IndyCar Laguna Seca starting lineup: Scott McLaughlin takes pole from Alex Palou by 0.0177s
Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin surged late to take pole for the IndyCar season finale Grand Prix of Monterey at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. The 33-year-old New Zealander set a 1m09.1363s lap in the final moments of qualifying saw him nail a flying lap of 1m09.1363s on the 11-turn, 2.238-mile natural terrain road course, which bested newly crowned five-time series champion ... Keep reading
Team Penske's Scott McLaughlin claimed pole position for the IndyCar season finale Grand Prix of Monterey at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, setting a lap time of 1:09.1363 seconds. This performance edged out newly crowned five-time series champion Alex Palou's time of 1:09.1540s by a mere 0.0177 seconds. It marked McLaughlin's third pole of the season.
In a surprise move, Felix Rosenqvist qualified third, with Alexander Rossi securing the fourth position in the #20 ECR Chevrolet. Rosenqvist was on the verge of taking the second spot but lost precious time at the Zanardi Corkscrew, allowing McLaughlin to take the top spot. Christian Lundgaard of Arrow McLaren ended up fifth, while David Malukas from Team Penske was sixth.
Palou paced the round of 12 with a lap time of 1:09.1490s, narrowly beating McLaughlin's benchmark by 0.1229 seconds. In third place was Malukas, followed by Lundgaard in fourth, and Rossi in fifth. Rosenqvist secured the final transfer spot in sixth, outpacing Kyle Kirkwood's #27 Andretti Global Honda by 0.1626 seconds. Marcus Ericsson followed his Andretti Global teammate to slot eighth, while Chip Ganassi Racing's Kyffin Simpson claimed ninth place.
Juncos Hollinger Racing's Marcus Armstrong secured 10th, Louis Foster's #45 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda was 11th, and Caio Collet from AJ Foyt Racing was 12th.
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