BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Romain Grosjean appeared to be on cruise control to his first career NTT IndyCar Series victory.
And then, he ran out of push to pass.
Without the additional boost of horsepower, which IndyCar limited to 200 seconds for this race, the driver from France had no way to defend the hard-charging Scott McLaughlin of Team Penske.
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The former Australian Supercars champion from Christchurch, New Zealand passed Grosjean in turn six with 19 laps to go and went on to win Sunday’s Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix at Barber Motorsports Park.
It was McLaughlin’s fourth career NTT IndyCar Series victory. He won three races for Team Penske in 2022.
McLaughlin’s No. 3 Chevrolet finished 1.7854-seconds. He became the fourth different winner in the NTT IndyCar Series this season.
“I call it a ‘Happy Driver Strategy,’” McLaughlin said. “Great strategy, we were good on fuel. I’m very happy with it.
“Romain and I were just getting on with it. There are no hard feelings (from St. Pete) between us. I was just hoping to get a win here.
“May is going to be an awesome time for us. Can’t wait. The best race of the year (the Indianapolis 500) is coming up for us on May 28. I just, can’t wait.
Grosjean was attempting to score his first career IndyCar Series win in his 34th start after starting 179 Formula One Grands Prix in a 10-year career.
“The three-stop never wins at Barber, but today the pits stayed open, and it gave McLaughlin the edge,” Grosjean said. “What an incredible car.
“I don’t know what happened with the ‘push-to-pass.’ I looked at the dash and it said I had 99 seconds and then it showed zero. I really don’t know what happened.
“Don’t get your head down. It’s one of my best drives.
“Congrats to Scott. He was good for the win. We got good points today and our day will come.”
Will Power of Team Penske began to track down Grosjean for second place in the closing laps but couldn’t take away the position.
Power’s No. 12 Verizon Chevrolet finished third, 3.2699-seconds behind.
“It was an extremely good day,” Power said. “We were super-fast when we got clear air. That was the key getting up to third. Chevrolet did a great job with the engine.
“We have to keep chipping away here. We’re going to get a win pretty soon.
“The tires had gone too much at the end. I could do a faster lap time, but I couldn’t get to him fast enough. I got to that air pocket and the tires were gone too much. It wasn’t worth throwing a third place away.
“I’m still fit for an old bloke.”
Grosjean led the most laps in the 90-lap race at 57. It was the fifth time the driver from Geneva, Switzerland has finished second in an NTT IndyCar Series race.
Team Penske had two drivers in the top three including the winner and third-place Power. Pato O’Ward of Arrow McLaren was fourth giving Chevrolet three drivers in the top four.
Alex Palou of Chip Ganassi Racing rounded out the top five. Christian Lundgaard of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing was sixth followed by Scott Dixon of Chip Ganassi Racing and a duo of Arrow McLaren drivers Alexander Rossi and Felix Rosenqvist respectively.
Marcus Ericsson of Chip Ganassi Racing rounded out the top 10.
It was a tremendous battle at the start as pole sitter Grosjean was able to fight off a fierce battle in the initial turns, first from Pato O’Ward, and ultimately from Alex Palou. O’Ward went side-by-side before the driver from Mexico was passed for second place by Palou, the 2021 winner of this event.
On lap three, Palou went side-by-side with Grosjean in Turn 4, but the driver from France closed the opening and kept the lead.
Team Penske committed to a three-stop strategy when Josef Newgarden pitted on Lap 13. Sting Ray Robby and Felix Rosenqvist also made stops on that lap.
Alexander Rossi pitted one lap later and another Team Penske driver, Scott McLaughlin, pitted on Lap 15 for four Firestone “Reds.”
On lap 29, Scott Dixon, Kirkwood and O’Ward all pitted for four tires and fuel.
After leading 31 laps, Grosjean pitted for the first time as he was sticking to the two pit-stop strategy. That put three-time Barber Motorsports Park IndyCar winner Josef Newgarden into the lead.
McLaughlin passed Newgarden for the lead on Lap 38 as the leader made his second pit stop, swapping “Reds” for scuffed “Reds” on his tire selection.
Sting Ray Robb came to a stop on the race course and several drivers dived onto pit road including McLaughlin, Rossi and Power on lap 39 as IndyCar officials kept the track green.
Finally, one lap later, the yellow flag waved for the first caution period of the race.
The race restarted on Lap 43 with Grosjean leading the field to green but stalked by McLaughlin and O’Ward.
The Grosjean/McLaughlin battle was entertaining, but several times McLaughlin’s race strategist, Kyle Moyer, had to remind him, “We’ve got a lot of time” to keep his driver from New Zealand from pushing the issue.
That battle settled in through the middle third of the race before Grosjean made his second pit stop on Lap 61 as the leader. That was intended to be the final pit stop of the race.
O’Ward also pitted on that lap and McLaughlin was in the lead and had to push to build up as big a gap as possible before his final stop.
Dixon and Kyle Kirkwood both pitted on Lap 62. Newgarden pitted for fresh Firestones on Lap 64 with a quick in and out of the pits.
McLaughlin pitted on Lap 64 after building a 17.5904 second lead over Power.
That set up some of the most fantastic racing of the season at Grosjean and McLaughlin scratched and clawed and dug his way in a side-by-side battle, nearly touching in one of the turns before Grosjean made the pass for the lead in turn 16.
That battle was for third place as further ahead in the field, Power was in the lead and built up his advantage over Felix Rosenqvist by 5.3826-seconds on lap 65.
Two laps later, Power pitted as the leader and that cycled Grosjean to the front ahead of McLaughlin and O’Ward.
Because of his fierce battles throughout the race, Grosjean was out of “push-to-pass” with 21 laps to go and McLaughlin closing in from behind.
With 19 laps to go, McLaughlin sized up Grosjean and made the pass for the lead in turn six.