Scotty Mac returned to Victory Lane for the first time in two years. (Photo: Travis Hinkle | Penske Entertainment)
MONTEREY, Calif. – Team Penske driver Scott McLaughlin ended the 2026 NTT IndyCar Series season by snapping a 35-winless streak, taking home the Mission Foods Grand Prix of Monterey at the 2.238-mile WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.
The driver of the No. 3 DEX Chevrolet kept up the positive momentum this weekend after clinching the NTT P1 Award on Saturday. McLaughlin controlled his race after leading 87 of 95 laps. The 33-year-old not only ended his winless streak in Monterey, but he also ended his season on a high note.
In the post-race press conference, McLaughlin put the spotlight on everyone at Team Penske and his No. 3 team. The New Zealander noted how the changes the No. 3 Chevrolet made at the Mid-Ohio test culminated in Sunday’s result.
“A culmination of some hard work,” McLaughlin said about the return to Victory Lane. “I think the whole team, all three cars, just been working on basically, I think from the Mid-Ohio test for us, at least on my car, we found a bit of a direction.”
McLaughlin also gave his engineer, Raul Prados, his flowers after working together to reach the top step of the podium at Laguna Seca.
“Always felt, yeah, Raul [Prados] was my guy,” McLaughlin added. “We’ve been having that good energy, that feeling that we could do this, but it was just about putting the parts together.
“Today was fantastic. We’ve had poles. Haven’t quite completed the races. You could see that it was there. Really proud to get our first win together on a road course where the last couple years we probably struggled at the most.”
Scott Mac takes checkered flag
Sharing this win with ‘someone special’
The Team Penske driver won for the first time as a father. (Photo: Joe Skibinski | Penske Entertainment)
Scott McLaughlin always wanted his daughter, Lucy, to see her dad on the top step of the podium. When asked about the importance of this win, the 33-year-old father shared how much this moment meant to him.
“I’m very excited,” McLaughlin said. “I said on TV, for me to win as a dad, I’ve been wanting to win for Lucy so much. That’s the main thing.”
Although he ended this season on a high, McLaughlin plans to learn from the 95-lap race and from Kyle Kirkwood to better prepare himself and the No. 3 team for 2027.
“Yeah, we’ll celebrate it, but we’ll learn from it, too,” McLaughlin said. “I don’t think we were that great across the stints. We need to figure out why we’re using the rear tires a little bit more than the No. 27 there.
“Yeah, I’m very happy, but there’s work to be done.”
Although the 2026 NTT IndyCar season has come to a close, 2027 is just around the corner.
“The Fastest Racing on Earth” returns to the Streets of St. Petersburg on Sunday, March 7, 2027. Coverage of the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Pete will air on FOX.
Results: 2026 Mission Foods Grand Prix of Monterey at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca
GRID Ranking
The 2026 GRID Ranking is the 10th year of the world’s premier motorsports ranking system, which was initially released on Sunday, April 5.
The official ranking includes drivers participating in seven racing series (NASCAR, IndyCar, Formula 1, Formula E, WRC, Supercars, MotoGP). Each driver earns GRID Ratings, which help determine their seeding in the GRID Ranking.
GRID Ranking Week 23 IndyCar drivers:
| DRIVER | OLD RATING | PREVIOUS RANKING | MOST RECENT FINISH | NEW RATING | NEW RANKING |
| Alex Palou | 14.76 | 2nd | 8th | 14.17 | 3rd |
| Christian Lundgaard | 12.12 | 9th | 6th | 12.11 | 9th |
| Kyle Kirkwood | 11.53 | 10th | 2nd | 12.06 | 10th |
| Scott McLaughlin | N/A | N/A | 1st | 10.44 | 20th |
| David Malukas | 9.88 | 28th | 5th | 9.89 | 22nd |