Scott McLaughlin ended a two-year winless streak by winning the 2026 IndyCar Series season finale at Laguna Seca. Starting from pole position, the Team Penske driver held the lead at the start and never relinquished it. Kyle Kirkwood finished second, securing second place in the championship as well. Alexander Rossi surprised with a third-place finish.

McLaughlin holds onto the lead at the start

When the green flag waved, polesitter Scott McLaughlin held onto the lead ahead of Alex Palou and Felix Rosenqvist. Kyle Kirkwood, who started sixth, immediately gained two positions to move up to fourth.

The entire field made it through the first corner without incident, but things went wrong later in the lap at Turn 6. At high speed, Sting Ray Robb made contact with Dennis Hauger, sending the Norwegian into a spin and hard into the tire barriers. The incident could have major consequences for Hauger in the Rookie of the Year battle, as he entered the race with an 18-point lead in the standings. Robb was handed a stop-and-hold penalty for the incident.

At the restart, Kirkwood gained another position by passing Rosenqvist. McLaughlin then began to pull away from Palou, building a three-second advantage.

Tire degradation puts Alex Palou on an alternative strategy

Palou started the race with two stints on the soft tires he had used during qualifying. He managed to stretch his first stint to 18 laps, but during his second stint he began losing significant pace after just 11 laps due to tire degradation and had to let both Kirkwood and Alexander Rossi by in the space of one lap. The reigning champion was forced to make his second pit stop earlier than planned, putting him on a significantly different strategy from the leaders.

That strategy left Palou stuck in traffic, which he surprisingly was unable to clear. As a result, his deficit to the leaders continued to grow. He also switched back to the regular strategy halfway through the race, leaving him in 10th place and requiring him to run two long final stints.

Different tire choices at the final pit stop

Up front, McLaughlin, Kirkwood, Rossi and Malukas continued on a three-stop strategy. McLaughlin maintained a lead of around two seconds over Kirkwood until the final pit stops. McLaughlin chose to run his final stint on the hard tires, while Kirkwood took an aggressive approach by switching to the soft tires.

However, 25 laps on the soft tires proved to be a lot for Kirkwood. It did not take long before the Andretti Global driver was told to manage his tires carefully. As a result, he was unable to mount an attack for the lead, allowing McLaughlin to cruise to his first win in two years without too much pressure.

Full results of the race on Laguna Seca