Barber Notes: Team Penske Finds Salvation
If Team Penske needed redemption after a difficult week, it arrived with a double helping Sunday in the Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix at Barber Motorsports Park near Birmingham, Alabama.
Penske’s Scott McLaughlin rolled to an easy win despite a late-race caution period, and Will Power, his teammate, took second.
“I would say after this week I think Roger will be pretty happy,” Power said, speaking of team owner Roger Penske, who owns the three-car team and the IndyCar Series.
The days leading to the third race of the IndyCar season held a mix of emotions in the series paddock after the mid-week announcement that St. Petersburg race winner Josef Newgarden and Penske teammate McLaughlin had been disqualified because of violations of use of the push-to-pass system. Power, the third Penske driver, wasn’t disqualified but lost 10 championship points.
The paddock was rocked by the news, with drivers from some other teams critical of the Penske violations.
So the McLaughlin-Power top two brought a sense of relief, despite Newgarden’s 16th-place finish.
“We did what we thought we could do,” McLaughlin said. “I’m so proud of the execution. Keep executing. That’s our word for the rest of the year.”
McLaughlin led 58 of the 90 laps as teams tried a variety of pit strategies. He held a three-second lead over Power with five laps to go when Christian Rasmussen lost control of his car and caused the final caution. McLaughlin won without a serious challenge over the final two green-flag laps, beating Power by 1.31 seconds.
“It was a nice cap after a pretty rough week,” McLaughlin said.
Smooth Race Day Lands Lundqvist Podium Spot
Although Team Penske drivers dominated discussion before, during and after Sunday’s race, Chip Ganassi Racing’s Linus Lundqvist muscled into the conversation.
The Swedish rookie ran a solid race, advancing from the 19th starting spot to finish third, his first IndyCar podium.
Lundqvist said much of the credit for the podium run belongs to team strategy. “I just did what they told me to do,” he said. Drivers moved in and out of the top 10 much of the day as various fuel strategies played out, and Lundqvist avoided numerous off-track excursions by other drivers to steadily move through the field.
Drivers Feel A Bit More Air But Not Enough
The latest version of the aeroscreen on the cars improved cockpit conditions a bit for drivers, but heat on a warm Alabama afternoon still got their attention.
“We got a little bit more airflow for sure, but the forced air into our helmets is a little less,” Scott McLaughlin said. “The way the air is coming into the windscreen is a little different and that little inlet is not as effective. We have mentioned that to IndyCar. They're working with us on it. It's a slow process.”
Herta Will Carry IndyCar Point Lead Into Month of May
An eighth-place finish Sunday at Barber lifted Colton Herta into the series point lead.
Herta, perhaps the biggest critic of Team Penske after Penske drivers were penalized during the week, takes a one-point edge over Penske’s Will Power into the mix of practice, qualifying and racing that highlight the IndyCar season next month at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Alex Palou is third, three points behind.
With his Sunday victory, Scott McLaughlin jumped 20 positions in points to ninth, keeping him in place to challenge for the championship despite being disqualified from the St. Petersburg opener.
The Sonsio Grand Prix on the IMS road course is scheduled May 11. Indy 500 qualifying is set for May 18-19, and the 500 is scheduled May 26.
