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Scott McLaughlin Out-Duels Romain Grosjean to Claim Victory in Alabama

Scott McLaughlin - Children_s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix - By_ James Black_ReferenceImageWithoutWatermark_m77811

Mark Twain once wrote, “history doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes.”

On Sunday, April 30, in the NTT IndyCar Series’ Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix at Barber Motorsports Park, Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin might have just proved himself a poet. 

Exiting pit road on lap 64 with a hard-charging Romain Grosjean behind him on warmed-up Firestone tires, McLaughlin found himself in the exact scenario that resulted in him losing control on the defensive line, sending both drivers into the barriers late in the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg

This time, as Grosjean pressured him, McLaughlin didn’t put a wheel wrong. But sometimes, that’s not enough. Grosjean went through in the final corner to take the lead.

There’s one clear strategic advantage to not defending your way into a tire barrier: you can pass the other driver back. With Grosjean’s push-to-pass exhausted, McLaughlin turned up the heat, and just a few short laps later, was in position to capitalize when Grosjean ran wide in turn 5.

From there, it was clear sailing home for the 29-year-old from New Zealand, who earned his fourth career win in the NTT IndyCar Series and first of 2023. In a lovely bit of symmetry, he became the fourth different winner in the series in four races in 2023 and moved up to fourth place in the championship standings. 

Grosjean was able to defend second place from Will Power in the closing laps, earning his second consecutive runner-up result with the Australian seizing the final step on the podium. Last year’s winner Pato O’Ward was fourth at the flag, with 2021 winner Alex Palou fifth – his worst-ever result at the track.

Sixth was Christian Lungaard, a lone bright spot for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, followed by Scott Dixon, Alexander Rossi and Felix Rosenqvist. Tenth place was just enough for Marcus Ericsson to maintain his championship lead by a narrow three points over O’Ward.

As it so often is at Barber, the story of the day was tire strategy. Top qualifiers Grosjean, Palou and O’Ward started on the grippy red Firestone alternate tires, with McLaughlin leading his Team Penske teammate Josef Newgarden on the long-lived Firestone primaries.

Counter-intuitively, Newgarden dove into the pits on lap 13, committing to a three-stop strategy alongside McLaughlin, Power and Arrow McLaren’s Rossi – all of whom exchanged their primaries for the grippier alternates, which…

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