McLaughlin leads Power to Penske one-two at Barber

The battle for victory was between McLaughlin and Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou for much of the afternoon, given they ended up being the front-runners on their respective strategies at Barber Motorsports Park.

A Caution just prior to the halfway mark of the 90-lap contest looked to have handed the ascendancy to Palou but the next yellow flag period left him with a big fuel-save task to make the chequered flag.

In the end, McLaughlin won by 1.319s, with Power second, CGR’s Linus Lundqvist third, Meyer Shank Racing’s Felix Rosenqvist fourth, and Palou fading to fifth in a two-lap sprint to the finish.

Erstwhile series leader Scott Dixon got home just 15th after an early spin in the #9 CGR entry, with Colton Herta now on top of the points table having finished the race in eighth, and Power a single point behind.

Both Power himself and the #12 Chevrolet experienced dramas during the Warm Up, specifically illness for former and an engine change for the latter.

McLaughlin (#3 Chevrolet) and Power started on primary tyres on the front row, with Christian Lundgaard (#45 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda) and Pato O’Ward (#5 McLaren Chevrolet) on alternate tyres on Row 2.

They took off in that order when the green flag flew, but that only remained the cause until O’Ward locked the rears and spun at Turn 5 on Lap 2, with Rosenqvist (#60 Honda, primaries) inheriting fourth position.

McLaughlin was out to a 1.4s lead when a Caution was called on Lap 6 due to O’Ward unloading Pietro Fittipaldi (#30 RLL Honda) into the barriers at Turn 12.

The top 10 all stayed out but O’Ward was among those to pit under yellow, for fuel only, before the race restarted on Lap 11.

Almost as soon as it had, O’Ward was issued a drive-through penalty, before Palou (#10 Honda, alternates) passed Ganassi team-mate Marcus Armstrong (#11 Honda, primaries) on Lap 12 at Turn 5.

Palou then put a move on Rosenqvist for fourth at Turn 12, as he was apparently switched from a three-stop strategy to a two-.

Both Graham Rahal (#15 RLL Honda, alternates) and Scott Dixon (#9 CGR Honda, alternates) got by Armstrong on Lap 13 to run sixth and seventh, but the last-start race winner went spinning five laps later.

Dixon appeared to be ranging up on the outside of Rahal at Turn 5 but the American edged across to the usual braking approach and squeezed the #9 Honda onto the grass, with the New Zealander resuming in 18th.

Power was two seconds behind McLaughlin when he ran off at Turn 5 on Lap 23 and dropped to a distant third place.

Lundgaard assumed second place at three seconds back from Car #3, where he stayed until pitting on Lap 24 to swap his used reds for a set of new reds.

Power was 7.5s behind McLaughlin when he pitted on Lap 27 for one of the two sets of reds which he used in the Fast Six.

McLaughlin was 14.7s up on second-placed Palou when he did likewise on Lap 28.

Palou pitted for his set of new reds on Lap 30, while Dixon was in for new blacks from deeper in the field.

By the time McLaughlin cycled back to the lead on Lap 36, it was by seven seconds over Lundgaard, with Power third.

Palou inherited fourth on Lap 37 at almost 22 seconds away from the lead once an off-sequence Kyffin Simpson (#4 CGR Honda) stopped.

Once the stops had all shaken out, Rosenqvist was fifth, Armstrong sixth, Josef Newgarden (#2 Penske Chevrolet) 11th having qualified eighth and then had an off due to contact with Armstrong, with Dixon running 16th.

McLaughlin’s lead was about 6.5s over Lundgaard when a Caution was called on Lap 44 to retrieve the stranded #7 McLaren Chevrolet of Alexander Rossi, who had lost a left-rear wheel after a recent pit stop.

It forced the top three to pit, all for new reds, Power jumping Lundgaard in the lane.

McLaughlin, Power, and Lundgaard lined up 17th through 19th for the restart, with Palou leading from Rosenqvist, Armstrong, Santino Ferrucci (#14 AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet), and Rahal.

Newgarden was eighth, Dixon 11th, and Herta (#26 Andretti Global w/ Curb-Agajanian Honda) 12th.

The green flag flew on Lap 49 and Power rounded up McLaughlin at Turn 5, only for the New Zealander to reclaim the position when he fired down the inside on Lap 50 at Turn 1.

The race continued under green flag when a mannequin, of all things, fell off a bridge and landed on the side of the track.

McLaughlin had risen to 15th when a Caution was called on Lap 55 after Sting Ray Robb (#41 Foyt Chevrolet) ended up in the barriers at Turn 1.

That was awkward timing for the two-stoppers in light of the roughly 30-lap fuel range, and it drew most but not all of the two-stoppers into the lane.

Ferrucci and Linus Lundqvist (#8 CGR Honda) stayed out, assuming the top two, with McLaughlin third, from Simpson, Power, and Lundgaard in sixth.

Palou was 11th on blacks, from Blomqvist, Armstrong, and Rahal in 14th, with Newgarden 19th, Dixon 20th, and Herta 22nd.

The restart was set to come on Lap 60 but, fortunately for the two-stoppers, it was waved off because Ferrucci had gone early, and the green eventually came at the start of Lap 61.

Armstrong quickly passed Rosenqvist for 12th position, or second of those on his strategy, but McLaughlin was having a hard time clearing Lundqvist.

Ferrucci pitted on Lap 66, then Lundqvist on Lap 69.

That put McLaughlin back into the official lead, with his margin over second-placed Power being 2.1s, and over Palou in seventh being 21.3s.

McLaughlin continued to add about two seconds per lap to his advantage relative to Palou, which was 32 seconds when he and Power both pitted for the final time on Lap 74.

When they exited the pits on used reds, McLaughlin was 2.8s up on Power and nearly seven seconds clear of third-placed Palou, and the latter was still in fuel-save mode.

On a charge, though, was Lundqvist, who rounded up Lundgaard on the RLL driver’s out lap on Lap 75, then went down the inside of Rosenqvist on Lap 78 at Turn 5 to take up fourth position.

A lap later, Lundqvist picked off Palou for third place at Turn 5, at which point McLaughlin was 11 seconds up the road.

With five laps to go, a Caution was called in response to Christian Rasmussen spinning the #20 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet at Turn 15 closed the field up.

McLaughlin led from Power, Lundqvist, Palou, Rosenqvist, Lundgaard, Armstrong, Ferrucci, Kyle Kirkwood (#27 Andretti Honda), and Herta in 10th, with Dixon 15th and Newgarden 16th.

The restart came with two laps to go and McLaughlin gapped Power, who was trying to shake Lundqvist.

Just behind, a red-shod Rosenqvist went around the outside of a black-shod Palou to take fourth spot at Turn 5.

McLaughlin led by a full second as he took the white flag, before clinching the fifth win of his IndyCar career.

Palou lost fourth also, to Rosenqvist, with Lundgaard sixth from Ferrucci, Herta, Armstrong, and Kirkwood, with Dixon 15th, Newgarden 16th, and O’Ward 22nd.

Now it is time for the Month of May, with the Indianapolis Grand Prix on the road course on Saturday week (May 10-11, local time).

Results: Race, Barber Motorsports Park

Race winner: 90 laps
Note: Car #5 issued penalty (Yield one position) on Lap 90

Series points