SCOTT MCLAUGHLIN

IndyCar Mid Ohio Auto Racing Scott McLaughlin, center, celebrates in Victory Circle after winning an IndyCar auto race at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio, Sunday, July 3, 2022. (AP Photo/Tom E. Puskar) (Tom E. Puskar)LEXINGTON, Ohio — (AP) — Scott McLaughlin on Sunday picked up his second career IndyCar victory, which may go down as one of the most special wins of his career. It took four to see their only son drive his Team Penske entry to victory lane. “I really wanted to get a win here with Mom and Dad,” said McLaughlin, who had won three consecutive V8 Supercars championships in Australia. Simon Pagenaud won the last IndyCar race held in Canada before a two-year pandemic pause.

Scott McLaughlin has picked up his second career IndyCar victory, which may go down as one of the most special wins of his career.

The IndyCar championship race faces a major shakeup at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, where the top title contenders struggled and Pato O’Ward won the pole to match a series mark set in 1961.

Josef Newgarden earned a $1 million bonus that rewards his versatility by winning on Sunday at Road America.

Ericsson is second in the standings – three points behind leader Will Power – heading into Sunday's race at Road America. Scott McLaughlin won the opener at St. Petersburg, Pato O'Ward won at Barber and Colton Herta won on the Indianapolis road course. But he won his first pole since 2019 in qualifying and is trying Sunday at Road America to end his drought. This will be de Silvestro’s first IndyCar start of the season and 70th of her career. It will mark the first time Road America has been repaved since between the 1994 and 1995 seasons.

Competitive balance has defined the opening portion of this IndyCar season.

NASCAR is still alive and well in Charlotte.

IndyCar Indy 500 Auto Racing Scott McLaughlin, of New Zealand, talks with a team member during practice for the Indianapolis 500 auto race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Friday, May 20, 2022, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings) (Darron Cummings)INDIANAPOLIS — (AP) — Dalton Kellett on Monday became the first driver to crash while preparing for the Indianapolis 500, ending a streak of six days without major incident. It prevented Wilson from making a qualifying run and he'll start last in the field Sunday. THEY SAID ITJimmie Johnson used a marvelous save on Sunday to stop his sideways racecar from crashing during his qualifying run. “I said his new nickname is Jimmie “Drift King” Johnson,” Daly said.

Dalton Kellett became the first driver to crash while preparing for the Indianapolis 500, ending a streak of six days without major incident.

Rain held off long enough on Saturday to complete the first round of qualifying for the Indianapolis 500 on a soupy day that still produced eye-popping speeds not seen in 26 years at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Rinus VeeKay and Pato O'Ward, a pair of young new stars, posted blistering qualifying averages of over 233 mph in a flex of Chevrolet horsepower. NASCAR star Jimmie Johnson qualified for his first Indy 500 and his Chip Ganassi Racing team showed it might be the strongest organization at Indy right now.

It was a challenging “Fast Friday” at Indianapolis Motor Speedway with serious wind disrupting practice for the Indy 500.

IndyCar Indianapolis Auto Racing Scott McLaughlin, of New Zealand, drives into the second turn during practice for the IndyCar auto race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, Friday, May 13, 2022. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy) (Michael Conroy)INDIANAPOLIS — (AP) — Will Power used the final lap of qualifying Friday to move past five drivers and take the pole for the IndyCar Grand Prix. "But I’m not surprised that it’s Will on the pole.”Two-time race winner Josef Newgarden, Power's teammate, starts third after limiting himself to one hard lap in the third and final qualifying group. FRUSTRATING DAYNobody was more upset about their qualifying position than defending race winner Rinus VeeKay or six-time series champ Scott Dixon. Before Saturday's race, the 22-year-old emerging star will turn laps in IndyCar's two-seat car piloted by 1969 Indianapolis 500 winner Mario Andretti.

Will Power used the final lap of qualifying Friday to leapfrog five other drivers and win the pole for the IndyCar Grand Prix.

It was quite the weekend in motorsports, which is typically the bit player on the massive stick-and-ball sporting landscape so eager for its own time in the spotlight.

Indy Car Texas Auto Racing Racers vie for position at the beginning of the NTT IndyCar Series XPEL 375 at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas, on Sunday, March 20, 2022. (AP Photo/Larry Papke) (Larry Papke)FORT WORTH, Texas — (AP) — Josef Newgarden used the nonexistent high line to pass Scott McLaughlin in the final turn at Texas Motor Speedway and steal the IndyCar race his teammate had dominated. The Sunday win gave Team Penske back-to-back victories to open the season and 600 overall wins across all its platforms. It's jeopardized the future of IndyCar at Texas, which has hosted the series since 1997 and its existing contract expired Sunday. It was the highest IndyCar finish for Johnson, a seven-time NASCAR champion and the all-time winningest driver at Texas with seven wins.

Josef Newgarden used the nonexistent high line to pass Scott McLaughlin in the final turn at Texas Motor Speedway and steal the IndyCar race his teammate had dominated.

Roger Penske met Josef Newgarden in victory lane with six crisp hundred dollar bills to gift the race winner. Newgarden used the nonexistent high line to pass Scott McLaughlin in the final turn Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway and steal the IndyCar race his teammate had dominated. It was the 600th overall victory for Roger Penske across all of his platforms.

IndyCar Texas Auto Racing Rinus Veekay passes Alexander Rossi on the fourth turn during the first practice round of the IndyCar Series auto race at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas on Saturday, March 19, 2022. Jimmie Johnson, the all-time winningest driver at Texas with seven wins in NASCAR, qualified 18th in his IndyCar oval debut. For Rosenqvist, it was his second career pole since joining IndyCar in 2019. It makes a high line that is far too slick and dangerous for the IndyCar drivers. Very few drivers dared to even coast into the second lane during Saturday morning practice.

IndyCar’s long relationship with Texas Motor Speedway is at a crossroads headed into the 35th race at the track that has always embraced the open-wheel series.

McLaughlin, the three-time Australian V8 Supercars champion, made his IndyCar debut at St. Pete in the 2020 season finale and declared the experience “far out!" Palou couldn't get close enough and McLaughlin followed DeFrancesco across the finish line for another win for Team Penske. McLaughlin stood atop his car in victory lane to celebrate but then tumbled off it to the ground in his excitement. “What a day, I'm out of breath.”It's a marked turn for Team Penske, which didn't get an IndyCar driver into victory lane into the 10th race of last season. NEXT UP: IndyCar is off until its March 20 race at Texas Motor Speedway, which will be the IndyCar oval debut for Jimmie Johnson.

Scott McLaughlin got his first IndyCar Series victory in the season-opening race through the downtown streets of St. Petersburg, Florida.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — (AP) — Scott McLaughlin circled qualifying as the area he had to improve upon in his second season of IndyCar. McLaughlin beat Team Penske teammate Will Power, one of the best qualifiers in series history, to win the pole Saturday for the season-opening race through the downtown streets of St. Petersburg. The pole is the first for McLaughlin, who moved from racing supercars in Australia to IndyCar last season, but never got the results he expected. “I know it’s only qualifying, but I love qualifying,” McLaughlin said. Grosjean's car actually drove under Sato, who took the seat that Grosjean vacated at Dale Coyne Racing after one season in IndyCar.

Roger Penske picked up a third Daytona 500 win last weekend on his 85th birthday.

The IndyCar Series is feeling rather bullish as it heads into its final two races of the season.

Alex Palou earned the first pole of his IndyCar career and put himself in position to reclaim the championship lead headed into Sunday’s race at Portland International Raceway.

Will Power took the lead early Saturday, then watched it shrink over the final half of the race before holding on to win another Indianapolis Grand Prix.

Sunday’s launch will be Virgin Galactic’s first fully crewed flight, and their second from Spaceport America in New Mexico.

(AP Photo/Darron Cummings) (Darron Cummings)INDIANAPOLIS — (AP) — Scott Dixon ran to the top of the board in the final practice before the Indianapolis 500 and called it a day with 45 minutes remaining in the session. “Hopefully it runs this good in the race,” Dixon said after his lap at 228.323 mph put the six-time IndyCar champion in control of Friday’s practice. That’s it, it’s over.”Rain disrupted the traditional “Carb Day” practice but IndyCar was able to get cars on track for almost two hours later Friday afternoon. Seeing the struggles, not him, but the team are going through for qualifying pace,” Dixon said. Conor Daly, meanwhile, was fourth fastest on the day in yet another strong showing for Ed Carpenter Racing.

Scott Dixon was again atop the leaderboard for the final practice before the Indianapolis 500.

Team Penske had an uncharacteristically slow first day of Indianapolis 500 qualifying and Will Power will have to avoid being bumped from the 33-car field when the lineup is finalized.

The three cars from Rahal Letterman Lanigan were idled or the first 30 minutes of Friday practice for the Indianapolis 500.

IndyCar said it was unaware of a Rahal photo shoot and so the track was “hot” for the entire field. McLaughlin and Simona de Silvestro saw the three Rahal cars ahead as they sped through the corner and both immediately slowed to roughly 170 mph. Herta could not see the Rahal cars and it was too late when he noticed McLaughlin and de Silvestro had slowed. The Australian rookie Penske driver told the Rahal team he hoped the photo turned out well while tweeting a replay of the incident. “There’s enough experience from these young guys, they’re quick enough, that I wouldn’t be surprised if one of us won the Indy 500,” Herta said.

IndyCar Indy 500 Auto Racing Scott McLaughlin, of New Zealand, waits by his pit box during practice for the Indianapolis 500 auto race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Wednesday, May 19, 2021, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings) (Darron Cummings)INDIANAPOLIS — (AP) — A photo opportunity for Rahal Letterman Lanigan caused the first hiccup in preparations for the Indianapolis 500 when Colton Herta and Scott McLaughlin nearly crashed Thursday trying to avoid the on-track stunt. The track opened as scheduled for practice and defending race winner Takuma Sato slowed alongside Indy 500 teammates Graham Rahal and Santino Ferrucci for a three-wide photo opportunity on Indy's frontstretch. Both Herta and McLaughlin immediately returned to pit lane for repairs, with Herta estimating he'd miss at least an hour of practice. ___More AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

IndyCar has punished Rahal Letterman Lanigan for trying to stage a photo in the opening minutes of Indianapolis 500 practice.

Rinus VeeKay continued IndyCar’s youth movement Saturday by scoring his first career victory with a win on the road course at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Tony Kanaan will make his IndyCar season debut this weekend at Texas Motor Speedway, where the series will race a doubleheader.

Colton Herta has rebounded from a first-lap crash in the IndyCar season opener to win the pole on the downtown streets of St. Petersburg.

Alex Palou scored his first career IndyCar victory in his debut race with Chip Ganassi Racing by winning the series opener at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama.

Pato O'Ward set a track record at Barber Motorsports Park to win the pole for the IndyCar season-opening race.

McLaughlin's pandemic-postponed IndyCar debut at last comes Sunday in the season finale at St. Petersburg, Florida. “I obviously never thought I’d get a chance this year due to the nature of the beast with COVID,” McLaughlin said Thursday before boarding yet another flight, this one headed to his first IndyCar race. It’s something that I’m just going to go in like a sponge, soak everything up, see what comes out of it. I’m pretty confident that I’m going to like the series, I’m going to like the cars, I’m going to like everything.”McLaughlin has accomplished all he can racing touring cars in Australia, where he's won 56 races, including last year's Bathurst 1000, and all those titles. He drives for Roger Penske in Supercars and in 2019 the boss asked McLaughlin if he was interested in driving an Indy car.