Instant Recall: Mission Foods Grand Prix of Monterey

Dueling burnouts Sunday at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca gave the NTT INDYCAR SERIES a proper sendoff to the 2026 season.

The celebrations on the front straightaway were for Alex Palou’s fourth consecutive season championship and fifth title in six years along with Scott McLaughlin’s first race win of the year.

For Palou (photo, above), the eighth-place finish in the Mission Foods Grand Prix of Monterey wasn’t Palou-like given he had won the past two races (and three of the past four) on the 11-turn, 2.238-mile road course, but it was another example of his high-level consistency. Through 18 races over numerous types of tracks, he delivered six wins, 12 top-five and 15 top-10 finishes to win the championship by 86 points. This was the second year in a row that he secured the title in advance of the season’s final race.

For McLaughlin, the victory ended a 36-race drought spanning two years and five days. His last win was Sept. 1, 2024, at the Milwaukee Mile, and this one gave him eight wins for his six full seasons in this series. McLaughlin dominated it, too, leading 87 of 95 laps from the pole. As important is the momentum the performance gives him and the team moving into the offseason as they prepare to challenge Palou’s reign in 2027.

McLaughlin gave Team Penske its third race win of the season. Josef Newgarden won the other two (at Phoenix Raceway and World Wide Technology Raceway). David Malukas was denied the first series victory of his career, but he posted four runner-up finishes during his first season with Roger Penske’s organization and ended with the most points among the team’s drivers. His fifth-place finish in Monterey was his third top-five finish in succession to end the season and ninth overall.

Chip Ganassi Racing’s six wins led all teams this season. Arrow McLaren posted five race wins, three by Pato O’Ward and two by Christian Lundgaard. Andretti Global won three races, two by Kyle Kirkwood and one by Marcus Ericsson. Felix Rosenqvist gave Meyer Shank Racing w/ Curb Agajanian a goodbye victory in his final season with the team, but it was a big one: the 110th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge, with the most dramatic last lap ever at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Kirkwood didn’t lead any laps in the finale and never seriously threatened McLaughlin’s lead in finishing 1.3739 seconds behind him, but it nonetheless was a productive race. Kirkwood overtook Lundgaard for second place in the season standings, and that should be a big confidence boost for the 2021 INDY NXT by Firestone champion heading into his sixth season in this series.

Ed Carpenter Racing’s Alexander Rossi ended the season on a high, grabbing his first podium finish of the year. Finishing a strong and competitive third – he led four laps – gave the Californian his first top-10 finish in the final eight races and provides fodder for preparations for his third season with the organization.

Lundgaard’s sixth-place finish allowed him to become the sixth driver in history to complete all the laps in a season (Scott Dixon did it twice). Lundgaard completed 2,557 laps and finished third in the standings, 13 points ahead of O’Ward. That surely was gratifying given that Arrow McLaren chose not to retain him for next season.

Rosenqvist and Marcus Armstrong each led two laps for MSR, and they finished fourth and seventh in the season finale, respectively. Change is ahead for both drivers and the team as Rosenqvist leaves after three years to return to Arrow McLaren and Armstrong moves into MSR’s lead role – and the No. 60 car that Rosenqvist drove – with Mick Schumacher coming over from one season at Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing to drive the No. 66.

Dixon’s final race with Chip Ganassi Racing ended with a quiet 17th-place finish, and yet it seemed as if their final weekend together after a wildly successful 25-year stint was a celebration of all they accomplished together (58 wins, six series titles). Team owner Chip Ganassi presented the watch-loving Dixon with a special Rolex, and there were hugs and smiles aplenty. They part on good terms, which feels right.

With McLaughlin (photo, above) dominating this final race, there were 24 other drivers and their teams hoping for more, but the season should have many fulfilled. Rinus VeeKay and Juncos Hollinger Racing held onto 10th place in the standings fueled by seven top-10 finishes in the final 11 races to finish with more points than a pair of past series champions (Dixon and Andretti Global’s Will Power).

Dale Coyne Racing’s Dennis Hauger’s season ended in a thud as he got hit from behind on Lap 1 by Sting Ray Robb at Turn 6, but he left the track clutching the Rookie of the Year Award and, perhaps more importantly, will see the seven-figure Leaders Circle bonus for next year that came with finishing in the top 22 of entrant points. That might well allow him to return to Dale Coyne’s team next season.

Ericsson’s ninth-place finish helped him to overtake Newgarden for seventh place in the final standings, 13 positions higher than he finished last year. That’s a win, especially when it included last month’s brilliant drive to take the victory at the new street race in Markham, Ontario. The Swede has five career wins in this series.

The series deserved to be happy with one of its best seasons on record, one that featured an all-timer Indianapolis 500, three terrific new street races, the massively historic Freedom 250 Grand Prix of Washington, D.C., great racing throughout and a champion for the ages.

The field and its fans now take a breath as they await the 2027 season.