Scott McLaughlin – BOMMARITO AUTOMOTIVE GROUP 500 – Photo by Chris Owens

By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio

Scott McLaughlin’s transformation from world-class road-racer to INDYCAR ovalmeister continued Friday at World Wide Technology Raceway.

Scott McLaughlin – BOMMARITO AUTOMOTIVE GROUP 500 – (Photo by Travis Hinkle | IMS Photo)

Team Penske’s McLaughlin earned his fourth NTT P1 award of 2024, ninth of his career and second consecutive on WWTR’s egg-shaped, 1.25-mile bull ring in Madison, Ill., during qualifying for tonight’s Bommarito Automotive Group 500 presented by Axalta and Valvoline.

A three-time Australian V8 Supercars champion, McLaughlin’s two-lap average of 179.972 mph was almost nostalgic. “I think I like oval qualifying because it replicates a little bit _ might sound weird _ but it does replicate Supercars in some ways and the top-10 shootouts we used to do back there and all that sort of stuff. Getting my tires up to temp and trusting the tires into Turn 1 or whatnot, it’s been a strong suit of mine in the past, and probably a little bit more aggressive in that regard. But yeah, I really enjoy it.

Scott McLaughlin – BOMMARITO AUTOMOTIVE GROUP 500 – (Photo by Travis Hinkle | IMS Photo)

“Love ovals. I think it’s the backbone of our series and I’ve enjoyed having a lot more on the schedule, or at least a couple more this year. From 2022 onwards, even ’21, I’ve felt strong, but it’s just nice to have the confidence in the race car you’re driving. The team give me a great car, and I’m able to just execute the way I want to.”

As noted, McLaughlin earned his second consecutive NTT P1 Award at the facility outside St. Louis. And this time the 31-year-old native of New Zealand gets to keep that spot. Recall one year ago McLaughlin’s qualifying run was tempered by a penalty for an unapproved engine change that knocked him nine places deeper into the starting order. That penalty proved significant as Scotty Mac struggled in traffic en route to a fifth-place finish.

Scott McLaughlin – BOMMARITO AUTOMOTIVE GROUP 500 – (Photo by Travis Hinkle | IMS Photo)

“As we know, this is INDYCAR. Anything can happen,” said McLaughlin, driver of the No. 3 DEX Imaging Team Penske Chevrolet. “But we’ll try to stay on our toes to get our race balance right, and hopefully we can come with a pretty fast ‘printer wagon’ for (Saturday night).”

McLaughlin is chasing his third win of the season following victories at Barber Motorsports Park and Iowa Speedway in a late-season bid for the championship.

“At the end of the day, (Saturday is) payday,” McLaughlin said of the 500-kilometer/260-lapper. Broadcast coverage will air live on USA Network, Peacock, the INDYCAR Radio Network and SiriusXM Channel 218 beginning at 6 p.m. (EDT). “We’ll make sure we’re on top of things.”

Scott McLaughlin – BOMMARITO AUTOMOTIVE GROUP 500 – Photo by Joe Skibinski

McLaughlin faces an 83-point deficit to two-time/reigning series champ Alex Palou of Chip Ganassi Racing for the title. Palou, of Spain, qualified seventh at 178.363 mph in the No. 10 Samaritan Purse CGR Honda. But Palou and teammate Scott Dixon, driver of the No. 9 PNC Bank CGR Honda, will be moved back nine spots to begin the race for unapproved engine changes following the previous event on the Streets of Toronto on July 21. Dixon qualified 10th at 177.905 mph. The native New Zealander and six-time series champion won last year’s race by 22.2-seconds.

Sweden’s Felix Rosenqvist, who posted the second-best qualifying performance Friday at 179.796 mph, also will incur such a penalty in his No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing Honda.

David Malukas – BOMMARITO AUTOMOTIVE GROUP 500 – Photo by Joe Skibinski

Another benefactor of the post-qualifying movement will be David Malukas, who has scored a pair of top-three finishes at WWTR each of the past two years. Friday’s third-fastest qualifier at 179.503 mph will start a career-best second in Meyer Shank Racing’s No. 66 AutoNation/Arctic Wolf Honda. Malukas was introduced Tuesday as the newest addition to A.J. Foyt Racing under terms of a multi-year contract beginning in 2025.

Meyer Shank Racing enjoys a technical alliance with Andretti Global, which fielded the three fastest cars in a recent eight-car test at WWTR. Kyle Kirkwood used some of that knowledge to earn the best oval qualifying performance of his career _ sixth at 178.417 mph _ in the No. 27 AutoNation Honda. Teammate Marcus Ericsson of Sweden qualified ninth at 178.114 mph in the No. 28 Delaware Life Honda.

Colton Herta – BOMMARITO AUTOMOTIVE GROUP 500 – (Photo by Travis Hinkle | IMS Photo)

Colton Herta was bidding for his second consecutive pole and fourth in the past eight races when his No. 26 Gainbridge Honda spun lazily through Turn 1 on his second lap. The impact was relatively square with the rear, but the Andretti Global with Curb-Agajanian driver was left with the 25th qualifying position. Dale Coyne Racing teammates Jack Harvey (No. 18 DCR Honda) and Katherine Legge (No. 51 e.l.f. Cosmetics Honda) did not post times.

“It just broke loose,” Herta said of his car. “(It’s) unfortunate. I think that first lap was decent. I don’t think it was going to get us the pole, but I think it could have got us in the top-five. Second lap, I don’t know if we wore the tires too much or what happened. (The grip) just let go pretty early and that’s all she wrote.”

Will Power – BOMMARITO AUTOMOTIVE GROUP 500 – Photo by Chris Owens

Saturday’s race is the first of five to end the season, and with 54 points available it could go a long way toward setting the tone for the stretch run. Palou leads Team Penske’s Will Power by 49 points in pursuit of his third series championship in the past four years. Power, who qualified fifth at 179.262 mph in the No. 12 Verizon Business Team Penske Chevrolet, also is driving toward a third series title.

“Qualifying on these short ovals is bloody tough,” said Power, a native of Australia and Team Penske’s senior driver. “You get about a lap-and-a-half to get up to speed and then you need to absolutely nail the lap. It’s intense but that why we love it. These Team Penske Chevys have speed. Just need to hit on the execution (Saturday night).”

Pato O’Ward – BOMMARITO AUTOMOTIVE GROUP 500 – Photo by Joe Skibinski

Dixon, Herta and Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward complete the top-five in the standings. They are 53, 57 and 71 points behind Palou, respectively. O’Ward qualified 11th at 177.160 mph in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet.

“I think (the race) will be a different show just like it is every single year,” said O’Ward, a native of Mexico with family ties to San Antonio. “I’m super-happy with where we put our race car in the final practice. I think we’re in decent shape to be in the fight.”

Two-time series champion Josef Newgarden, driver of No. 2 PPG Team Penske Chevrolet, has won this event a record four times. Newgarden will start from P3 after posting a qualifying average of 179.424 mph. Besides Dixon, Power is the only other active driver to have won this event.

Josef Newgarden – BOMMARITO AUTOMOTIVE GROUP 500 – Photo by Joe Skibinski

“Man, my car was great,” Newgarden said. “I was a little bit shy. We made a really big jump from practice. We kind of went on the safer side of a trim step. Probably could have taken more. Just felt like we were a little behind the 8-ball coming out of practice. Super-happy with the PPG Chevy. The team did a great job.”

Newgarden noted the introduction of INDYCAR’s high-tech, Hybrid Power Unit Era last month has changed the landscape on each type of track. “It’s a totally different car, which I think changes things,” Newgarden said. “Iowa was a different track, plus a different car and you saw a very different product. So, I think it’s hard to say how the season is going to end, but I certainly believe we can figure it out. It’s just a matter of do we have it fully sorted right now or not? I think we’re pretty close.”

Louis Foster’s march toward an INDY NXT by Firestone championship continued during qualifying at World Wide Technology Raceway.

The English driver from the Andretti Global stable added to his dominating summer by earning pole position for Saturday’s OUTFRONT Showdown (3:55 p.m. ETD, Peacock, INDYCAR Radio Network), and he did so in record fashion. Both timed laps were quicker than any turned by his peers, and the combination gave Foster a track-record average of 164.109 mph around the 1.25-mile oval. Foster’s second lap was his best at 164.242 mph.

The series’ one- and two-lap qualifying records had stood since 2017, when Juan Piedrahita averaged 161.354 mph and 160.823 mph, respectively. Thirteen of 18 drivers in this event eclipsed his two-lap average.

Since finishing the first three races of the season in the third, fifth and seventh positions, Foster has been on an incredible roll. He won the second race of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road-Course doubleheader on May 11 and has pushed his season total to five wins and five poles.

The driver of the No. 26 Copart/Novara Technologies entry holds a 77-point lead over his nearest challenger _ Jacob Abel of Abel Motorsports _ and this pole added another point to his total. But Foster said he’s not stopping to count points with four races remaining.

“I just want to keep winning races, man,” Foster said. “We’ll see what happens. Obviously, make good decisions in the race and finish with the (maximum number of) points, but my main goal is to win.”

This will be the 11th race of the season and second on an oval. Foster won the July 13 race at Iowa Speedway in Newton. He led the final six laps of that race, overtaking pole-winner and teammate James Roe in the late going. Foster finished second to eventual series champion Christian Rasmussen in this event last year.

Foster will be joined on the front row Saturday by another teammate, fellow-Brit Jamie Chadwick. She posted a two-lap qualifying average of 163.505 mph in the No. 28 VEXT entry.

HMD Motorsports rookie drivers Caio Collet and Christian Brooks will start in the third and fourth positions, respectively.

Qualifying results for Saturday night’s Bommarito Automotive Group 500 presented by Axalta and Valvoline NTT IndyCar Series event on the 1.25-mile World Wide Technology Raceway in Madison, Ill., with starting position, car number in parentheses, driver, engine, and speed:

1. (3) Scott McLaughlin, Chevy, 179.972 mph
   2. (60) Felix Rosenqvist, Honda, 179.796
   3. (66) David Malukas, Honda, 179.503
   4. (2) Josef Newgarden, Chevy, 179.424
   5. (12) Will Power, Chevy, 179.262
   6. (27) Kyle Kirkwood, Honda, 178.417
   7. (10) Alex Palou, Honda, 178.363
   8. (77) Romain Grosjean, Chevy, 178.321
   9. (28) Marcus Ericsson, Honda, 178.114
   10. (9) Scott Dixon, Honda, 177.905
   11. (5) Pato O’Ward, Chevy, 177.160
   12. (78) Conor Daly, Chevy, 177.126
   13. (11) Marcus Armstrong, Honda, 176.696
   14. (21) Rinus VeeKay, Chevy, 176.661
   15. (7) Alexander Rossi, Chevy, 175.865
   16. (15) Graham Rahal, Honda, 175.782
   17. (30) Pietro Fittipaldi, Honda, 175.656
   18. (14) Santino Ferrucci, Chevy, 175.514
   19. (8) Linus Lundqvist (R), Honda, 175.510
   20. (6) Nolan Siegel (R), Chevy, 174.854
   21. (20) Ed Carpenter, Chevy, 174.752
   22. (4) Kyffin Simpson (R), Honda, 173.900
   23. (45) Christian Lundgaard, Honda, 173.722
   24. (41) Sting Ray Robb, Chevy, 172.782
   25. (26) Colton Herta, Honda, 136.880
   26. (18) Jack Harvey, Honda, No Time
   27. (51) Katherine Legge, Honda, No Time

Note_ (R) indicates series rookie.

NTT IndyCar Series point standings _ 1, Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing, 411; 2, Will Power, Team Penske, 362; 3, Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing, 358; 4, Colton Herta, Andretti Global, 354; 5, Pato O’Ward, Arrow McLaren, 340; 6, Scott McLaughlin, Team Penske, 328; 7, Kyle Kirkwood, Andretti Global, 314; 8, Josef Newgarden, Team Penske, 266; 9, Alexander Rossi, Arrow McLaren, 265; 10, Santino Ferrucci, A.J. Foyt Racing, 231;

11, Christian Lundgaard, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 229; 12, Marcus Ericsson, Andretti Global, 222; 13, Felix Rosenqvist, Meyer Shank Racing, 221; 14, Marcus Armstrong, Chip Ganassi Racing, 203; 15, Rinus VeeKay, Ed Carpenter Racing, 201; 16, Romain Grosjean, Juncos Hollinger Racing, 199; 17, Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 197; 18, Linus Lundqvist, Chip Ganassi Racing, 173; 19, Pietro Fittipaldi, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 135; 20, Kyffin Simpson, Chip Ganassi Racing, 133;

21, Sting Ray Robb, A.J. Foyt Racing, 121; 22, Christian Rasmussen, Ed Carpenter Racing, 109; 23, Augustin Canapino, Juncos Hollinger Racing, 109; 24, Theo Pourchaire, Arrow McLaren, 91; 25, Nolan Siegel, Arrow McLaren, 88; 26, David Malukas, Meyer Shank Racing, 82; 27, Jack Harvey, Dale Coyne Racing, 80; 28, Tom Blomqvist, Meyer Shank Racing, 46; 29, Callum Ilott, Arrow McLaren, 39; 30, Ed Carpenter, Ed Carpenter Racing, 32;

31, Toby Sowery, Dale Coyne Racing, 32; 32, Luca Ghiotto, Dale Coyne Racing, 27; 33, Helio Castroneves, Meyer Shank Racing, 26; 34, Conor Daly, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing-Cusick Motorsports, 26; 35, Katherine Legge, Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware Racing, 24; 36, Kyle Larson, Hendrickcars.com Arrow McLaren, 21; 37, Takuma Sato, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 19; 38, Tristan Vautier, Dale Coyne Racing, 12; 39, Colin Braun, Dale Coyne Racing, 10; 40, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing-Cusick Motorsports, 6; 41, Hunter McElrea, Dale Coyne Racing, 6; 42, Marco Andretti, Andretti Herta with Marco & Curb Agajanian, 5.