By: Spencer Neff
February 28, 2026
For the second consecutive year and third in five years, Scott McLaughlin will lead the NTT INDYCAR SERIES opener to green.
After posting a best lap of 1m00.5426 (107.032 mph), the Team Penske driver will lead the 25-car field in Sunday’s 100-lap Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.
It is McLaughlin’s 12th INDYCAR pole and first since last year on the 1.8-mile, 14-turn street circuit, while Team Penske extends their INDYCAR record to 309 poles. McLaughlin also extends his own record to 71 poles with Team Penske across IndyCar and Australian V8 SuperCars.
The Kiwi has not won a race since Milwaukee Race 2 in 2024, 18 races ago. His first of seven career victories was at the 2022 race, a day after his first pole in the series.
Round 3-Fast Six
Missing out on pole by a narrow .0195 of a second but equaling his best career start is 2023 St. Petersburg winner Marcus Ericsson. The Andretti Global driver earns his best start in nearly three years, when he qualified second at Long Beach.
Dale Coyne Racing’s Dennis Hauger will start third in his INDYCAR debut, the lone rookie to make it past Round 1 of qualifying. Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou begins his quest for a fourth consecutive championship in fourth as he looks to be the first repeat winner at the street circuit since Josef Newgarden (2019-2020).
McLaughlin’s new teammate David Malukas will start his Team Penske debut in fifth, with Hauger’s teammate and 2023 St. Petersburg pole winner Romain Grosjean sixth. This is the first time Dale Coyne Racing has seen both cars qualify in the Fast Six since Detroit in 2022.
McLaughlin and Malukas were the lone Chevrolet-powered entries against Four Hondas in the final round of knockout qualifying.
Round 2-Fast 12
McLaughlin (1m00.5434-107.031 mph) topped the lap chart in Round 2, advancing to the run for the pole in the Fast Six. Palou, Ericsson, Hauger , Malukas and Grosjean would join him in the final round.
Not advancing were Marcus Armstrong, Pato O’Ward, Louis Foster, Kyffin Simpson, Felix Rosenqvist and Christian Lundgaard. Those drivers will start 7th-12th on the grid.
Round 1
Group 1: Ericsson (1m01.025-106.534 mph) led the way and despite both his teammates being in the first group, was the only Andretti Global driver to advance.
Joining him in the Fast 12 were O’Ward, Grosjean, Foster, McLaughlin and Rosenqvist.
Unable to advance into that next round were Will Power, Kyle Kirkwood, Santino Ferrucci, Rinus VeeKay, Mick Schumacher and Josef Newgarden. Those drivers will start on the inside of Rows 7-12.
Group 2:- Malukas was fastest, posting a best lap of 1m00.5799 (106.966 mph), moving on to Round 2 along with Palou, Armstrong, Hauger, Lundgaard and Simpson.
Missing out on the Fast 12 were Christian Rasmussen, Scott Dixon, Graham Rahal, Sting Ray Robb, Nolan Siegel, Caio Collet and Alexander Rossi. Rossi starts 25th, while the other driver will start outside rows 7-12.
Up Next
Here is the race day on-track schedule for the weekend at St. Petersburg. Stick with IndyCar1909.com and our social media platforms to get all the latest on the NTT INDYCAR SERIES and the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.
At-track schedule (All Times Local/Eastern Time):
Sunday, March 1
9:05-9:35 a.m. – NTT INDYCAR SERIES warmup, FS1
Noon – FOX Sports on air
12:22 p.m. – “Drivers, start your engines.”
12:29 p.m. – Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg (100 laps / 181 miles), FOX, FOX Sports Deportes, FOX One and FOX Sports App (Live)
Header Image By Joe Skibinski/Penske Entertainment
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