Very close to defending champion Alex Palou, Supercars star Scott McLaughlin salvages his first IndyCar win after a strong drive in St. Petersburg
Scott McLaughlin is the winner of the 2022 IndyCar season opener! On the street circuit in St. Petersburg (Florida), the three-time champion of the Australian Supercars Series prevailed with a composed drive and celebrated his first victory outside “Down Under” at the start of his second IndyCar season.
100 laps were scheduled on the street circuit located on the west coast of the “Sunshine State”. McLaughlin started from pole but had to withstand pressure from last year’s champion Alex Palou (Ganassi-Honda) in the closing stages of the race. The 28-year-old New Zealander succeeded and afterwards the joy knew no bounds.
“Thanks to Roger Penske, Tim Cindric and everyone who got me over here and believed in me,” said McLaughlin. The last few laps were “tough and I still can’t believe it. “
After becoming the first Penske driver ever to capture the rookie title in the 2021 season, McLaughlin is now a race winner in the Roger Penske-owned racing series.
Scott McLaughlin on pole for first time – from there to victory
McLaughlin had already delivered the first big surprise of the new season in qualifying on Saturday. For it wasn’t qualifying and St Petersburg specialist Will Power who came out on top in the time chase. Instead, it was McLaughlin who left his Penske teammate behind and raced to pole for the first time.
With his Q3 best time, McLaughlin narrowly avoided a whopping tenth St Petersburg pole by Power (grid position). Small consolation for Power: he set a new track record in Q2, which also survived McLaughlin’s Q3 lap.
After the flying start to the 100-lap race, McLaughlin turned first into the first corner. Meanwhile, Power fell behind Colton Herta (Andretti-Honda) and Rinus VeeKay (Carpenter-Chevrolet) and was initially only fourth. There was almost a collision between Power and the Andretti newcomer Romain Grosjean, who had started from P5, in the first corner, but everything went well.
As the only driver in the leading group, Power had started the race on the harder of Firestone’s two tyre compounds, the unmarked Blacks. McLaughlin, Herta, VeeKay and co. completed the first stint on the red marked soft tyres.
VeeKay was the first to run into problems with the soft tyres, which have become even softer compared to 2021. With a lack of grip, the Dutchman was passed. In turn, Power came forward with his hard tyres. After getting past VeeKay, he also clipped Herta and gave chase to his leading Penske teammate McLaughlin.
Only one yellow – Only Alexander Rossi stayed out
Lap 25 saw the first yellow and it was to be the only one. David Malukas, one of the six rookies in the 2022 IndyCar field, went off the line in turn 3 in his Coyne Honda and crashed into the wall at the exit of the fast right-hand bend. At the pit stop under yellow, McLaughlin barely defended his position against Power. As far as the tyres were concerned, the signs for the second stint were reversed: McLaughlin and many others on Blacks, Power on Reds.
At first, however, it was no longer McLaughlin who was at the head of the field, but Alexander Rossi (Andretti-Honda). Having come from 13th on the grid, he stayed on track and led at the restart ahead of a number of drivers who had made their first pit stop under green and were therefore flushed to the front during the yellow period, just like Rossi.
On lap 37, leader Rossi came in for his first pit stop under green. Taking command was Ganassi star Scott Dixon, who has six IndyCar titles but not a single St Petersburg win to his name. At the halfway mark, Dixon and his immediate pursuers also pitted under green. For this group it was the second stop. But because there were still 50 laps to go, it was clear that they would not be able to go the distance with two stops.
Rinus VeeKay with risky two-stop strategy
But that’s exactly what Rinus VeeKay tried. After his difficult first stint on Reds, the Dutchman drove over 40 laps on Blacks and only came to his second stop on lap 62 as the leader under green. And with that, he put McLaughlin, Power and Co. in a tight spot.
Because in contrast to Dixon’s three-stop strategy, McLaughlin, Power and Co. were on a two-stop strategy. But last year’s champion Alex Palou and last year’s winner Colton Herta drove between the two Penske drivers at the beginning of the second half of the race. Both had caught Power when he had problems with the soft tyres.
Shortly after VeeKay had made his second stop, the group with McLaughlin, Palou, Herta and Power also came in under green for their second stop. After this stop, it was again Dixon who was leading, but he had to stop again, as did Patricio O’Ward (McLaren-Chevrolet).
The order was: Dixon, O’Ward, McLaughlin, Palou, Power, VeeKay. Meanwhile, Herta lost a few positions. He had to make his second pit stop earlier than planned because the fuel tank had not been completely filled at the first stop.
Leader Dixon came in for his third stop with 22 laps to go. O’Ward had been in for this one earlier. So the original order was restored with pole-setter McLaughlin at the front. And for the final stint of the race, all but one driver had opted for the hard tyres.
Late laps make McLaughlin sweat
McLaughlin led by a few seconds. But with 13 laps to go, the cushion was suddenly gone. The reason was not a driving mistake, but the fact that Jimmie Johnson (Ganassi-Honda; 23rd), who was about to lap, cost the Penske driver a few seconds. Conversely, this put Johnson’s Ganassi team-mate Palou, of all people, within striking distance of McLaughlin.
Power, who was again chasing Palou, also felt held up by Johnson a few laps later. The seven-time NASCAR champion, who like McLaughlin is driving his second IndyCar season, was the only one on soft tyres in the final stint of the race.
With three laps to go, Palou was right in McLaughlin’s slipstream, with Power three seconds behind. At the start of the last lap, McLaughlin also had Andretti rookie Devlin DeFrancesco directly in front of him, as he was also up for lapping. McLaughlin was unable to get past him, but managed to stay just ahead of Palou to wrap up his first IndyCar win.
Behind Scott McLaughlin and Alex Palou, Will Power crossed the line in third. Rinus VeeKay had to save fuel after his risky strategy at the end and was passed by Colton Herta (4th) and Romain Grosjean (5th).
Scott Dixon was the best placed driver in P8 among those who had made three pit stops. On the other hand, Alexander Rossi’s strategy with the long first stint didn’t work out. He only finished in P20.
Best placed of the six rookies in the field was Christian Lundgaard (Rahal-Honda), who just missed the top 10 with P11. Besides David Malukas, who retired early due to an accident, only Dalton Kellett (Foyt-Chevrolet) did not finish. In his case, a technical defect was the reason.
Next stop: Texas Motor Speedway as the first oval in 2022
The second race on the 2022 IndyCar calendar will be at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth in three weeks (20 March). There, five of the six rookies will make their IndyCar oval debut: Kyle Kirkwood, David Malukas, Devlin DeFrancesco, Christian Lundgaard and Callum Ilott. For Lundgaard and Ilott it will even be their first oval race ever, as they do not come from the Indy Lights series.
For Jimmie Johnson, it will be anything but the first oval race of his career in three weeks, but it will still be the first oval race as an IndyCar driver. He skipped the ovals in his rookie season in 2021. Romain Grosjean, on the other hand, already made his oval debut in August 2021 in St. Louis. And Scott McLaughlin finished directly in P2 on his oval debut (just in Fort Worth) in May 2021.
The only one from the St Petersburg field not competing in Fort Worth is Tatiana Calderon, as she is the only one in the six-strong 2022 rookie group to skip the ovals.