Scott McLaughlin Rebounds From IndyCar Disqualification With a Win At Barber

Sunday Afternoon was a scorching day in the Alabama heat as Scott McLaughlin forced his way back into the conversation with his win at the Children of Alabama IndyCar Grand Prix.

Earlier this week, McLaughlin, along with his teammates Joseph Newgarden and Will Power, were heavily penalized for the Penske team's misuse of the Push-to-Pass button. While Power was only docked 10 points, McLaughlin and Newgarden were disqualified from their podium positions of first and third, their points were nullified from the season's opener.

These penalties came as a shock as they were announced six weeks after the checkered flag flew on the season opener in St. Petersburg, Fla. The disqualification also sent McLaughlin to the very bottom of the championship points since he finished one position from last in the Long Beach Grand Prix after crashing with 14 laps remaining.

McLaughlin showed that he was not phased going into race weekend, capturing the pole on Saturday.

At Barber, McLaughlin was the class of the field in an extremely physical race, leading 58 of 90 laps, helping him muscle his way back into the championship battle; before his penalty, he sat in 10th. This was McLaughlin's second consecutive win at Barber.

The race was not without incident for team Penske; Newgarden was hit off the track by Marcus Armstrong as he was passed for 15th on lap 33.

Pato O'Ward, who inherited Newgarden's win at St. Pete, was involved in two early incidents, first spinning on the start and then contact with Pietro Fittipaldi. The second of which resulted in a drive-through penalty.

McLaughlin was followed across the finish line by his teammate Power in a show of continued dominance of the Penske team, this time following the rulebook, to the best of our knowledge.

Linus Lundqvist completed the podium, for his best finish in rookie season.

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