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  • St. Petersburg win sets tone for McLaughlin, Penske in 2022 NTT IndyCar Series

    St. Petersburg win sets tone for McLaughlin, Penske in 2022 NTT IndyCar Series

    A dominant win for Scott McLaughlin in the 2022 NTT IndyCar Series season opener at St. Petersburg could set the tone for how this season will go for the second-year Team Penske driver, if history is any indicator.

    Starting from the pole, McLaughlin led 49 of 100 laps and took the checkered a half-second over defending series champion Alex Palou in his 18th series start after winning Rookie of the Year last season. The three-time Australian V8 Supercar champion won in his first pairing with Team Penske engineer Ben Bretzman, firing the first shot of the season on the road to the championship.

    What stands out is McLaughlin’s season-opening win comes after three-straight seasons of champions who won the season-opening event of their championship year. Last season Palou scored his first career win in the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama on his way to winning twice more before clinching the season title. Scott Dixon won at Texas in 2020 on the way to clinching yet another title. In 2019, McLaughlin’s Team Penske teammate Josef Newgarden won at St. Peterburg on the way to his second series championship.

    McLaughlin has the odds in his favor going into 2022. He’s got a championship legacy with Penske already. He’s with one of the top teams in the garage with Penske and Chevrolet. He’s got a season under his belt, a season that saw him claim top rookie honors and show some maturity behind the wheel near the end of the season, scoring two top-10s in the last four races while finishing 12th and 11th, respectively, in the last two races.

    Primarily a road racer thanks to his years in the V8 Supercars, McLaughlin has posted strong runs on both road courses and ovals before Sunday’s win. His best rookie finish was second at Texas in the third race of the season, followed by an eighth during the second day of the Texas double-header. In the fifth race of the year he finished eighth again at the Indianapolis Grand Prix. A fourth at Gateway was followed by a ninth-place finish at the Grand Prix of Portland were all highlights of a season that would be considered as modest by most standards.

    Seeing how dominant McLaughlin and his No. 3 team performed on Sunday shows that they’re past being modest and ready to show the aggression needed to perform like he did during his Supercar career. As the youngest and newest member of the Penske IndyCar group, McLaughlin knows he needs to perform to match the championship pedigree of his teammates, Newgarden and Will Power. If Sunday’s performance is any indicator in that case, he won’t have to wait long to deliver another Team Penske championship trophy.

  • Drivers to watch at St. Petersburg INDYCAR opener

    Drivers to watch at St. Petersburg INDYCAR opener

    With the first race of the 2019 INDYCAR season right around the corner speculation is already rampant in terms of who this season’s favorites are to win the opener. Led by Sebastien Bourdais, this group of drivers are the ones to watch to take the checkered at St. Pete.

    Sebastien Bourdais

    Bourdais is the obvious pick for the win on Sunday, having won the last two races there. Counting his two victories at St. Pete, five of his six wins in the NTT IndyCar Series have come on road courses with 11 of his 12 career podiums coming on road courses. Considering that his main strength is road course racing (his sole oval win came at the Milwaukee Mile in 2015), and also noting the fact that he’s the reigning St. Pete champion two years running, it’s safe to say Bourdais may be the winner again on Sunday.

    Alexander Rossi

    Rossi’s 2018 St. Pete performance is noted more for his late-race tangle with a dominant Robert Wickens, but that did not take away from his third-place finish. On top of that, three of Rossi’s five wins are on road courses, with six podium finishes coming on road courses. Rossi is a stellar oval racer, but as his strength lies in his roadracing expertise: Rossi’s brief 2015 stint in Formula One’s Ferrari group proved beneficial in his racing career. This was proven when Rossi earned a podium finish at Daytona with Penske’s DPi Acura team.

    Rossi was a contender late in the going at St. Pete in 2018, so considering that led to a career season for his Andretti Autosport group, he could be in Victory Lane after Sunday’s season opener.

    James Hinchcliffe

    Hinchcliffe broke through in the win column in 2013 at St. Pete. He’s scored 11 podium finishes on road courses including a third in his INDYCAR debut in 2012. He also happens to be one of the most established drivers on the circuit, having had strong runs on every type of track on the circuit, on ovals, road courses, and street courses.

    Will Power

    Two-time St. Pete winner Will Power (2010, 2014) is undoubtedly one of the greatest INDYCAR drivers to ever live, having a resume which boasts 33 wins since 2008 along with 64 podium finishes and the 2014 season championship. 26 of those wins were on road courses or street courses, and it’s already an established fact that Power is a contender everywhere he goes. It’s not a matter of if he scores a strong run on Sunday; rather, it’s how much of a strong run it’ll be. His third St. Pete win could be around the corner.

    Scott Dixon

    Dixon is undoubtedly INDYCAR’s goat in this current era. With 43 wins, 102 podiums, and five championships, Dixon could very well begin his championship defense with a win at St. Pete. What sticks out, though, is despite 43 wins on every type of track he has yet to win at St. Pete. Half of his wins are on road courses and street courses, so he is no slouch. But with four St. Pete podiums, it’s time now that Dixon seals the deal and goes after win No. 44 at Sunday’s season opener.

  • IndyCar: Michael Shank Racing Still in Search for Sponsorship

    After winning the Rolex 24 at Daytona, Michael Shank Racing continues his search for sponsorship in the IZOD IndyCar Series. Shank hoped to make an announcement in October, but that didn’t come together. If nothing is found soon, the team may not run the season-opening Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg on March 25th.

    “We’ve got the car in the shop and the people we need to go run the car, but at this point we are still working to have the full budget in place to go racing,” Shank says. “I don’t want to be in a position to just go out and make up the numbers. We want to show up and have a competitive presence.”

    Shank partnered with NASCAR driver AJ Allmendinger and business man Brian Bailey to form the Indy portion of MSR.

    “My main goal is to make this thing work, and if that means working with a technical partner to make it happen or just focusing on particular races then so be it,” he says. “Obviously, there are folks out there testing right now, and that is the best-case scenario to be in. We’ve got a little bit bigger hill to climb at the moment, but we are not giving up by any stretch.”

    If sponsorship comes together, Shank is expected to compete in the IndyCar Series with Paul Tracy.