ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – New Zealander Scott McLaughlin held off defending NTT IndyCar Series champion Alex Palou to score his first career victory in American open-wheel racing at the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg on Sunday.
The win was McLaughlin’s first for Team Penske in IndyCar since moving to the United States in 2020 from Australia after winning three consecutive V8 Supercar championships.
“Thank you to Roger Penske, everyone,” McLaughlin said. “DEX Imaging jumping on board, trusting me, and then Roger Penske and Tim Cindric [for] giving me the opportunity to come here.”
The reigning Rookie of the Year had to fight off Palou in the closing laps, as a two-second lead he’d held with 20 laps to go dwindled down to a mere half a second on the final lap, with lapped traffic playing a significant role in bringing the two closer around the concrete-lined street circuit.
“Oh, man, it was crazy,” McLaughlin said of Palou’s pressure. “I Really struggled those last couple laps, just to keep my head, and then save the fuel and all that sort of stuff. But we did it. Chevy gave us the fuel mileage. Drivability this weekend has been a change, and to win at DEX Imaging’s home race is unreal.”
From the Spaniard Palou’s perspective, they got close, but not close enough to get around McLaughlin.
“It was close,” said Palou, who coincidentally won his first IndyCar race in last year’s season opener at Barber, “but I don’t think we had the pace he had today. Like he was on rails, and he knew where to go fast and where to obviously save some fuel at the end. I was just there trying to make some pressure so hopefully he made a mistake or anything, but no, he was all good.
“Congrats to him. I’m super happy that he got his first win. Yeah, I’m happier that we got our first podium of the year.”
For McLaughlin, the only thing keeping the day from being perfect was his family not being there. McLaughlin hasn’t seen his family due to pandemic-related travel restrictions since he moved stateside.
“I miss my mom and dad dearly and my family,” McLaughlin said. “Wish you guys were here. What a day.”
McLaughlin’s teammate Will Power finished third to complete the podium, with two Andretti Autosport drivers in Colton Herta and Romain Grosjean (making his Andretti debut) finishing fourth and fifth, respectively.
The NTT IndyCar Series will have the next two weeks off before returning to action for the first oval race of the season at the high-speed, high-banked Texas Motor Speedway for the Xpel 375 on Sunday, March 20.