4 Takeaways From Scott McLaughlin Snapping 35-Race Winless Streak At Laguna Seca

WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca (Monterrey, Calif.) — Scott McLaughlin had not won in two years, so he’d take a win any way he could get it. The Team Penske driver delivered a dominating performance, leading 87 of the 95 laps Sunday to capture the INDYCAR season finale and snap his 35-race winless streak. McLaughlin noted it was his first win since his daughter, Lucy, was born 23 months ago. “[It’s] a little bit of relief because I’ve been promising Lucy a long time a race win,” McLaughlin said in his post-race news conference. “She has no idea. She gave me nothing on FaceTime [earlier]. That’s part of it.” Here are my takeaways. 1. Palou Has Human Day Alex Palou clinched his fifth series title (and fourth consecutive) a week before Laguna Seca, and the prevailing wisdom was he would be the one dominating at one of his best tracks — especially because he had no points on the line. But his team opted for used, soft tires for its first two stints, and that didn’t seem to be the right call. He wound up eighth. But he’s still the champion, by 86 points over Kyle Kirkwood. Kirkwood ended up 10 points ahead of Christian Lundgaard and 23 points ahead of Pato O’Ward in the battle for second. Palou won six of the 18 races this year, and the Chip Ganassi Racing driver was set to be honored at the year-end awards banquet Sunday night. “We made some mistakes on our tire decisions,” Palou said in his post-race news conference. “We wanted to gamble a little bit. … It’s tough to win even when you have nothing to lose.” 2. McLaughlin Feels Good McLaughlin had a new engineer and strategist, albeit his strategist is long-time Penske employee (and former executive) Tim Cindric. It took a while for them to mesh, and McLaughlin saw the victory as a culmination of their work. “Basically, since June, July — I think we’ve been really, really good,” McLaughlin said. “It’s just getting some car pace to control like we did today. It was awesome.” McLaughlin finished sixth in the season standings, while his Penske teammate David Malukas was fifth and Josef Newgarden was eighth. 3. Dixon’s Emotional Last Day At Ganassi Scott Dixon won six titles over 25 years driving cars for Chip Ganassi Racing, now he’s heading to Arrow McLaren for 2027. His final season at Ganassi was not a fun one. He finished 17th on Sunday and wound up 12th in the overall standings. Dixon admitted he was close to tears before the race. Earlier this week, he was given a Rolex desk clock by Ganassi, who had offered him a contract extension. But Dixon opted to leave. “Close [to tears] a couple of times for sure,” Dixon told me and other reporters on pit road. “The pre-race and in the team meeting. [It was] not too bad. … How Chip has dealt with it has been amazing.” 4. Schumacher Falls Short Before Moving On Former Formula 1 driver Mick Schumacher had a chance to win the Rookie of the Year award when Dennis Hauger got taken out by Sting Ray Robb on the opening lap. But Schumacher finished 22nd to end up 23rd in the overall standings (out of 25). He will move from Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing to Meyer Shank Racing in 2027. “Today was not amazing, but overall it’s all about learning and that’s what we did this year,” Schumacher told me and other reporters on pit road after the race. “Ultimately, I’m very grateful to RLL. … I’m looking forward to 2027.” Schumacher said MSR and his management had conversations earlier in the season and when RLL sold a charter, and it appeared he likely wouldn’t have a ride, it was clear that was the best place for him to go. “I’m just so excited to start working with that group next year,” Schumacher said. 4 ½. What’s Next — Testing The 2026 season is over. The testing, though, for the new 2028 INDYCAR will continue. Alexander Rossi will test Wednesday on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval, while Alex Palou will test Thursday. They both tested on the road course last month and will be able to give feedback with the knowledge of how the car handled on the road course. “The oval test is a hugely different program and a different set of goals they want to accomplish because, obviously, that’s the most important place that car is ever going to race,” Rossi told me and other reporters Friday. “Some more performance metrics will be analyzed.”