If you’re a fan of race strategy, the Children’s of Alabama Indy GP was a thrilling affair as a battle between two- and three-stoppers played out for 90 laps on Sunday, and when it was over, Scott McLaughlin won round four of the NTT IndyCar Series season in front of a large and enthusiastic crowd.
The only caution of the day was triggered on lap 38 to retrieve the stranded No. 51 Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware Racing Honda driven by Sting Ray Robb. The series kept the pits open as the three-stop contingent dove in for tires and fuel while those on two-stops needed to stay out to make their strategy work. The timing didn’t necessarily harm those on two-stops, but it made life a bit easier for those on three.
The New Zealander’s victory came at the expense of polesitter Romain Grosjean—a bridesmaid once again—after the Swiss-born Frenchman led the majority of the race with his two-stop plan in the No. 28 Andretti Autosport Honda. But he succumbed to the pressure applied by the three-stopping McLaughlin late in the contest as he locked a brake and slid wide in Turn 5 on lap 72.
“It hurts,” Grosjean admitted. “The three-stop never wins in Barber, (except) today. We had an incredible car, drove really well; gave it 100 percent, but we got unlucky with that yellow. I gave it all. Congrats to Scott. He deserves to win. We got good points. Our day will come.”
Out of push-to-pass to rectify the error and hold off McLaughlin while powering out of the corner, McLaughlin fired his No. 3 Chevy down the inside of Grosjean on the run to Turn 6 and captured a lead he never surrendered.
“The team advanced me to victory lane,” McLaughlin said. “We had great fuel (mileage). I’m really pumped about it. I’m glad to get a win here. We had a hell of a strategy here today.”
Penske’s Will Power secured third, his first podium of the season, as his team’s gamble to start the race on the faster but less durable Firestone alternate tires paid off with a 1-3 finish; Josef Newgarden, the third member of the Penske trio, had an array of challenges that left him down in 15th.
“It was an extremely good day,” Power said of the call to do an extra stop, which allowed him and the other three-stoppers to go flat out for the entire race.
“It was super fast when we were in clean air. We’re on another championship run. I was able to push the whole way.”
Despite Newgarden’s distant run — “This one got away pretty badly,” he said — Penske’s strategy gamble made all the difference in how the race was settled.
Just off the podium, Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward was never a serious threat for the win, but his consistent effort was good enough for fourth in the No. 5 Chevy.
Chip Ganassi Racing was strong on Saturday, placing Alex Palou in second and Scott Dixon fifth to start the race, but both fell backwards on Sunday as Palou dropped to fifth and Dixon came home in seventh. The only positive, and it was modest, was generated by Ganassi’s championship leader Marcus Ericsson, whose low start of 13th was improved to 10th, which ensured he retained the lead in the Drivers’ standings, but by just three points over O’Ward.
Between the Ganassi duo was Christian Lundgaard, who delivered Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s most competitive run of the season on the way to securing sixth in the No. 45 Honda.
Elsewhere, Ganassi’s Marcus Armstrong used a three-stop run to overcome his qualifying penalty and leap from 26th to 11th. Long Beach winner Kyle Kirkwood started and finished 12th on a decidedly average day, and Juncos Hollinger Racing’s Callum Ilott started 15th, fell back, then charged to earn 13th.
Among the final movers, Rinus VeeKay started ninth and finished 16th for Ed Carpenter Racing, and A.J. Foyt Racing’s Santino Ferrucci went in the opposite direction from starting last due to a problem that kept him from posting a lap in qualifying to placing 20th.
Arrow McLaren’s Felix Rosenqvist was the most resilient driver on the day after making contact with Newgarden on the opening lap that sent his No. 6 Chevy spinning. Relegated to the bottom of the field, he worked a three-stop strategy to all it was worth and recovered to take ninth.
Strategy races can be incredibly boring, and for long stretches of the Alabama GP, there wasn’t much excitement to offer, but once the final stops were completed, the showdown between McLaughlin, Grosjean, and Power made for a fun sprint to the checkered flag.
The party resumes in two weeks at the Indianapolis Grand Prix.
As it happened
The opening lap of the race featured a charging Pato O’Ward who tried to take P2 from Alex Palou, but Palou held firm and stayed close to polesitter Romain Grosjean’s gearbox. Felix Rosenqvist was hit in Turn 2 and spun, falling to the back.
Behind them, Rinus VeeKay was up to P7 from P9 and Colton Herta improved from P14 to P9 by lap 4. All three Penske drivers started on the slower primary tires, and as such, Scott McLaughlin fell prey to Scott Dixon who took P4 from him. Jack Harvey, who started P24, is P27 and last.
Lap 8 and Grosjean has pulled a 1.2s lead over Palou. O’Ward is 2.2s back in third. Championship leader Marcus Ericsson has not improved from his P13 starting position by lap 10.