Winners and losers from the IndyCar season finale at Laguna Seca

The checkered flag flew on the 2026 season in the IndyCar Series with the Grand Prix of Monterey at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.

The season finale at the iconic 2.238-mile, 11-turn natural terrain road course was a walkoff by Scott McLaughlin, who coasted to his first win since 2024 (Milwaukee, Race 2). The New Zealander ended up finishing an uncontested 1.3739s ahead of Andretti Global's Kyle Kirkwood, who secured his best-ever finish on a road course.

It was a race that featured 160 total passes, with 146 of those for position. There were six lead changes among four different drivers, along with one caution accounting for three laps.

Here are the winners and losers from the 18th round of the season.

McLaughlin put on a clinic from pole position, leading 87 of 95 laps to capture his eighth career IndyCar victory and snap a 35-race winless drought. After delivering Chevrolet's 250th IndyCar pole on Saturday, the Team Penske driver was virtually untouched on Sunday, executing pit cycles cleanly and fulfilling a promise to bring home a race-winner's trophy for his young daughter, Lucy.

The win helped solidify sixth in the championship standings, providing a solid rebound after being 10th last year and giving good momentum heading into the offseason.

Though Alex Palou entered Monterey with his fifth IndyCar championship already secured, the season finale did not go according to plan for the Spaniard. After starting on the front row in the #10 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, Palou opted for an early four-stop strategy on Lap 19 that backfired. Heavy tire degradation on used softs left him defenseless against passing maneuvers from Kyle Kirkwood and Alexander Rossi, forcing the champion to fade to an eighth-place finish.

The result marked the first time Palou had finished off the podium at Laguna Seca. In five previous starts, he collected three wins, one runner-up result and a third. Now, his average finish at the track dropped from a 1.6 to a 2.7, which is still ridiculous.

Alexander Rossi delivered his finest drive of the 2026 season, bringing ECR its second podium of the year - first on a road course - with a third-place finish. Returning to the Laguna Seca podium for the first time since June 2024, Rossi was on an island throughout his final stint - not in a position to pressure Kirkwood for second but also finishing roughly 2.5s ahead of Felix Rosenqvist and David Malukas.

In the end, it was the type of outcome that provided ECR a massive boost on a road course. It marks the team's first podium on a road course since 2022 (Rinus Veekay, Barber Motorsports Park).

Louis Foster, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing

Anytime a driver qualifies in the top 10, there's some expectation of converting a decent result. It was far from that for Louis Foster on Sunday.

After starting ninth in the #45 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing (RLL) Honda, the Briton was uncompetitive throughout - mostly losing time on out-laps after pitting. He ended up leading RLL's contingent, but was still left with a lowly 14th-place finish. He was the only driver to start on the day to start in the top 10 and fall multiple spots to finish outside of it.

It was a miserable way to end a sophomore campaign that featured a career-best finish of seventh (twice - Indy GP, Detroit) and one pole (Markham) en route to 18th in the championship.

It was a quiet but strong drive by Santino Ferrucci.

With questions looming on his future with AJ Foyt Racing, the Connecticut native turned a 21st-place starting grid position into a 12th-place finish. Despite only one caution, which came on the opening lap, he was able to charge through the field and advance a race-high nine positions on the technical California circuit where passing came at a premium.

In a pivotal race in which both drivers are auditioning for their respective futures in IndyCar, it was a race to forget for both Sting Ray Robb and Nolan Siegel.

Robb, driving the #77 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet, triggered the race's only full-course caution on Lap 1 when he misjudged Turn 6 and punted Dennis Hauger into the tire barriers, ending Hauger's day. Robb was handed a 10-second stop-and-hold penalty as a result of the contact, which he never overcame en route to a 23rd-place finish.

Meanwhile, Arrow McLaren's Siegel was mired mid-pack for a majority of the contest before an off-track excursion relegated him down the running order and to a 24th-place finish.

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