terms of how good he is. It’s been nice to learn off that a bit because everyone needs to race to his level. Q. Are you sick?SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: I yelled way too much on the in-lap. I just lost my voice. I was great this morning. Fine. Good as gold. Q. You see Alex here, if he wins, it’s like okay, another win. Already won the title. What would a win for you and your team mean or do for your season?SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: It would mean a lot. Obviously I want that more than anything. You’ve seen the last events how hard I want it, how aggressive I want to be. Like, it’s not about forcing anything. I’m just dotting our Is, crossing our Ts. I think we’re on a great trajectory right now. You’re chasing Alex. You’re chasing what they do. Their excellence is high. They don’t miss a beat. He’s qualified on the front row again, he’s going to be a contender tomorrow. He does that week in, week out. We need to get to that level. It’s nice to win a race here or there, but I want to be competing week in, week out. That’s the only way to win a championship. Absolutely, I want to win the race. I want to win races in the future. I know we can. We have the speed. It’s all about getting that consistency back, which I think we’re slow getting back. Q. To win it in the last race of the year before the long off-season, would that almost be like a mic drop moment for you?SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Make not mic drop, but it would be a really good motivating feature. I think this is great, the pole. We’ve been really executing well in our race. To have track position tomorrow is a great start. We’ll see what we’ve got. Q. Looking at today and then looking at yesterday, the ambient temperature and track temperature are pretty consistent across the hour and a half. You’d have to assume that’s going to be the same tomorrow. Is that going to play into the tire deg as well, pit stops, two tire compounds? Are we going to see lots of choices available?SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: It’s going to be interesting. I feel great on both compounds. It’s going to be how they both deg. It’s nice to have a consistent temperature more for the baseline, you can trust those reads you get each time you’re on track. Unsure until this afternoon when we got in practice how it’s going to react the long runs. But it has been helpful to be pretty consistent with the balance and know roughly what I need from the car. Q. Looking at the season as a whole, having the pole in the first race, obviously here, it’s got to be a confidence booster long-term for you?SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Yeah, no, for sure. It’s an awesome deal. I’m proud of that. I’m too inconsistent. I need to be more consistent throughout the whole season if I’m going to compete with these guys. I have the speed. I don’t doubt that by any means. I know I can win races. I’ve done it before. If I want to win a championship, which is the ultimate goal, I need to be better in the mid-season and consistent throughout the whole season. THE MODERATOR: St. Pete seems like a long time ago. SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: It does. THE MODERATOR: Get some warm tea for the throat and best of luck tomorrow.SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Thank you. |
| Tune-In Guide Sunday, September 6Mission Foods Grand Prix Of Monterey (95 laps) – 2:30pm (ET)/1:30pm (CT)12:30pm (MT)/11:30am (PT) – FOX/INDYCAR Radio Network/SIRIUSXM 218  |
| Christian Lundgaard (Arrow McLaren) celebrates on the podium at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca in 2025 |
| CHEVROLET IN THE NTT INDYCAR SERIESMission Foods Grand Prix Of Monterey2.238-mile, 11-turn Weather Raceway Laguna Seca road courseMonterey, CaliforniaSaturday Qualifying ReportSeptember 5, 2026 MONTEREY, California (Sept. 5, 2026) – Scott McLaughlin, in the No. 3 DEX Team Penske Chevy, earned Chevrolet’s 250th pole in the final race of the 2026 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season. McLaughlin’s earned his third pole of the season and 14th of his career, moving into a tie for fifth on the Team Chevy all-time list with Michael Andretti and Danny Sullivan. “Oh, it was pretty solid,” said McLaughlin. “It wasn’t my best lap, but it was good enough for a pole. I said all week, the car-the last couple of days-the car has had really good speed, just almost effortless speed. I’m really proud of the guys. I lost my voice, because I’m yelling so much, so I’m really proud of everyone. Long race tomorrow for the Dex Chevy. That’s 250 poles for Team Chevy. So I’m really proud for them. Hopefully we can transition this to a win.” Jim Hurtubise was the first Chevrolet-powered pole winner, using a Chevrolet small-block originally built for the Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport at the one-mile dirt oval at Langhorne Speedway. “Congratulations to Scott McLaughlin and Team Penske on securing Chevrolet’s 250th INDYCAR pole,” said Mark Stielow, Director – Motorsports Competition Chevrolet Programs. “Two hundred and fifty poles is more than a number—it reflects Chevrolet’s enduring commitment to performance and the collective effort of our engineers, partners, teams and drivers. This is a significant achievement for everyone who has helped build Chevrolet’s INDYCAR legacy. To accomplish this milestone at the iconic WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, helps us end the 2026 season on a high note” Will Power (47 poles), Team Penske (160 poles) and Iowa Speedway (15 poles) lead the driver, team and tracks on the all-time earned pole list for Chevrolet. Since the introduction of the 2.2L Twin-Turbo V6 in 2012, Chevrolet power has won 58.2% (146) poles. Chevrolet-powered earned pole notes Mission Foods Grand Prix Of Monterey qualifying results: |
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| Alexander Rossi in the No. 20 ECR Java House Chevrolet qualified 4th, his best road or street course qualifying result of the season |
| What They’re Saying – Mission Foods Grand Prix Of Monterey Scott McLaughlin, No. 3 DEX Team Penske Chevrolet qualified on pole, Chevrolet’s 250th pole in INDYCAR:“Oh, it was pretty solid. It wasn’t my best lap, but it was good enough a pole. I said all week, the car-the last couple of days-the car has had really good speed, just almost effortless speed. I’m really proud of the guys. I lost my voice, because I’m yelling so much, so I’m really proud of everyone. Long race tomorrow for the Dex Chevy. That’s 250 poles for Team Chevy. So I’m really proud for them. Hopefully we can transition this to a win.” Alexander Rossi, No. 20 ECR Java House Chevrolet qualified 4th:“Road courses have been a big struggle for us, really all season. At a test we had a couple of months ago, we really understood something we hadn’t prior to that and have just been building off of it. This sport is so challenging, there’s no magic pill or overnight fix, it’s just a process. Sometimes we have to really go through it before we find our way out. The No. 20 Java House Chevrolet has been through a lot this season so it’s nice to get a decent qualifying on the books before the year comes to a close. The group behind me is an amazing group who just keeps pushing forward each weekend. Huge thanks to the whole ECR organization, and congrats to Team Chevy on their 250th pole. Tomorrow is a great opportunity for ECR to end this season in a really special way.” Christian Lundgaard, No. 7 VELO Arrow McLaren Chevrolet qualified 5th:“We just kept improving the car through the weekend so far. I actually thought we had a chance to pull off the pole on the used Firestone Reds that were on the car. We wanted to save an extra set of new Reds for the race. I think ultimately it’s going to be a tire degradation race, and maybe the alts are faster but we don’t really know quite yet so we wanted the option. We know we need to finish ahead of the 27 car and 5 car to secure second in the championship, and we felt that was the best route to have both sets on deck for the race tomorrow. I’m proud of the team with what we pulled off in Qualifying.” David Malukas, No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet qualified 6th:“The past month, with this injury flair up with the wrist coming out of Mid-Ohio. This past month we’ve had this drop in form and all these races. It’s more just surviving. I’ve got two days left here where we’re testing a lot of good stuff with the Verizon Chevy. Qualifying is easy on the wrist. You only push for two laps and then it gets to recover. But these races take a toll. We’re doing what we can. Tomorrow is going to be about surviving. Hopefully this wrist can take one more. This is a tough one on it. The team has done a good job and hopefully we can finish it off on a high note.” Caio Collet, No. 4 Combitrans Amazonia Chevrolet qualified 12th:“I think it was a pretty decent qualifying. Another fast 12. We were really happy in Q1 with the strategy, and also I did a really good lap. Then in Q2, we tried to make the car better but I think it didn’t really work well. Also we got a bit out of sequence with the guys in front, so I didn’t really have a clean lap, which is a bit unfortunate. But I think it would not have changed much because I have the engine penalty anyway. So two or three spots, I think I could have done a P8 or P7 maybe but still with the engine penalty, we will still start a little bit outside the top 10. I think we have a pretty decent race car, and hopefully we can move forward tomorrow.” Pato O’Ward, No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet qualified 13th:“We’re focused on the race now, starting 12th. Today was a bit underwhelming based on what I thought we could accomplish in Qualifying today. We just missed it there by a smidge to transfer, bummer.” Nolan Siegel, No. 6 NTT DATA Arrow McLaren Chevrolet qualified 16th:“It didn’t feel too bad, just missed it on the execution a little bit. It’s disappointing because we’ve been strong all weekend up until now. I just ended up in kind of a funky spot on track, didn’t get the tires in the right window and then didn’t execute the session as well as we needed to. So, missed it by just a couple hundreds and Kind of been the story of our year. So, we’ll be in it tomorrow and, have a car for it. Excited to finish the season strong.” Christian Rasmussen, No. 21 Splenda Stevia Chevrolet qualified 18th:“That was a difficult qualifying session, especially after we had a fairly strong practice session and felt like we had a good car underneath us. It’s a bit disappointing to qualify 18th, but we know we have the pace to move forward. We’ll have to fight our way through the field tomorrow, but I’m confident we can make up some ground and have a strong race to finish the season!” Rinus VeeKay, No. 76 Juncos Hollinger Chevrolet qualified 19th:“That was a tough qualifying. I think we just struggled there to get the balance right with the track progression with the car on reds. We just missed it unfortunately. Starting 19th with a time that is only four tenths off P1. So it wasn’t terrible. Just with how tight it is, we just missed the ball a little bit. Not ideal, but we’ve race from the back to the front this year. Looking forward to doing that again. I think we can have a great weekend.” Josef Newgarden, No. 2 Astemo Team Penske Chevrolet qualified 20th:Santino Ferrucci, No. 14 Homes For Our Troops Chevrolet qualified 21st:“Just really standard qualifying. Nothing to really say about it. Just obviously missing speed. So we’ll figure out what’s going on and go from there.” Sting Ray Robb, No. 77 Juncos Hollinger – Goodheart Chevrolet qualified 25th:“Really frustrating qualifying. But it’s the best car we’ve had all weekend. We made some steps forward, and I think we have a good idea what we need for the race. But tomorrow is a new day but we won’t have a warm-up. See how it plays out. I think the degradation is going to big here compared to the past couple of seasons at Laguna Seca. The aggregate level has changed a lot over the past couple of years. So back to maybe 2022 grip level because I had my best finish here in INDY NEXT, winning by 11 seconds. So that would be really cool if we could run it back.” |
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| Scott McLaughlin celebrates pole #250 for Team Chevy with his Team Penske crew |
| NTT INDYCAR SERIES News ConferenceSaturday, September 5, 2026Scott McLaughlinPress Conference THE MODERATOR: Scott McLaughlin joins us. Third NTT P1 award of the season.Congratulations. 250 by the way for Team Chevrolet. Another big milestone there. Your thoughts. It was close. SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Yeah, no, it was close. I don’t know if all of us did a really good lap. That’s what is so hard about Laguna. If you can do it enough, be committed in the right spots. Yeah, I felt like from the jump this weekend, we’ve come with a philosophy we’ve been working on the last, I don’t know, four months or something like that, basically since our Mid-Ohio test. Been feeling better and better. Put it all together today. Really proud of Raul, my engineer. We’ve been clicking. I’ve been saying it. It just feels really good right now. Really proud for him and the team. Proud for Chevrolet. That’s fantastic. To be the guy that’s won 249 and 250 as well. We’ve had some good times together, for sure. Here’s to many more. Really proud. Felt like a lot of hard work. It’s been hard the last couple years, especially on road courses, not only for me but the team. I feel like we’re really starting to just find a bit of direction. We got a long way to go to be consistent week in, week out as well. We’re working hard. Really proud. THE MODERATOR: Strong qualifying performances like this, is that something going into the off-season that you can hang your hat on a little bit? SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: The biggest thing for us was road courses was almost our hurdle, bogey. We felt good on short ovals, felt good at Indy. On street tracks I feel like I’ve had really good speed there from the jump. I haven’t really worried about that car. The road course car is something we’ve really struggled with, and this tire. Personally, but I think as a team as well, now just to get a pole is a really good motivating thing for the whole team. We have a long way to go for tomorrow. There’s no doubt I think we’ve got great pace on both compounds. We’ll sue where it leads. Really, really happy for Raul, to be honest. This is his pole. He’s a great friend of mine. Had an up-and-down season just like I have the last few. Just really cool to see him happy and jovial. THE MODERATOR: Questions for Scott. Q. You and Raul on the new driver-engineer relationship, second half of the season, that curve is going up. What’s working now? What have you found?SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Yeah, he’s just at lot more comfortable with the tire, with the car, how the tracks change. Yeah, temperature adjustment. So finicky in INDYCAR, you can miss it just by a bee’s thing. If you just miss it, you’re off, you’re out. There’s been a couple times where we’ve had pretty good pace and we’ve missed the Fast 12. It doesn’t show our pace. I’m so happy to have qualified well for him today and prove that the trajectory, where we’ve been going with the car is great. Like I said, this is his pole more than anything. Q. Can you share how great race engineers engineer the cars, but the most successful ones the engineer is engineering the driver…SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: We’re very good friends. My wife calls him my second wife. We text all the time (smiling). We’re always talking and thinking about the car and the race car. We’re talking about the 500 today. It’s great to have a guy like that Ben was like that for me, but he was very engineering, where Raul is probably a little bit more, like, driver. Helps me with a little bit driving. Why can’t you do that? What do I need to do with the car to make you do that? He calls me out if I’m slow here, whatever. That’s a good thing. Not that Ben didn’t do it, but just a little bit different way we do it. I’ve learned a lot about the race car this year, what different parts do. I think the guy next to me before is where he excels. Raul has known him since he was like four years old. I have a bit of a book in terms of how good he is. It’s been nice to learn off that a bit because everyone needs to race to his level. Q. Are you sick?SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: I yelled way too much on the in-lap. I just lost my voice. I was great this morning. Fine. Good as gold. Q. You see Alex here, if he wins, it’s like okay, another win. Already won the title. What would a win for you and your team mean or do for your season?SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: It would mean a lot. Obviously I want that more than anything. You’ve seen the last events how hard I want it, how aggressive I want to be. Like, it’s not about forcing anything. I’m just dotting our Is, crossing our Ts. I think we’re on a great trajectory right now. You’re chasing Alex. You’re chasing what they do. Their excellence is high. They don’t miss a beat. He’s qualified on the front row again, he’s going to be a contender tomorrow. He does that week in, week out. We need to get to that level. It’s nice to win a race here or there, but I want to be competing week in, week out. That’s the only way to win a championship. Absolutely, I want to win the race. I want to win races in the future. I know we can. We have the speed. It’s all about getting that consistency back, which I think we’re slow getting back. Q. To win it in the last race of the year before the long off-season, would that almost be like a mic drop moment for you?SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Make not mic drop, but it would be a really good motivating feature. I think this is great, the pole. We’ve been really executing well in our race. To have track position tomorrow is a great start. We’ll see what we’ve got. Q. Looking at today and then looking at yesterday, the ambient temperature and track temperature are pretty consistent across the hour and a half. You’d have to assume that’s going to be the same tomorrow. Is that going to play into the tire deg as well, pit stops, two tire compounds? Are we going to see lots of choices available?SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: It’s going to be interesting. I feel great on both compounds. It’s going to be how they both deg. It’s nice to have a consistent temperature more for the baseline, you can trust those reads you get each time you’re on track. Unsure until this afternoon when we got in practice how it’s going to react the long runs. But it has been helpful to be pretty consistent with the balance and know roughly what I need from the car. Q. Looking at the season as a whole, having the pole in the first race, obviously here, it’s got to be a confidence booster long-term for you?SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Yeah, no, for sure. It’s an awesome deal. I’m proud of that. I’m too inconsistent. I need to be more consistent throughout the whole season if I’m going to compete with these guys. I have the speed. I don’t doubt that by any means. I know I can win races. I’ve done it before. If I want to win a championship, which is the ultimate goal, I need to be better in the mid-season and consistent throughout the whole season. THE MODERATOR: St. Pete seems like a long time ago. SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: It does. THE MODERATOR: Get some warm tea for the throat and best of luck tomorrow.SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Thank you. |
| Tune-In Guide Sunday, September 6Mission Foods Grand Prix Of Monterey (95 laps) – 2:30pm (ET)/1:30pm (CT)12:30pm (MT)/11:30am (PT) – FOX/INDYCAR Radio Network/SIRIUSXM 218 |
| Christian Lundgaard (Arrow McLaren) celebrates on the podium at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca in 2025 |
| Chevrolet at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca Chevrolet wins at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca: 5 1993 – Paul Tracy – Team Penske1991 – Michael Andretti – Newman Haas Racing1990 – Danny Sullivan – Team Penske1989 – Rick Mears – Team Penske1988 – Danny Sullivan – Team Penske Chevrolet poles at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca: 8 2023 – Felix Rosenqvist – Arrow McLaren2022 – Will Power – Team Penske1993 – Emerson Fittipaldi – Team Penske1991 – Michael Andretti – Newman Haas Racing1990 – Danny Sullivan – Team Penske1989 – Rick Mears – Team Penske1988 – Danny Sullivan – Team Penske1987 – Mario Andretti – Newman Haas Racing Chevrolet podiums at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca: 22 Chevrolet podiums at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca by driver: Mario Andretti (3), Danny Sullivan (3), Al Unser Jr. (3), Michael Andretti (2), Rick Mears (2), Will Power (2), Emerson Fittipaldi (1), Christian Lundgaard (1), Scott McLaughlin (1), Josef Newgarden (1), Bob Rahal (1), Alexander Rossi (1) and Paul Tracy (1) Chevrolet podiums at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca by team: Team Penske (11), Newman Haas Racing (5), Galles Racing (3), Arrow McLaren (2), Rahal Hogan Racing (1) Chevrolet laps led at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca: 556 Chevrolet laps led at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca by driver: Danny Sullivan (156), Michael Andretti (86), Mario Andretti (83), Paul Tracy (81), Rick Mears (52), Will Power (29), Pato O’Ward (15), Al Unser Jr. (14), Felix Rosenqvist (11), Nolan Siegel (11), Josef Newgarden (10), Alexander Rossi (10), Emerson Fittipaldi (7), Callum Ilott (1), and Simon Pagenaud (1) Chevrolet laps led at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca by team: Team Penske (332), Newman Haas Racing (169), Arrow McLaren (47), Galles Racing (14), Patrick Racing (4), and Juncos Hollinger Racing (1) Manufacturer History at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca Wins (with competition): 9 – Honda (2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2019, 2000, 1997, 1996)5 – Chevrolet (1993, 1991, 1990, 1989, 1988)5 – Cosworth (1987, 1986, 1985, 1984, 1983)4 – Ford (2001, 1999, 1998, 1992)1 – Ilmor (1994)1 – Mercedes (1995)1 – Toyota (2002) Poles (with competition): 8 – Chevrolet (2023, 2021, 1993, 1991, 1990, 1989, 1988, 1987)7 – Honda (2025, 2024, 2021 2019, 2001, 2000, 1996)5 – Ford (1999, 1998, 1997, 1995, 1992)4 – Cosworth (1986, 1985, 1984, 1983)1 – Ilmor (1994)1 – Toyota (2002) |