Tag: Scott McLaughlin

The 2022 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season-opening Firestone Grand Prix presented by RP Funding was on Sunday not only had record attendance on race day of 140,000 but it also drew in the biggest viewership of any season-opening INDYCAR race for eleven years.

The GPSP averaged a Total Audience Delivery (TAD) of 1.429 million viewers on NBC and Peacock, making it not only the most-watched INDYCAR season opener in 11 years (St. Pete, 2011, 1.840 million, ABC), but also the most-watched non-Indy 500 INDYCAR race in 11 years.

Sunday’s GPSP was up 53% compared to the 2021 INDYCAR season opener at Barber (932,000 viewers; April 18) and up 15% vs. last year’s St. Pete race (1.246 million; April 25), both on NBC.

Bolstered by streaming on Peacock, the race delivered an Average Minute Audience (AMA) of 23,800 viewers, the largest streaming audience on record for an INDYCAR race, excluding the Indy 500. The AMA also includes streaming on NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app via authentication.

Viewership for the race peaked with a TV-only audience of 1.509 million viewers and averaged a household rating of 0.89. TAD is based on data from Nielsen and Adobe Analytics.

The next race on the schedule is the XPEL 375 at Texas Moor Speedway, the first oval event of the season on March 20, live on NBC and Peacock.

Chevrolet had a great start to the 2022 NTT IndyCar Series season on the streets of St Petersburg on Sunday as Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin scored his first career victory in only his 18th series start.

Chevrolet who scored a third-place finish with Will Power in the No.12 Verizon 5G Chevrolet coming home in third place behind Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou in the No.10 NTT DATA Honda,

Ed Carpenter Racing’s Rinus VeeKay in the No.21 SONAX Chevrolet came home in sixth place following a strong qualifying for the Dutch driver on Saturday.

"What a day. We did it."

First wins are always emotional. Embrace your moment, @smclaughlin93.#INDYCAR // #FirestoneGP // @GPSTPETE pic.twitter.com/vAjBzOmUdF

— NTT INDYCAR SERIES (@IndyCar) February 27, 2022

Speaking to Paddock Eye following the Firestone Grand Prix presented by RP Funding, a Chevrolet spokeswoman said that the company is delighted with how their season started and that they are happy that they have more parity between them and Honda.

Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin who took his first NTT IndyCar Series career victory in St Pete on Sunday says that the win is a monkey off his back for sure as in only his 18th IndyCar start he not only took pole he also took victory ahead of Alex Palou.

Speaking to Paddock Eye following the race he said that the victory is in the top four moments in his life after getting married, winning in Australia and taking victory in Australia.

McLaughlin said that the team can’t take it for granted because Chip Ganassi Racing were extremely fast and he said that in Texas he might finish last.

The New Zealander said that it is a great stepping stone to start the season with following the win as they head to Texas where last season, he scored his first career podium.

It’s head, down, bum up and get on with the job at hand.

Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin in the No.3 DEX Imaging Chevrolet took his first career victory in the NTT IndyCar Series at the season-opening Firestone Grand Prix presented by RP Funding here on Sunday.

The New Zealander had a fast charging Alex Palou behind him in the closing stages of the race.

Speaking following the race he was asked:

SCOTT MCLAUGHLIN, NO. 3 DEX IMAGING CHEVROLET, TEAM PENSKE – RACE WINNER:

“This unbelievable. Thank you to Roger Penske and everyone who put their faith in me… DEX Energy for jumping on board and trusting me, and Roger Penske and Tim Cindric giving me the opportunity to come here. I miss my mom and dad dearly and my family… I wish you guys were here.

LATE-RACE FIGHT WITH ALEX PALOU:

“It was crazy. I really struggled those last couple laps to keep my head to save fuel and all that stuff. We did it. Chevy gave us the fuel mileage. The drivability this weekend has been a big change. To win DEX Imaging’s home race is unreal. I love you Australia and New Zealand. I miss you guys and thinking of all you guys in the Queensland with all the floods at the moment. I just can’t believe this!”

MORE ON THE RACE:

“These are great fans. We have great sponsors like DEX Imaging and Chevy to help us along the way. The trust of everyone in me really kept me going, including my wife. My wife has been the absolute backbone of everything and kept the belief in me. She’s a gem.”

YOUR PREVIOUS BEST RESULT ON A STREET COURSE WAS 11TTTH. WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE FROM ONE YEAR TO THE NEXT?

“I was worried about my average so I had to come out and win! I’m just very proud. We put a lot of hard work in – not just me but all these guys on pit stop practice, engineering from Ben (Brentzman) to make me good to give me a car that I like. I’m just pleased.”

WHAT HAS ROGER PENSKE’S SUPPORT MEAN?

“He was the one who calmed me down last year. He’s the one who said that it’s a long story and not a short one. To pay back that faith and prove the trust he put in me is a very proud moment.”

YOU WON SO MUCH IN SUPERCARS BUT DIDN’T LAST YEAR. WAS THERE DOUBT?

“There’s always a little bit of doubt. But you know you can do it deep down. Everyone was asking how I was going to go at the start today, and I was like, ‘I’ve led a few races from the start. I just didn’t do rolling starts.’ It’s all about going back to what I know. I knew I could do it. It’s all about belief. To anyone out there, you can do whatever you want. You just have to have belief in yourself and get it done.”

The next race of the season is at Texas Motor Speedway on March 20, the first oval race of the year where last season, McLaughlin finished the race on the podium in

Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin in the No.3 DEX Imaging Chevrolet is an IndyCar Series race winner as he took his first career victory on the Streets of St Petersburg in the Firestone Grand Prix presented by RP Funding.

The New Zealander beat a late charge from Alex Palou in the No.10 NTT DATA Chip Ganassi Racing Honda while Will Power in the No.12 Verizon 5G Chevrolet made it a double podium for Team Penske.

Andretti Autosport’s Colton Herta and Romain Grosjean had a strong race for Andretti Autosport in fourth and fifth place just ahead of Rinus VeeKay.

Graham Rahal in the No.15 United Rentals Honda came home in seventh place just ahead of Scott Dixon in the No.9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda.

Marcus Ericsson was ninth while Takuma Sato rounded out the top ten. It was a great race for Christian Lundgaard who came home in 11th place just ahead of Pato O’Ward and Jack Harvey. Helio Castroneves came home in 14th place just ahead of his team mate Simon Pagenaud.

Josef Newgarden came home in 16th place just ahead of Felix Rosenqvist just ahead of Kyle Kirkwood who had a great debut for AJ Foyt Racing.

Callum Ilott had a great race coming home in 19th just ahead of Alexander Rossi and Conor Daly.

Devlin DeFrancesco came home in 22nd place on his debut for Andretti Autosport while Jimmie Johnson came home 23rd.

Tatiana Calderon had a great opening race in IndyCar coming home in 24th just ahead of Dalton Kellett and David Malukas.

Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin tells Paddock Eye that he is excited to be starting the Firestone Grand Prix presented by RP Funding from pole having taken his first NTT P1 Award.

The New Zealander told Paddock Eye that he did a lot of work over the off-season in terms of working on the Chevrolet simulator to get the most out of the car and that has translated to on-track performances which resulted in him taking his P1 Award.

McLaughlin said he is more familiar with the car now than he was this time last season and he is looking forward to seeing what the team can do in the race on Sunday.

McLaughlin set a time of 59.4821s and he feels that Chevy has made a great step forward in terms of the development and drivability of the engine.

The driver of the No.3 DEX Imaging Chevrolet is working with a new engineer with Ben Bretman taking over as his race engineer and they knuckled down to get a great pace line set-up for the car.

The pole position is Team Penske’s 285th NTT IndyCar Series NTT P1 Award.

Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin scored his first NTT P1 Award for the season-opening Firestone Grand Prix presented by RP Funding. I am a competitive block at the end of the day this is something new to me he said.

McLaughlin set a 59.4842s while Will Power starts the race from second place in the No.12 Verizon 5G Chevrolet with a time of 59.6058s while Colton Herta starts the race from third place with a 59.7104s.

Rinus VeeKay starts the race from fourth place with a time of 59.8102s while Romain Grosjean starts the race from fifth place with a time of 59.8116s while Simon Pagenaud starts his first race for Meyer Shank Racing in sixth with a time of 01:00.2616s.

SCOTT McLAUGHLIN, NO. 3 DEX IMAGING CHEVROLET, TEAM PENSKE: “I love qualifying. You have to put it all on the line. I’m working really well with Ben Bretzman (new race engineer). The DEX Imaging Chevy is phenomenal. Ben is a legend. We said we could do it. I’m really proud. I know Mom and Dad will be watching at home, so this is awesome. I have my in-laws here and I haven’t seen them in two years. I’m super proud for that. Chevy has done a tremendous job giving us driveability. The engine is handling so much better and I’m so confident. I’m so happy… I have a race tomorrow and can’t use too much energy!”
YOU SAID YOU WERE TIRED OF STARTING AT THE BACK OF THE FIELD. HOW DIFFERENT WILL THE PERSPECTIVE BE TOMORROW? “I’m a competitive bloke so I hate starting at the back! At the end of the day, it’s a new thing for me. I’ll be starting from the front and leading a group to the first corner. I’m used to braking with people in front of me so I have to make sure I don’t overshoot it like an idiot! We’ll have fun. I appreciate all the fans coming out. It’s great to see so many fans and I can’t wait for tomorrow. The show is going to be big.”

BEN BRETZMAN, NO. 3 DEX IMAGING CHEVROLET RACE ENGINEER: “It’s been an interesting offseason with a big transition for both of us. We’ve put a lot of work in, a lot of ‘How are we going to do this together and what do we need to learn together?’ I’m super proud of him. The speed has always been there, it’s how do you extract it? So far so good.”
DID YOU THINK A POLE WAS POSSIBLE? “Honestly I wasn’t sure until I saw where we were when we unloaded. When we unloaded, all that work that we did over the offseason really came to fruition. We were quick right off the truck, and then I knew we could do something. I’m pretty excited. A lot of work went into this so I’m really proud of everybody.”

Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin in the No.3 DEX Chevrolet says that the car feels great but that it is only practiced as he set the fastest time of 59.7342s. Speaking following the action, McLaughlin said;

“I’m feeling great. The DEX Imaging Chevy feels really great so far. We’ve worked really hard together with my engineer Ben Bretzman. Jonathan Diuguid (former engineer) went on to bigger and better things, and he helped me a lot. We’ve worked really hard to fine-tune myself and what I want from the car. I’m very proud of this team. At the end of the day, it’s only practice and there is no such thing as a perfect lap. I’ll work on it and get better. We know we’ll have to come back stronger because it’s going to be tight.”

Colton Herta continued his progress from Friday ending the session in second place with a time 01:00.0851s just ahead of Simon Pagenaud who had a great session for Meyer Shank Racing with a time of 01:00.0853s.

Alexander Rossi was fourth fastest with a time of 01:00.1075s ending the session just ahead of Will Power and Rinus VeeKay.

Alex Palou ended the session in seventh place despite hitting the wall. It was a fantastic session for Kyle Kirkwood in the No.14 ROKiT Chevrolet.

Pato O’Ward was ninth fastest for Arrow McLaren SP.

Felix Rosenqvist ended the session in 10th place just ahead of Conor Daly and Helio Castroneves. Marcus Ericsson was 13th fastest just ahead of Josef Newgarden and Devlin DeFrancesco.

David Malukas was 16th with a time of 01:00.4872s just ahead of Callum Ilott who set a fastest time of 01:00.6036s just ahead of Romain Grosjean who set a fast time of 01:00.7546s just ahead of Scott Dixon.

Dalton Kellett was 21st just ahead of Graham Rahal and Takuma Sato while Jack Harvey was 24th just ahead of Jimmie Johnson and Tatiana Calderon.

Scott McLaughlin, driver of the No.3 DEX Team Penske Chevrolet says that the outfit got everyone done they wanted to during their day of testing at Sebring International Raceway.

The New Zealander enters his second season in the NTT IndyCar Series and took to Twitter on Tuesday to say:

Solid test for Car 3 yesterday. Got through what we wanted and ready for season 2022! pic.twitter.com/MTIoFEU33i

— Scott McLaughlin (@smclaughlin93) February 15, 2022