LONG BEACH, Calif. — Scott McLaughlin won the NTT IndyCar Series Rookie of the Year title driving for Team Penske.
McLaughlin, a talented driver from New Zealand who had won three-straight Virgin Australia Supercar Championships before joining Team Penske’s IndyCar team this year, had a big advantage over the other rookies. He was the only rookie scheduled to run every race.
Former Formula 1 driver Grosjean and seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson started the season with a street and road course-only program. Grosjean made his oval debut at World Wide Technology Raceway on Aug. 22. Johnson is considering adding oval races to his schedule in 2022.
With a full season of points, including the double-points Indianapolis 500, McLaughlin had a seemingly insurmountable advantage.
But Grosjean’s performance was so good, he made a race out of it, despite missing three oval contests.
McLaughlin’s best finish was a second place in the first race of a doubleheader weekend at Texas Motor Speedway. He followed that with eighth-place finishes in the second Texas race and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course in May.
After that, however, McLaughlin finished 20th in the Indianapolis 500, 19th and 20th in the doubleheader at Detroit, 14th at Road American, 12th at Mid-Ohio, 22nd at Nashville and 23rd in the Big Machine Spiked Coolers Grand Prix at Indianapolis on Aug. 14.
McLaughlin finally rebounded with a fourth-place finish at World Wide Technology Raceway. He closed the season with a ninth-place effort at Portland Int’l Raceway and was 12th and 11th in the final two races at Laguna Seca and Long Beach.
He finished the season 14th in points. Grosjean, who will drive for Andretti Autosport next season, finished 15th in points.
“I think you get one shot to win this,” McLaughlin said. “It’s a proud moment regardless to win it. My ultimate goal was potentially top 12, top 10 in the championship. You always strive for more. To win the rookie of the year, it will sit with me forever and no one can ever take it away from me.
“Overall, toward the end of the season, since probably St. Louis, I felt like I’ve had a good stranglehold on the car. I’ve come in leaps and bounds in terms of my confidence with the car. It really sets me up well for 2022.”
McLaughlin believes he must improve his qualifying performance.
“Qualifying is still my Achilles’ heel right now, with the different compounds, getting used to that tire-wise,” he said. “I had a year that’s had its ups and downs, overperformed, under performed, had a podium, close to having some semi-good results at the Indy 500. I’ve really enjoyed it.
“I’m proud of this year because it could have gone one of two ways. It’s been a big challenge for me and my wife to come back across here, order a couch, took four weeks to get a couch, then you sit on bean bags for a while. Testing, doing a lot of different things. It’s been a lot of things off and on the track and just really proud to get through it with some success at the end of it.”
McLaughlin is the first IndyCar rookie of the year in Team Penske history.
“I think it just shows that Roger Penske doesn’t really employ rookies,” McLaughlin said. “I feel privileged to be in that position. But I also feel a bit vulnerable.
“Look, it’s a proud moment. Like I said, you get one chance to win this rookie of the year. I was lucky to win rookie of the year at Indy, rookie of the year this year in the championship. Any time you’re winning for Roger in any way, shape or form he’s happy.
“Hopefully it’s just a little bit of job security.”