Scott McLaughlin won his 12th career NTT P1 Award and third in the last five years Saturday on St. Pete’s 1.8-mile/14-turn temporary street circuit. He recorded a best lap of 1-minute, .5426-seconds/107.032 mph in the No. 3 DEX Team Penske Chevrolet. (Photo courtesy of the NTT IndyCar Series)

By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio

Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin is determined to put “the worst year of my life” permanently in the rearview mirrors of his race car in 2026.

That process began Saturday afternoon, when “Scotty Mac” qualified on-pole for INDYCAR’s season-opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg in Florida.

McLaughlin earned his 12th career NTT P1 Award and third in the last five years on St. Pete’s 1.8-mile/14-turn temporary street circuit, leading the Firestone Fast Six with a best lap of 1-minute, .5426-seconds/107.032 mph in the No. 3 DEX Team Penske Chevrolet.

“Maybe I need to move to Florida,” McLaughlin joked during his post-qualifying presser. “I don’t know what it is. I love this place. Great way to start our year.

“We did this (pole run) last year, and I proceeded to have the worst year of my life. I’m just focused on execution (in today’s race) and the rest of the season. This is one little step. Just really proud of the execution because I felt like we nearly actually missed Q1. We were right on the buffer there, and the car was terrible. It was nice to tune it up and get it right and then it become one of my favorite cars I’ve had around here.”

Qualifying started late due to the inaugural NASCAR Craftsman Series Truck race, forcing INDYCAR drivers to wheel in-and-out of lengthy shadows on the track at-speed.

McLaughlin is working with a new engineer, Raul Prados, and a new strategist in the person of former Team Penske President Tim Cindric.  Recall the organization founded by Roger S. Penske suffered through a turbulent 2025 season marked by the dismissal of Cindric and two other key executives after an illegal modification of a part was discovered on the cars of Josef Newgarden and Will Power before qualifying for the 109^th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge.

Team Penske’s 2025 lineup of McLaughlin and two-time NTT IndyCar Series champions Newgarden and Power won only two races, with McLaughlin shut out of Victory Lane for the first time since his rookie INDYCAR season in 2021.

“It’s a testament to Raul and the camaraderie that we’ve built already and the understanding for each other, and that can only grow from here,” said McLaughlin, a 32-year-old native of New Zealand. “Raul gave me a great car. But we have a lot of experience here with a great car, as well.

“I felt like me and T.C. _ it was our first qualifying session together _ and I was telling him in spots to stop talking! We’re sort of warming up to each other a little bit and it was fun. But yeah, I think there’s a lot of things that we can work on as a group together, but this is a great start.

“Just really pumped. Everybody knows the slog we went through last year, so to start on this note is fantastic. Bloody good, bloody good.”

SEE: Qualifying Results

Another driver on the comeback trail _ 2022 Indy 500 winner Marcus Ericsson _ will join McLaughlin on the front row for today’s 100-lap race (noon EST, FOX, FOX One, FOX Deportes, FOX Sports app, INDYCAR Radio, Powered by OnlyBulls) after his best lap of 1:00.5621-seconds/106.998 mph in the No. 28 Delaware Life Honda of Andretti Global.

Ericsson has finished 15th and 20th in the standings in his first two seasons, respectively, with Andretti Global after three consecutive sixth-place results from 2021-23 with Chip Ganassi Racing.

“It’s no secret, last year was super-disappointing and frustrating and not the way I want to be or we want to be,” said Ericsson, a 35-year-old native of Sweden. “So, worked extremely hard over the winter to come back and be strong and be on the level we should be at. All weekend it’s been strong, but to go out in qualifying and do that through all the segments and put it on the front row feels really, really good.”

Ironically, Ericsson is now working with strategist Ron Ruzewski, one of the executives fired by Penske after the Indy 500 qualifying issue. Ericsson said Saturday’s qualifying session was “extremely important” to him and his new brain trust.

“I’ve been really pissed-off last year with my performance, and that’s not the way I want to show, and I know I can do so much better,” Ericsson said. “This winter it’s been a lot about digging deep, working extremely hard on all areas and just feels really, really good to come out and show that today _ show what I can do and run up-front. It’s only qualifying. We need to do it again (in the race), but it feels really, really good.”

Rookie Dennis Hauger paced one of the best performances in the history of Dale Coyne Racing by qualifying a stunning third, while new teammate Romain Grosjean placed sixth. The 2025 INDY NXT by Firestone champion, Hauger’s best lap was 1:00.5743-seconds/106.976 mph in the No. 19 Ault Block Chain Honda. A 22-year-old native of Norway, Hauger became the first driver to make the Firestone Fast Six in his series debut since Christian Lundgaard of Denmark in 2021.

Four-time/reigning series champion Alex Palou of Spain will defend his 2025 St. Petersburg victory from the fourth starting position after a best lap of 1:00.6842-seconds/106.782 mph in the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda.

David Malukas continued a strong debut weekend with Team Penske as one of the organization’s two drivers in the Firestone Fast Six. Malukas, who replaced native Australian Power during the offseason, qualified fifth at 1:00.7638-seconds/106.642 mph in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet. Malukas spent the 2025 season with Waller, Texas-based A.J. Foyt Racing as part of an ongoing technical alliance with Team Penske.

Frenchman Grosjean, 39 and a former Formula One regular, marked his return to INDYCAR after a one-year hiatus and a reunion with Dale Coyne Racing following his 2021 series debut with the team by completing the top-six at 1:01.3462-seconds/105.630 mph in the No. 18 BMax Honda.

Last year’s championship runner-up, Pato O’Ward, failed to advance past the second round of qualifying. O’Ward will start eighth after clocking in at 1:00.8863-seconds/106.428 mph in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet.

“I think we missed the track evolution there a little bit, and our balance fell off from the perfect window,” said O’Ward, a 26-year-old native of Mexico with family ties to San Antonio, Texas. “The car definitely didn’t have more in it and it’s about where we have been today _ sitting in eighth and flirting with the final transfer.

“I’m very happy with the car on primary (black Firestone Firehawk) tires. The soft (red) tires have just been more difficult, as it’s been for us in the past. We need to dive into that and see what’s going on because I do think the car was capable of being a bit higher up.”

Power’s day began with a crash during Practice 2 Saturday morning and ended with him 13^th on the grid after a best lap of 1:01.1936-seconds/105.893 mph in the No. 26 TWG AI Honda fielded by Andretti Global.

A.J. Foyt Racing teammates Santino Ferrucci and rookie Caio Collet placed 17^th and 24^th, respectively. Ferrucci, a 27-year-old resident of Dallas, posted a best lap of 1:01.2630-seconds/105.773 mph in the No. 14 Homes For Our Troops Chevrolet.

“We unloaded pretty good because the car was decent,” Ferrucci said. “We just were a little too free on both (qualifying) runs. Not too much we could do but we definitely didn’t take a big enough stab at it, either. So a lot of work to do for (the race), but other than that, everything else is going in the right direction.”

Caio, a 23-year-old native of Brazil, timed in at 1:01.5719-seconds/105.243 mph in the No. 4 Combitrans Amazona Chevrolet. Caio spent the weekend finding the limits of his car, which included a light brush with the wall during Saturday morning’s practice. The team repaired the car in time for qualifying.

“It goes by quick _ the (qualifying) session,” Caio said. “Definitely the step from blacks (primary tires) to reds (alternate, softer compound tires) was something that I really underestimated. I didn’t really use the grip that I had available there. I really under-drove the red tires. But it’s a lesson learned. We’ll just keep our heads down and focus on the work for (the race). It seems it’s going to be a long race, 100 laps, so we can move forward. I think we have a decent car.”

Formula One and sports car veteran Mick Schumacher, the 26-year-old son of seven-time F1 World Driving Champion Michael Schumacher of Germany, placed 21st overall with a best lap of 1:01.3983-seconds/105.540 mph in the No. 47 ENVE Honda fielded by Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing.

“Honestly, we had a really good car,” Schumacher said. “We’ve done some big changes to it and all of them kind of pointed in the right direction. I guess we saw that on the first tire. Obviously a lot of other people went on blacks but we went on reds directly so there’s a certain time delta in there. On the second set we had some big traffic in the first lap, which was already good enough to advance and unfortunately there was no real action being taken about that so I have to understand that a little bit better.

“The reds felt really good on our car so hopefully we’ll be able to pull that through into the race and make our way forward. We have Scott Dixon there in the back with us, so hopefully we’ll be able to hook myself to his gearbox and just follow him through. He’s pretty good at getting everything sorted and I think he understands the race really well, so I can learn something from him there.”

O’Ward wasn’t the only series star to falter before the Firestone Fast Six. Six-time series champion Scott Dixon and Newgarden were eliminated in the first round.

Dixon, 45, will start 16th in the No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda after a slide at the start of his final qualifying lap of the first session produced a lap of 1:01.2109-seconds/105.863 mph. It marked the first time the native New Zealander and CGR’s longest-tenured driver was eliminated in the opening round of qualifying at this race since 2013. Dixon has finished second in this event five times.

Newgarden, 35 and a two-time St. Pete winner, will start 23rd in the 25-car field in the No. 2 Astemo Team Penske Chevrolet after a best lap of 1:01.4174-seconds/105.508 mph.

INDYCAR’s 18-race 2026 schedule includes new venues in Arlington, Texas, in the Dallas-Fort Worth market; Markham, Ontario, Canada and Washington, D.C. For information about the series or teams, visit www.indycar.com.

Teen-ager Max Taylor kept his season-opening weekend in INDY NXT by Firestone perfect by winning pole position Saturday for the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.

Max Taylor won his first career INDY NXT by Firestone pole award on Saturday for the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg with a qualifying lap time clocked at 1 minute, 4.8887 seconds. (Photo courtesy of the NTT IndyCar Series)

Taylor’s first career pole placed an exclamation point on an event in which he also led both practice sessions on the 1.8-mile/14-turn temporary street circuit at the start of his first full season in INDYCAR’s developmental series. Taylor claimed P1 with a lap in 1-minute, 4.8887-seconds/99.863 mph on his final tour during the second group of qualifying. Taylor’s primarily pink-colored No. 28 Susan G. Komen machine is the car Dennis Hauger drove to the 2025 INDY NXT by Firestone championship last season for Andretti.

SEE: Qualifying Results

“First pole position, so I’m over the moon,” Taylor said. “P1 every session this weekend so far, so I’m just excited to keep attacking. I love this car, love this track and I love my team.”

Taylor, who made six INDY NXT starts in 2025 amid a full-time effort in USF Pro 2000, led the INDY NXT Group Test last November at Barber Motorsports Park in Alabama, was second-fastest at the Chris Griffis Memorial Test in October on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road-Course and ranked in the top-two in all four sessions at a group test last month at Sebring International Raceway in Florida.

Up next is today’s 45-lap race at 10 a.m. EST (FS1, FOX One, FOX Sports app, INDYCAR Radio, powered by OnlyBulls).

Rookie Nikita Johnson, 17, will start on the front row at his hometown race. Johnson, from St. Petersburg, led the first qualifying group at 1:05.2148-seconds/99.364 mph in the No. 21 Cape Motorsports Powered by ECR entry.

Andretti Global dominated qualifying, claiming three of the first four spots on the starting grid. Besides Taylor on-pole, 18-year-old Seb Murray of Scotland qualified third at 1:05.3912-seconds/99.096 mph in the team’s No. 27 Prosperity car, while Lochie Hughes of Australia qualified fourth at 1:05.3105-seconds/99.218 mph in the No. 26 Andretti Global machine.

Polish rookie Tymek Kucharczyk, 20, will start fifth after a best lap of 1:05.4028-seconds/99.078 mph in the No. 71 HMD Motorsports car. Series veteran Josh Pierson put four Andretti cars in the top-six with his lap of 1:05.5975-seconds/98.784 mph in the No. 29 Starchive Andretti entry.

American-Italian Alessandro de Tullio, 19, qualified eighth in the No. 14 A.J. Foyt Racing entry at 1:05.7431-seconds/98.565 mph. Brazilian-American teammate Nicholas Monteiro, 20, qualified 11th in the No. 4 machine after a lap at 1:05.9666-seconds/98.232 mph.

Accidents ended the sessions of two drivers who had hoped to qualify near the front. Enzo Fittipaldi, the 24-year-old grandson of two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Emerson Fittipaldi of Brazil, clipped the wall with his No. 67 HMD Motorsports entry. The Brazilian-American will start last in the 24-car field.

Toward the end of the second group, INDY NXT race-winner Matteo Nannini of Italy hit the barrier twice in an accident that inflicted heavy damage to the front of his No. 20 ENVE Motorsports car fielded by Cape Motorsports Powered by ECR. Nannini, 22, will start 23rd.

FOX SPORTS’ 2026 NTT INDYCAR SERIES RACE BROADCAST SCHEDULE

Note _ All times Eastern

Sunday, March 1 _ Streets of St. Petersburg, Fla., Noon

Saturday, March 7 _ Phoenix Raceway, Avondale, Ariz., 3 p.m.

Sunday, March 15 _ Streets of Arlington, Texas, 12:30 p.m.

Sunday, March 29 _ Barber Motorsports Park, Birmingham, Ala., 1 p.m.

Sunday, April 19 _ Streets of Long Beach, Calif., 5:30 p.m.

Saturday, May 9 _ Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road-Course, 4:30 p.m.

Sunday, May 24 _ 110^th Indianapolis 500, Indianapolis Motor Speedway Oval, 10 a.m.

Sunday, May 31 _ Streets of Detroit, 12:30 p.m.

Sunday, June 7 _ World Wide Technology Raceway, Madison, Ill., 9 p.m.

Sunday, June 21 _ Road America, Elkhart Lake, Wis., 2 p.m.

Sunday, July 5 _ Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Lexington, Ohio, 12:30 p.m.

Sunday, July 19 _ Nashville Superspeedway, Lebanon, Tenn., TBA

Sunday, Aug. 9 _ Portland (Ore.) International Raceway, 4 p.m.

Sunday, Aug. 16 _ Streets of Markham, Canada, Noon

Sunday, Aug. 23 _ Freedom 250 Grand Prix of Washington, D.C., TBA

Saturday, Aug. 29 _ The Milwaukee Mile Race 1, West Allis, Wis., 2:30 p.m.

Sunday, Aug. 30 _ The Milwaukee Mile Race 2, West Allis, Wis., 1 p.m.

Sunday, Sept. 6 _ WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, Monterey, Calif., 2:30 p.m.

Note _ Dates and times subject to change.

2026 INDYCAR NXT BY FIRESTONE SCHEDULE

Sunday, March 1 _ Streets of St. Petersburg, Fla.

Sunday, March 15 _ Streets of Arlington, Texas

Saturday, March 28 _ Barber Motorsports Park, Birmingham, Ala., Race 1

Sunday, March 29 _ Barber Motorsports Park, Birmingham, Ala., Race 2

Friday, May 8 _ Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road-Course Race 1

Saturday, May 9 _ Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road-Course Race 2

Sunday, May 31 _ Streets of Detroit

Sunday, June 7 _ World Wide Technology Raceway, Madison, Ill.

Saturday, June 20 _ Road America, Elkhart Lake, Wis., Race 1

Sunday, June 21 _ Road America, Elkhart Lake, Wis., Race 2

Saturday, July 4 _ Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Lexington, Ohio, Race 1

Sunday, July 5 _ Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Lexington, Ohio, Race 2

Sunday, July 19 _ Nashville Superspeedway, Lebanon, Tenn.

Sunday, Aug. 9 _ Portland (Ore.) International Raceway

Sunday, Aug. 30 _ The Milwaukee Mile, West Allis, Wis.

Saturday, Sept. 5 _ Weather Tech Raceway Laguna Seca, Monterey, Calif., Race 1

Sunday, Sept. 6 _ Weather Tech Raceway Laguna Seca, Monterey, Calif., Race 2