Christian Lundgaard and Scott McLaughlin drove their Chevy power to podium finishes in the third consecutive NTT INDYCAR SERIES race that ran green to checkered caution free.
Lundgaard, in only his fourth race driving the No. 7 Velo Arrow McLaren Chevrolet, continued his string of podium finishes scoring the runner-up position in today’s 90-lap race around the 2.3 mile/17-turn Barber Motorsports Park. It is the third podium for one of the newest Team Chevy drivers.
Two-time Barber winner Scott McLaughlin brought the No. 3 Good Ranchers Chevrolet to the finish in third place.
A total of seven Chevrolet drivers scored top-10 finishing positions in the fourth race of the season as the series now heads to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Following race winner Alex Palou, Lundgaard and McLaughlin were Will Power, No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet in fifth, Pato O’Ward, No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet finishing sixth. In eighth, ninth and 10th were Alexander Rossi,, No. 20 Java House Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet, Nolan Siegel, No. 6 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet and Josef Newgarden, No. 2 PPG Team Penske Chevrolet.
Next up in a busy “Month of May” for Team Chevy’s drivers and teams in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES is the Sonsio Grand Prix on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course on May 9-10, 2025.
Practice for the 109th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge, starts on Tuesday, May 13, 2025.
Lundgaard utilized the undercut perfectly, gaining a few spots in the pits, but also making some impressive passes, including a memorable move into the final corner to grab second place.
The second-place finish is the Arrow McLaren driver’s third straight podium after finishing third at Thermal and Long Beach. He now has six career podiums.
McLaughlin’s drive to third place in the No. 3 Team Penske Good Ranchers Chevrolet is his third straight at Barber Motorsports Park and the 20th trip to the podium in his NTT INDYCAR SERIES career.
Lundgaard’s three straight podiums moved him into second place in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship battle. His Arrow McLaren teammate Pato O'Ward and Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin, join the Danish driver in the top five on the championship table.
The two Team Chevy podiums are the manufacturer’s 341st and 342nd since rejoining the series in 2012.
The NTT INDYCAR SERIES drivers and teams have now completed 339 straight green flag laps and today’s race on the 2.3-mile, 17-turn natural terrain road course is the third straight without a caution, the longest stretch since 1986.
Children’s Of Alabama Indy Grand Prix Results
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING
Christian Lundgaard, No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet, finished 2nd:
“It’s everything we could have hoped for and much better. The No. 7 Velo Arrow McLaren Chevrolet crew has done an awesome job all year, I think in Thermal we proved it straight on pace. (Our) strategy was good, but the 10 (Álex Palou) car still beat us. We put the car in the wall in qualifying at Long Beach, and we raced our race forward to the podium. The crew did an awesome job on strategy, and once again, today, we did so. We knew we could go aggressive after yesterday. The car hasn’t really been as good all week as it was at the test when we tested here, so it’s just been tough mentally, dealing with that.”
“I think everything about our strategy worked today. We did a change overnight that we’ve kind of been speculating on or the entire weekend, and we didn’t really pull the trigger early enough. We did it overnight, and that was really the deal breaker. The car was so much better this morning and just so much better in the race. So it’s awesome to, to finish like this.”
Scott McLaughlin, No. 3 Good Ranchers Team Penske Chevrolet, finished 3rd:
“The Good Ranchers Chevy has been fast the last three years. We didn’t have enough today. Props to Alex (Palou) and Lundgaard as well, who was super quick. We had the third best car today. It was a very interesting race, but I wish we had a little bit more tire life on our car. But overall we’re all good.”
What can you do to stop Álex Palou?
“I think when the guys on top of this game, you just can do the best you can in that regard. I feel like week in and week out, we can challenge him, but if he keeps executing like that, all we can do is execute as well. Props to his team. It’s a long season, and it’s way too early to be even worried about points. We’ve just got to keep being there, and if we’re there, we’ll be okay.”
Will Power, No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet, finished 5th:
“If we saved fuel, we could have gone a lap longer. We should have tried to cover VeeKay. There was a bit of hard racing there. It was still a good day with the strategy. We could have over cut and got a couple of people. It was difficult decision, but still a good day.”
Pato O’Ward, No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet, finished 6th:
“It was a very strong points day for all of us. It was great to see all three cars in the top 10. It was a pretty boring race I would say. The highlight was seeing Christian go through the Penske’s while I was struggling. But great job to Christian and Nolan. From the our side, I felt like we were behind playing catch-up and we kept making things better and better but for the race, that was the most I could get out of it. We recovered some good points for the championship, and I’m excited to go to the Indy Road Course and the Indy 500, which is just an amazing event to be a part of.”
Alexander Rossi, No. 20 Java House ECR Chevrolet, finished 8th:
“The Java House team called a great race from pit lane and that was about as much as we could do on the day. I am still a bit disappointed on our performance yesterday, I did think we had a quicker car than that. Ultimately, we knew we were going to have a tough stint on the black tires at some point because of where we started. We tried to get as much track position as we could on the alternate red tires and build a big enough gap that it wouldn’t hurt us too much, then did the black tires at the end. It was a lot of work to keep going and keep those guys behind us, but we managed.”
Nolan Siegel, No. 6 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet, finished 9th:
“It was good to get a solid result on the board. Everyone did a really good job this weekend. I’m happy with how the weekend went and it was just smooth the entire time. That was a solid result and we can build from there. There was opportunity for more, and it always sucks to have a good result that doesn’t feel good because you think there was more in it. But that’s ultimately a good thing, and we’ll push for more in Indy.”
Josef Newgarden, No. 2 PPG Team Penske Chevrolet, finished 10th:
“Just a decent day. At least got a decent result. P10-nothing to brag about. At least we got some points and a clean day which is probably the most important at the moment. Lacked a little bit of speed in the race. The team executed really well. We just wanted to get as much as we could. Just disappointed we couldn’t drive forward a little bit more. Sometimes its all you have on a weekend. Everyone did a great job. We rallied pretty aggressively on Saturday just to try to compensate for the hybrid issue. The team did a good job sticking with it and getting what we could out of it. Again, just brought home a solid result. Something we can build on to get a podium or a victory here hopefully soon.”
Christian Rasmussen, No. 21 Splenda ECR Chevrolet, finished 15th:
“Tough weekend, I think. We thought we would roll off better than we did with how our recent test here went, but it seemed like nothing from the test correlated to the race weekend which put us on the back foot from the start. Qualifying P17 wasn’t great and with an all green race again, we become limited on what we can do. We maximized what we had with what we could do on strategy to end today’s race.”
David Malukas, No. 4 A.J. Foyt Racing Chevrolet, finished 16th:
“Really unfortunate from a whole weekend as whole. We’re just not having any luck this season. The car was mega all weekend, we found a really good car heading into qualifying and just got stuck behind people in traffic and couldn’t get a lap in, and ended up being in the back and then, yet again in the race. Every time we came into the pits, we just couldn’t get clean air, even though we tried, and just kept getting stuck behind people. So, really fast car, but couldn’t show it, but hopefully we get some luck in the next one.”
Santino Ferrucci, No. 14 A.J. Foyt Racing/Sexton Properties Chevrolet, finished 18th:
“Obviously, one of those days that’s tough to swallow. Everybody did a phenomenal job, crew, engineering, the car was amazing. We were so quick. Just had an issue with some electronic stuff in the pits that had us had a short fill. Just some bugs that we’re gonna work out going into Indy and I think we will be really good.
Conor Daly, No. 76 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet, finished 19th:
“In the beginning, we got blocked by another car and then got hit on lap one, so that kind of killed our momentum a little bit, which is a shame because I thought I had a great start! Honestly our first two stints felt great. The pace on reds is good. We just need to improve our pace on the primary tire, and we’ve got to figure out the best possible strategies for these all-green (flag) races. It seems like we are just missing a little bit on clear track and a few opportunities there. Honestly I think actually we learned quite a lot. Gotta figure out what happens at the next race. But we will be in good shape when we go to Indy.”
Sting Ray Robb, No. 77 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet, finished 22nd:
“Barber this year-we finished the race. Something we haven’t been able to do the last couple of years so that is good. It is nice to have seen the second half of the race here. I think there was a lot to learn. It seems like INDYCAR is holding trend to no yellows – which is unbelievable.
“Good job to the team to work hard this weekend. It was a long day day out there. We kept fighting but unfortunately ended up in the same spot. That was just kind of the way the day went. Everyone was on the same strategy. Not a lot of variability. But made it fun to race against those guys. Hopefully we can go into Indy road course with some lessons learned.”
Callum Ilott, No, 90 PREMA Racing Chevrolet, finished 23rd:
“The first lap was tough as we were on the hard tires. I had a little tap into turn two which destabilised me, and then there was a bigger hit from behind which caused some damage and made the rest of the race tough. Once I got going the pace was good, especially on the softer tire and I was able to move forwards a bit. Our pit stops are an area that we need to improve on, in my last stop I lost two or three positions which put us on the back foot for the final stint. Another finish for both cars though which is important and while we didn’t quite execute enough in the race, I think there was a lot of things learnt, both positive and negative.”
Robert Shwartzman, No. 83 PREMA Racing Chevrolet, finished 25th:
“It was a difficult race, and I would say it wasn’t my best. I’ve struggled with the car all weekend, which I was expecting as we had similar struggles during the test here. There is something that isn’t working well with the stability of the car, but I don’t want to get too focused on this weekend. We have to learn from this, and I hope that the team can go away and analyse everything so that we can come back next weekend with a clear idea of what we can change on the car to help it be more under control and fast.”
NTT INDYCAR SERIES at Barber Motorsports Park
May 4, 2025
Post-race transcript
Christian Lundgaard and Scott McLaughlin:
THE MODERATOR: We are joined now by Scott McLaughlin, his first podium of the season. Scott led three of the 90 laps this afternoon. It’s his 20th podium of his career, third straight podium at Barber.
Christian Lundgaard with a race-high 16 passes on the track today. Second in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES points standings.
Christian, your thoughts, a busy afternoon for you, have to be happy with another podium to start this year.
CHRISTIAN LUNDGAARD: Yeah, absolutely. I think the progression we made since the Sebring test earlier this year, it’s been moving forward and going in the right direction. The team has been doing an awesome job.
The pace in the car is there, and it’s just about execution. We didn’t really execute in qualifying yesterday, so we were frustrated and wanted to make up for it. We did today.
THE MODERATOR: Some of the passes out there, which did you enjoy the most?
CHRISTIAN LUNDGAARD: I mean, I enjoyed the pass on Scottie Mac here, but I really did enjoy the one I had on Pato into five, around the same pit sequence. It was kind of all three cars, the 5, the 12 and Scott coming out sort of like a lap after each other. I pitted before them. I had warm tires. It was just kind of chipping one off at the time.
I had a great time out there, for sure.
THE MODERATOR: Scott, another podium for you at Barber Motorsports Park. Your thoughts on a third-place finish?
SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: I think we were just third place today. Didn’t quite have the pace from the get-go really. From lap two I tried to push Alex. He just had a lot of speed.
Yeah, I just didn’t feel I had much grip. But the car was still okay. It was still pretty fast. Just wasn’t as quick as the front guys, front two.
Hey, it’s good points. We got to just keep keeping on and being at the front as much as we can. That was a solid race for us from the pace we had. If you want to build a championship campaign, that’s how you have to do it.
THE MODERATOR: Third straight all-green race this season. As physically demanding as this racecourse is, it’s amazing.
SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Yeah. But I think we all feel pretty good like now. It’s just like match fitness. All your muscles are going. If this is the first race of the year, it would be pretty hard.
I think ultimately very surprised by INDYCAR that we have no yellows right now. It’s a credit to the racing, credit to clean racing that we’re having, and obviously the hybrid. We’re able to restart when we spin or something like that, so…
THE MODERATOR: Christian, you agree?
CHRISTIAN LUNDGAARD: Absolutely.
THE MODERATOR: We’ll open it up for questions.
Q. Scott, you said something on pit lane that as long as you keep executing, eventually you’ll catch up with Alex. How frustrating is it to know you’re out there doing as good as you can, and he’s just doing that much better?
SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: It’s not frustrating. At the end of the day you can only do as much as you can. I mean, I’m driving the thing as fast as I can. Christian is doing the same thing. Alex is doing the best job he can. That turns out to be a really good job and solid. We all know it was going to be that way.
When a guy is at the top of his game, all you can do is try to be at the top of yours. We had a third-place car and we came in third. That’s all we can do. Nothing more, nothing less. I learnt that when I was racing Supercars, championship campaigns. You just got to be there.
It is all swings and roundabouts. We’ll be strong at places he won’t. Just got to capitalize.
Q. Any other season, you’d be the story of the season so far. Alex is on fire. How do you put that in perspective?
CHRISTIAN LUNDGAARD: Yeah, I mean, I think it’s just about putting that aside and focusing on yourself. The 10 car is doing a great job. We’ve seen that in years in the past.
I would say we’re trying to raise our own bar, and we’re doing so. We’re performing better and better. On top of that, I had a team change. Getting to know a bunch of new people, getting to work with a bunch of new people. It’s a different car to drive.
I’m very pleased with the job that I’ve done so far, the work that we’ve done. I mean, I don’t think I could have dreamed of three podiums in four races, four first races.
Q. Scott, on lap two you were within half a second of Alex Palou. By lap four, you had fallen back to two seconds. What happened there?
SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Just pace purely. That was it. I just didn’t have enough pace.
I mean, at the end of the day I pushed him, then sort of settled into a rhythm. Ideally I wanted to stay in that two-second bracket. Alex just had really good speed there, yeah.
Q. Christian, what was your thought process with the power move on Scott McLaughlin on lap 43?
CHRISTIAN LUNDGAARD: Yeah, I mean, ultimately you’re just trying to get by. It’s a pit sequence. It’s the one real opportunity you have, ’cause as soon as everybody settles in, you need to rely on people making a mistake and you can’t do that.
It was about doing it when it counted. I was close enough to Scottie. I think we all know as soon as we get to the high speed on cold new tires, we’ll kind of bottom out. I pitted a couple of laps before, so I’d gone through that. When I caught Scott there, I knew game was on. I knew he was going to work for it, but always clean racing with Scott.
Q. Scott, for the future races, you and your team, do you have any idea how to break the dominance of Alex, which areas you have to improve the car?
SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: Pure speed, man. I think those guys are executing. They’re just knocking good lap times out, qualifying well, then executing in the race. Great strategy.
Props to Barry and the team that they run on the 10 car. They’re doing a great job. Obviously they’ve got a really good driver. I think Alex is one of the best racing car drivers I’ve ever come across. He’s the whole deal. That doesn’t mean we can’t beat him, as I said.
Yeah, we know where we can improve, different facets that I can’t really expose. Ultimately I think if we just keep knocking on the door. Everyone has a bad race at some point. You got to try and keep knocking on the door there.
Like I said, the people on the 10 car, Barry, Alex, all the guys, they’re doing a fantastic job. All you can do is just sort of be there, if you can.
Q. Christian, you said earlier the biggest change in your performance has been the team change. What behind the scenes has really allowed you to step up your game this year?
CHRISTIAN LUNDGAARD: I think ultimately not a lot is really different from my own approach. I would say it’s keeping things very simple and just focus on what you can control, master the basics really.
I think the car is purely faster than what I’ve been doing for the past three years. I think we’ve seen that just purely from the results across the last three years.
But no, it’s just good and nice to see it come into reality, really just executing when we have the pace. I think we’ve done so. I think we got more out of Long Beach than we anticipated waking up Sunday morning. At the end of the day that’s how you fight for championships.
Q. Christian, you said your car wasn’t as good as the test. The team made some changes last night. At what point did you know, or did you know, that those changes made a huge difference and could get you on the podium?
CHRISTIAN LUNDGAARD: I’d say straightaway in warm-up this morning. I’ve been battling with the same balance issue all weekend. We had an issue on the car in P1, which kind of forced us not to be able to really try much in P1. So we didn’t get to try some things that we wanted to try. We were kind of stuck for the rest of the weekend with what we had, because there was a bunch of other stuff we needed to test. It kind of decreased in our list of things we wanted to try.
I said last night we need to do something if I want to have a good race car. We did it for warm-up this morning. It was just clearly better. I said that was probably one of the biggest game changers I’ve had in a car. It’s a relatively small change. A little surprising for us.
The car felt at least a lot better.
Q. Scott, I don’t have an Alex Palou question.
SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: You can (smiling).
Q. In advance of this event you went to the Children’s Hospital in this community. Talk about how emotional, inspiring that was, how you felt when you got home and hugged your own child?
SCOTT McLAUGHLIN: That was really like I guess a sobering experience, realizing how lucky we do have it. At the same time how many angels work in that hospital. It’s an amazing thing. The kids were so positive. The kids that I met.
Anything that you can do as a racing driver, as a role model or anyone, you’re kind of like a Super Hero at that point when you come in and hang out and play Hot Wheels, play Mario Kart. I’m quite good at Mario Kart I might add.
I had a great time. I would like to do that again. It was a really cool thing. Yeah, I think you just appreciate the people that work in the hospital. As much as the kids are going through, they have amazing people that look after them. The Children’s Hospital of Alabama do a fantastic job with that.
THE MODERATOR: Thanks, guys.
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