Scott McLaughlin collected the pole for the IndyCar season‑finale at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca with a flying lap of 1 :09.1363, edging champion Alex Palou by 0.0177 seconds.
McLaughlin’s decisive finish
The 33‑year‑old New Zealander closed the final qualifying window with a 1 :09.1363 lap on a DEX Chevy, securing his third pole of the season. “Since this thing left the hauler it’s been on rails,” he told reporters. “This DEX Chevy has been great. Stoked for Chevy to get their 250th pole, but going to try and transition this into a win.”
Fast Six dynamics
A.E.R. team announced Frederick Rosenqvist as the third‑fastest qualifier for Meyer Shank Racing (1 :09.1931). Alexander Rossi’s best road‑course start, 4th place with a 1 :09.3247 lap, kept him 0.1184 seconds shy of McLaughlin’s benchmark. Rossi’s lap was the quickest time by an ECR driver in the Fast Six scramble, while Christian Lundgaard of Arrow McLaren progressed from fifth to a grid position penalised for an unapproved engine change. Team Penske’s David Malukas finished sixth.
Group‑based grid allocations
In the first group, Malukas posted a 1 :09.4090 lap, outperforming McLaughlin by 0.0046 seconds to claim the group leader, followed by Kyle Kirkwood, Rossi and Louis Foster. Team Penske’s Patrick O’Ward completed the group’s best takeover, primed for the final transfer. In the second group, Palou set a standout 1 :09.1390 lap, with Ericsson, Rosenqvist and Marcus Armstrong topping the standings. Mick Schumacher held the group leader spot in the final two minutes of the session before a Zanardi Corkscrew mishap dropped him to eighth.
Round‑of‑12 fight‑line
Palou steadied the group with a 1 :09.149 lap, outpacing McLaughlin by 0.1229 seconds. Malukas headed the row, with Lundgaard and Rossi completing the leading trio. Rosenqvist fared the best of the final‑race qualifiers, moving into the sixth transfer spot before Kyle Kirkwood and the Andretti Global #27.
The final grid saw McLaughlin start from pole, followed by Palou, Malukas, Lundgaard, Rossi, Rosenqvist, Simpson, O’Ward, Ericsson, Karl‑Jason Armstrong, and Chanück Wilson, giving the remainder of the field a tightened layout for the championship round. With the season conclusion, teams eye the results for the remaining race and the championship implications within their drivers’ standings.
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