McLaughlin On Pole, Dale Coyne Racing Shocks Indycar Paddock
- Kylar Boggs
- 1 day ago
- 2 min read
Scott McLaughlin set the fastest time in qualifying for the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg and will start on pole position for the third time in the last five years. After going winless in 2025, McLaughlin looks to bounce back and fight for the win in tomorrow's Grand Prix.
This qualifying session had a lot of shocking moments throughout the field as far as how the grid will line up for Sunday's race. In round 1, group 1, It was Andretti Global driver Marcus Ericsson quickest in that group followed by Pato O' Ward, Romain Grosjean, Louis Foster, Scott McLaughlin, and Felix Rosenqvist who moved on to round 2.
One of the shocking moments was Josef Newgarden last in group 1. Newgarden struggled a lot in the session and was not able to set a quick enough lap time to move on to the second round of qualifying. Another surprising exit in that round was Kyle Kirkwood who just missed the cutline to advance as well as his teammate Will Power.
Fast Forward to round 1, group 2, it was Team Penske newcomer David Malukas fastest in that round followed by Alex Palou, Marcus Armstrong, Dennis Hauger, Christian Lundgaard, and Kyffin Simpson who advanced to round 2 of qualifying. In addition, just like group 1, group 2 also had a shocking exit. Scott Dixon did not make round 2, and it was the first time since 2013 he did not make the second round of qualifying at St. Petersburg.
In addition, as the checkered flag fell on the second round of qualifying, it was Scott McLaughlin setting the quickest time, and behind him were Palou, Ericsson, Hauger, Malukas, and Grosjean. NTT Indycar rookie Dennis Hauger set a blistering lap time in the final minutes of round 2 to put himself through to the Fast 6 shootout for pole, and his teammate Roman Grosjean was able to advance as well. With both Dale Coyne Racing cars going through, it was the first time since Detroit in 2022 both cars advanced to the Fast 6.
However, despite the shocking moments, and drama unfolding, it was not enough to deny Scott McLaughlin pole position as he claimed the NTT P1 Award for Sunday's Grand Prix. Marcus Ericsson slots in behind in 2nd, and rookie Dennis Hauger in his debut Indycar race weekend starts 3rd ahead of reigning series champion Alex Palou in 4th with David Malukas in 5th, and Romain Grosjean in 6th.
Dale Coyne Racing stole the spotlight with both Hauger and Grosjean. Heading into qualifying nobody had any high expectations from the team considering the past couple of seasons their pace has been around the midfield, and even towards the back of the grid.
The Grand Prix of St. Petersburg kicks off tomorrow at 12:00 PM ET on FOX.
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