The eighth race of the season sees the drivers take on Laguna Seca. The Championship is up for grabs with the entire top 10 being separated by just 79 points! This means that drivers must be on top of their game as one or two off-weekends could take a driver out of the hunt for the title. This weekend, the NTT IndyCar Series takes on Weathertech Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, California. The 2.238-mile racetrack consists of 11 turns and significant altitude changes with multiple passing opportunities on a mix of short and long straightaways.
Herta Looking for a Bounce Back
Over the past few weeks, Colton Herta has epitomized the old saying “without bad luck, you’d have no luck at all.” At Road America, Herta broke his two race streak of finishing outside the top 19 (23rd at Indy, 19th in Detroit) by posting a solid sixth place finish after multiple incidents saw him driving around in the back of the field for most of the day.
Herta has shown consistent speed all year, racking up five top 10 finishes in seven races so far (two of which were top five finishes) and a pole position. Herta should open the weekend as one of, if not, the favorite as he has won two of the last four races held at Laguna Seca (‘19 & ‘21). This is also Herta’s home race as just four-and-a-half hours southeast of Monterey is Herta’s hometown of Valencia, CA, which could very well provide the extra motivation to perform well for him home crowd!
Will Team Penske be able to keep up the momentum?
Coming off a stellar showing at Road America which saw all three Penske drivers standing on the podium, Roger Penske’s crew will look to duplicate the results at Laguna Seca. All three of the Penske drivers have seen their fair share of success in Monterey, but victory has always eluded them, having a car finishing second in three of the last four races.
Will Power, winner at Road America, has been Penske’s best driver at the 11 turn road course. Displaying top five finishes in three of the last four races with his only finish at Laguna Seca finishing outside the top five is a 26th place finish in 2021 after starting the race third.
Scott McLaughlin has only raced the last three races at Laguna Seca bringing home a second in 2023 (runner up to Scott Dixon), sixth in ‘22, and 12th in ‘21. McLaughlin has one win on the year, two top fives and four top 10’s, and a pole position for good measure. McLaughlin set the fastest qualifying time in Indianapolis 500 history but has been unable to turn that momentum into a win.
Josef Newgarden has three top 10 finishes in the last four races, finishing second in 2022 (runner up to Alex Palou), seventh in ‘21 and eighth in ‘19 with his ‘23 race ending with him crossing the line 21st after starting the race in fourth. The Indy 500 winner looked to be dominating Road America until an untimely error saw him pit earlier than planned, giving the lead of the race, and the eventual win, to Will Power.
Chip Ganassi Racing Looking to Retake Championship Lead
With Alex Palou winning two of the last three titles and Scott Dixon having six titles (second all time to AJ Foyt with seven), Ganassi Racing has become very used to bringing home the season title. This year, Team Penske, Arrow McLaren, and Andretti Global all look to spoil Ganassi’s title hopes. Ganassi has won the last two races at Laguna Seca and will look to replicate that success.
Scott Dixon is last year’s winner and likely to be a factor once again this year. Winning in 2023 by 5.4 seconds, a win could easily catapult Dixon back into the catbirds seat in regards to the championship. If it turns into a fuel mileage race, look for Dixon to show his fuel saving prowess.
Alex Palou is no stranger to winning at Laguna Seca either, winning the race in 2022 by a whopping 30.3 seconds and finishing on the podium in all three races he has started at Laguna Seca (second in ‘21 and 3rd in ‘23). The youngster looks to get his three-peat hopes back on track with a strong showing at a track he has performed very well at in the past.
