Track Walk: Laguna Seca 2024

The eighth round of the 2024 NTT IndyCar Series season is an earlier trip to Laguna Seca than the series is accustomed to. After IndyCar's last four trips were in September, three of which were the season finale, Laguna Seca moves to the first race of summer, a different but not an unusual date for a trip to Monterey. CART ran twice at Laguna Seca in June in 2002 and 2003. Since reunification, the winner of the first race of summer has only won the championship in five of 16 seasons. However, the first winner of summer has won the championship in three of the last four seasons. 

Coverage

Time: Coverage begins at 6:00 p.m. ET on Sunday June 23 with green flag scheduled for 6:15 p.m. ET.
Channel: USA
Announcers: Kevin Lee, Townsend Bell and James Hinchcliffe will be in the booth. Dillon Welch and Georgia Henneberry will work pit lane.

IndyCar Weekend Schedule

Friday:

First Practice: 5:00 p.m. ET (75 minutes)

Saturday:

Second Practice: 1:00 p.m. ET (60 minutes)
Qualifying: 5:15 p.m. ET 
Sunday:
Warm-up: 3:00 p.m. ET (30 minutes)
Race: 6:15 p.m. ET (95 laps)

* - All sessions will be available live on Peacock

Can Andretti Global Have a Breakout Weekend?

Andretti Global has been knocking on the door of victory in recent races. It just hasn't been able to breakthrough. 

The team led a combined 57 of 100 laps at Detroit, but the best it could do was second and fourth. At Road America, Andretti Global drivers started in two of the top four positions. The Andretti drivers ended up finishing fifth, sixth and ninth. It has been 11 races since Andretti Global's most recent victory, not the worst streak in the world, but getting long enough to be unsatisfied, especially based on recent results. 

Andretti could not be heading to a better track. 

Andretti and Andretti-adjacent teams have won two of the four Laguna Seca races since IndyCar's return. This place was Colton Herta's playground for two years. Herta won in 2019 with Harding Steinbrenner Racing and then won in 2021 with Andretti Global. Out of 185 laps run, Herta led 174 laps in those two races. He won both races from pole position.

The last two Laguna Seca visits have not been as kind to Herta. He was 11th at in 2022 and he was caught in an accident in last year's race.

Though Herta has started on the front row in the last two races in 2024, and he opened the season with a pair of podium finishes, Kyle Kirkwood is the top Andretti Global driver in the championship through seven races. Kirkwood has 179 points, three more than Herta, and Kirkwood is tied with Scott McLaughlin for fifth in the championship with McLaughlin owning the tiebreaker. 

Kirkwood has finished in the top five in the last two races. He had two top five finishes over the entire 2023 season, his two victories at Long Beach and Nashville. Kirkwood has not finished worse than 11th this season. His average finish is 7.7142 through seven races. Last year, his average finish over the entire season was 13.059. 

In four Road to Indy starts, Kirkwood won three times at Laguna Seca. However, he has finished 21st and 25th in his first two IndyCar starts at the track. He has started outside the top fifteen on each occasion as well. 

It has been a tough season for Marcus Ericsson, but the last two races have been steps in the right direction. After having three consecutive results of 18th or worse and having four results of 18th or worse through the first five races, Ericsson has been second and ninth in the last two races. He is 13th in the championship. 

Ericsson has been good at Laguna Seca, but not great. Through four starts, he has two top ten finishes and an average finish of 10.25. He has finished better than or equal to his starting position all four years at Laguna Seca. 

Road America was the second time this season Andretti Global had all three cars finish in the top ten. Last season, Andretti had three cars finish in the top ten of only one race. Andretti has had multiple top five finishers in two races this season. Last year, the team had only one race with multiple top five finishers, and it was the same race as its only race with three cars finishing in the top ten as Andretti cars went 1-2-4 at Long Beach in 2023.

Andretti Global has had a top five finisher in the last two races. The team has not gone three consecutive races with a top five finisher since a four-race run that covered the Grand Prix of Indianapolis through Road America in 2022.

Can Chevrolet Win?

Though Laguna Seca has been on the schedule for four of the last five seasons, Chevrolet has yet to win at the circuit since its return. Honda is four-for-four at the Northern California circuit. Along with the two victories for Colton Herta, Álex Palou won in 2022 and Scott Dixon won in 2023, both victories for Chip Ganassi Racing. 

These haven't just race victories for Honda, these have been dominant performances for the manufacturer. Honda has led 319 of 375 laps run over the last four Laguna Seca races. It has taken at least two of the three podium positions in three of the four races. 

This is the only circuit that has been on the schedule since 2019 where Chevrolet has not won at. Chevrolet will be coming in with Team Penske having won three of the last five races, and Will Power as the championship leader after his victory at Road America. Power has finished on the podium four times this season. While he was 26th in 2021 Laguna Seca race, Power has finished second, third and fourth in the other three races. 

Last year was Josef Newgarden's first bad day at Laguna Seca. Contact left him in 21st, four laps down. Prior to that, Newgarden had finished in the top ten in his first three Laguna Seca starts, including a second from 25th on the grid in 2022. 

Scott McLaughlin was third at Road America two weeks ago. McLaughlin has finished in the top six in all three permanent road course races this season and he has eight consecutive top ten finishes on permanent road course dating back to last season. He was 12th in his first Laguna Seca race but he has been sixth and second the last two years here.

Patricio O'Ward is the second-best Chevrolet driver in the championship on 184 points in fourth. While O'Ward has finished in the top ten in the last three races, he has not finished on the podium on a permanent road course since the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course race last August. His only victory on a permanent road course was at Barber Motorsports Park in 2022. He has finished in the top ten in all three of his Laguna Seca visits. 

This is a home race for Alexander Rossi, and a waste gate failure led to an 18th place finish at Road America for Rossi two weeks ago. Rossi has three top ten finishes in four Laguna Seca starts, but he has never finished in the top five. It has been 19 races since Rossi has stood on the podium and 28 races since his most recent victory. This year's Laguna Seca race falls on the five-year anniversary of Rossi's dominant Road America victory where he led 54 of 55 laps and he won by 28.4391 seconds over Will Power. 

That Road America race in 2019 was Rossi's 60th career start and his seventh career victory. It was also his 17th career podium finishes. He has made 78 starts since and he has only one victory and 12 podium finishes. 

Last year, Ryan Hunter-Reay was tenth in the #20 Chevrolet for Ed Carpenter Racing. It was ECR's first top ten finish at Laguna Seca in four races with two entries in each. The team's average finish at this track is 19.375. Last year was the first time the team had both cars finish in the top twenty. Rinus VeeKay was 18th. 

A.J. Foyt Racing has only one top fifteen finisher over the last four Laguna Seca races. Sébastien Bourdais was eighth in 2021. Its other eight entrants over the last four Laguna Seca races have all failed to finish better than 16th. Coincidentally, in three of the four Laguna Seca races, Foyt cars have finished next to one another. In 2019, Tony Kanaan and Matheus Leist were 16th and 17th respectively. In 2021, Charlie Kimball was 18th, directly ahead of Dalton Kellett. Last year, Benjamin Pedersen finished 16th with Santino Ferrucci behind him in 17th. 

Juncos Hollinger Racing had its best year at Laguna Seca last year. Callum Ilott was fifth, matching the team's best finish ever while Agustín Canapino was 14th. In the previous two Laguna Seca races, JHR had not cracked the top twenty. Ilott is gone, but Romain Grosjean has finished in the top ten in two of his three Laguna Seca starts.

Entering Laguna Seca, Chevrolet and Honda have been trading victories. Chevrolet has won the four odd-numbered races this season while Honda has won the three even-numbered races. If the pattern holds, Honda would be the winner at Laguna Seca. Dating back to last season, there have been eight consecutive races without a manufacturer repeating as the race winner. This is the longest streak since the return of engine competition in 2012.

Welcome Back From Le Mans

It might have been an off-week for IndyCar last week, but for five drivers, they were competing across the Atlantic in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Scott Dixon, Álex Palou, Romain Grosjean, Kyffin Simpson and, a late addition to the Laguna Seca entry list, Nolan Siegel all competed at Le Mans. 

Dixon, Palou and Grosjean all ran in the Hypercar class. Siegel and Simpson competed in the LMP2 class. All five drivers will be back to their day jobs this weekend at Laguna Seca. For Siegel, he returns with a promotion. 

Siegel was announced as the driver of the #6 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet on Tuesday afternoon, replacing Théo Pourchaire. Siegel will forgo the remainder of the Indy Lights season to compete in IndyCar. Prior to this announcement, Siegel became a class winner at the 24 Hours of Le Mans last Sunday. Driving for United Autosports, Siegel won in the LMP2 class, finishing 15th overall, with co-drivers Oliver Jarvis and fellow American Bijoy Garg. It was Siegel and Garg’s Le Mans debut. McLaren CEO Zak Brown owns United Autosports. 

Palou was the top IndyCar representative, finishing seventh overall and completing all 311 laps in the #2 Cadillac. Grosjean was 13th driving for the Lamborghini Iron Lynx, two laps down. Simpson was 11th in the LMP2 class, 25th overall driving for Nielsen Racing. Dixon's #3 Cadillac retired after completing 223 laps due to an oil leak.

This is the most drivers entered for the IndyCar race the week after the 24 Hours of Le Mans who competed at Le Mans since 1988 when seven drivers competed in France and then ran at Portland the following weekend. That year the seven drivers were Michael Andrettti, John Andretti, Didier Theys, Kevin Cogan, Derek Daly, Danny Sullivan and Raul Boesel. 

These five drivers competed in a grueling endurance race while 22 drivers were resting. Does that extra work hurt a driver returning to IndyCar competition? By competing at Le Mans, these five drivers have spent six consecutive weekends competing at a racetrack between the Grand Prix of Indianapolis, Indianapolis 500 qualifying, the Indianapolis 500, Detroit, Road America and Le Mans, with Laguna Seca being their seventh consecutive weekend of action. 

Since 1988, 32 drivers have competed in the 24 Hours of Le Mans and then competed in an IndyCar race the following weekend. The average finish for those 32 drivers is 13.25. In that time frame, three times has a driver competed at Le Mans and then won the IndyCar race the following week. 

Danny Sullivan did it in 1988, finishing 16th in his Le Mans debut before winning at Portland. Sébastien Bourdais did not finish the 2004 24 Hours of Le Mans driving for Pescarolo Sport, but he did win at Portland, leading 85 of 94 laps from pole position a week later. Eight years ago, Dixon left Le Mans after finishing seventh in the GTE Pro class driving a Ford GT, 23rd overall. A week after that, Dixon won at Road America with 24 laps led from fifth on the grid.

Only seven of the 32 drivers since 1988 have finished in the top five and only 12 of the 32 finished in the top ten. Twelve of the 32 drivers have finished outside the top fifteen. 

Of those 32 competitors, 12 have occurred since 2016. The average finish for those dozen drivers improves to 11.583. A third of those competitors were top five finishers while another third finished outside the top fifteen. 

Dixon has run at Le Mans five times. In each of those cases he had an IndyCar race the following weekend. His average finish in those five starts is seventh with four top five finishes. The one exception was in 2016 when Dixon suffered an engine failure after six laps at Road America to finish 22nd. 

For Palou, Grosjean, Siegel and Simpson, this will be their first time competing in IndyCar a week after Le Mans. Along with Siegel, Palou and Simpson are coming off their Le Mans debuts. This was Grosjean's first Le Mans appearance since 2010.

Intra-Team Battles

Through seven rounds this season, we have a good idea about how these drivers are doing within their own organizations, giving the picture of who is the leader, who is looking to make up ground and which teams have it pretty even across the lineup. 

Will Power leads the championship, and he has been the best Team Penske driver in four of seven races. Josef Newgarden has been the top Penske finisher twice while Scott McLaughlin's only time being the best Penske finisher was his Barber Motorsports Park victory. McLaughlin has been at least the second-best Penske driver in four of the other six races.

In qualifying, it has been pretty even. Power has been the top Penske qualifier in three races while Newgarden and McLaughlin have each been the best starter in two races. At no point has the top Penske qualifier been the same over consecutive races. 

Álex Palou and Scott Dixon have each been the best Chip Ganassi Racing finisher in three races this season. The lone exception was Barber when Linus Lundqvist was the best Ganassi driver in third. Palou has been the first or second best Ganassi driver in six of seven races. Marcus Armstrong has been the second-best Ganassi finisher only once, his fifth at Detroit. Lundqvist was the second-best Ganassi driver at Road America, though he finished 12th. 

In qualifying, Palou has been the top Ganassi starter four times while Armstrong was the best twice and Lundqvist was best with his pole position at Road America. Dixon has been the second-best Ganassi starter in four races this season. 

Patricio O'Ward and Alexander Rossi have each been the best Arrow McLaren finisher in three races. Théo Pourchaire was the top McLaren driver at Barber, but that is when Pourchaire was 22nd in a race where none of the McLaren cars finished in the top twenty. The picture is the same in qualifying. O'Ward and Rossi have each been the top McLaren starter in three races while Pourchaire has been on top once. 

Colton Herta is not the best Andretti Global driver in the championship, but he has been the top Andretti finisher in four of seven races. The only problem is Herta was the best Andretti finisher in the first four races. Kyle Kirkwood was the best at the Indianapolis 500 and Road America while Marcus Ericsson was the best with his runner-up finish at Detroit.

Herta holds a 4-3 advantage in qualifying over Kirkwood while Ericsson has yet to be the best starter for Andretti this season.

Felix Rosenqvist has Meyer Shank Racing in the top ten of the championship and he has been the best MSR finisher in six of seven races. The only time he wasn't was the Indianapolis 500 when an engine failure took Rosenqvist out before halfway and allowed Hélio Castroneves to be the best finisher. Rosenqvist has been the top MSR starter in all seven races. He has started on average 10.142 positions better than the second MSR car this season.

Prior to Road America, Christian Lundgaard had been the best Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing driver in four consecutive races. Graham Rahal was the best RLLR driver for the second time this season at Elkhart Lake. Pietro Fittipaldi was the best RLLR at St. Petersburg. 

In qualifying, Lundgaard has been the top RLLR starter six times. The lone exception was the Indianapolis 500 when Takuma Sato qualified tenth and the three full-time RLLR drivers all started 28th or worse. Rahal has been the second-best starter in five of the other six races.

Santino Ferrucci holds a 5-2 advantage head-to-head against A.J. Foyt Racing teammate Sting Ray Robb. The two drivers split the first four races. Each time Ferrucci has failed to finish inside the top twenty, Robb has been the best finisher. In qualifying, Ferrucci is up 7-0 on Robb. 

Rinus VeeKay is leading the Ed Carpenter Racing battle, up 5-2 over Christian Rasmussen in race finishes. Like Ferrucci, each time VeeKay has finished outside the top twenty, Rasmussen has been the best finisher. Unlike Ferrucci, it is tight in qualifying. VeeKay holds the edge 4-3, but Rasmussen has been the top ECR starter in the last two races. 

At Juncos Hollinger Racing, Romain Grosjean has been the top finisher in five races. Make it a hat trick, as each time Grosjean has finished outside the top twenty, he has not been the best JHR finisher. Grosjean also holds a 5-2 edge in qualifying. Agustín Canapino will return to the #78 Chevrolet this weekend.

Dale Coyne Racing has had six different drivers in its two cars over the seven races this season. Jack Harvey has run six of seven races and been the best finisher in four of them. Nolan Siegel bested Harvey at Long Beach and Luca Ghiotto led DCR at Road America. Katherine Legge was the only DCR car in the Indianapolis 500, making her the best finisher by default.

In qualifying, Harvey has been the top DCR starter three times. Colin Braun, Luca Ghiotto, Katherine Legge and Tristan Vautier have each been the top DCR starter once. For Braun, Ghiotto and Vautier, they were each the best DCR starter but in all three cases neither DCR car started in the top twenty. 

Indy Lights

Only one Road to Indy series will make the trek west to Laguna Seca, but Indy Lights will run a doubleheader at the famed course this weekend. 

Jacob Abel has a 19-point lead in the championship after his fifth podium finish in six races two weeks ago at Road America. Abel has yet to finish worse than fifth this season and that has him on 256 points. Louis Foster is riding three consecutive podium finishes into California. Caio Collet is up to third in the championship on 179 points as he has been in the top five in three consecutive races and in four of the last five. 

Nolan Siegel has abandoned his Indy Lights efforts to pursue the McLaren IndyCar opportunity. Siegel was fourth in the championship on 177 points. Christian Brooks will move up from USF Pro 2000 to drive the #39 HMD Motorsports entry for the remainder of the season. Brooks is fourth in the USF Pro 2000 championship with three runner-up finishes, and he is 64 points behind championship leader Lochie Hughes.

In Indy Lights, Siegel is still 21 points ahead of Callum Hedge and Reece Gold, who are tied with Hedge holding the tiebreaker as Hedge's best finish is third to Gold's best finish being fourth. 

Myles Rowe dropped to seventh in the championship after his worst finish of the season at Road America, a 19th. Rowe is on 151 points, eight points ahead of Michael d'Orlando and ten points ahead of Road America winner Jamie Chadwick. Chadwick led every lap from pole position in her first career Indy Lights victory. 

Jonathan Browne rounds out the championship top ten on 127 points, five more than fellow Irishman James Roe, Jr.

Indy Lights will race at 3:25 p.m. ET on Saturday June 22nd and at 3:55 p.m. ET on Sunday June 23rd. Both race will be 35 laps in length. 

Fast Facts

This will be the ninth IndyCar race to take place on June 23 and the first since Alexander Rossi won at Road America in 2019.

Andretti Global has won the last three races held on June 23. Along with Rossi in 2019, Andretti won on June 23, 2012 at Iowa with Ryan Hunter-Reay, and on June 23, 2013 at Iowa with James Hinchcliffe. 

This year's race falls on the 28th anniversary of Alex Zanardi's first career victory at Portland. 

Five times has the Laguna Seca race winner also won the championship in the same season, most recently in 2002 with Cristiano da Matta. The other four were Bobby Rahal in 1986 and 1987, Danny Sullivan in 1988, and Michael Andretti in 1991. 

Team Penske leads all teams with six Laguna Seca victories. Five of those victories came over a seven-race period from 1988 through 1994. 

Bryan Herta, Cristiano da Matta and Scott Dixon are the only drivers to win at Laguna Seca in Indy Lights and IndyCar. Jimmy Vasser and Patrick Carpentier are the only drivers to win at Laguna Seca in the Atlantics Championship and IndyCar.

On six occasions has a driver won consecutive Laguna Seca races (Bobby Rahal 1984-87, Michael Andretti 1991-92, Paul Tracy 1993-94, Bryan Herta 1998-99, Patrick Carpentier 2003-04, and Colton Herta 2019, 2021).

The average starting position for a Laguna Seca winner is 3.1923 with a median of first. 

Even with the last two Laguna Seca winners starting 11th, the median finish is still first. 

Sixteen of 26 Laguna Seca races have been won from pole position. 

The Laguna Seca pole-sitter has never gone three consecutive races without a victory.

Twenty-two of 26 Laguna Seca races have been won from a top three starting position. 

The average number of lead changes in a Laguna Seca race is 3.346 with a median of three. 

Three of the four Laguna Seca races since 2019 have had at least six lead changes. Prior to this stretch, only three of the first 22 Laguna Seca races had at least six lead changes.

The average number of cautions in a Laguna Seca race is 1.961 with a median of one. The average number of caution laps is 8.153 with a median of 7.5.

Last year's Laguna Seca race had a record-tying eight cautions and a record-breaking 35 caution laps.

There have been six caution-free races at Laguna Seca, most recently in 1997.

Predictions

Andretti Global goes four-for-four and wins at Laguna Seca, but it is Kyle Kirkwood taking the victory, and Colton Herta will be the worst finishing Andretti driver. Chevrolet will put two drivers on the podium. The championship lead will change hands. There will be fewer than five cautions and none will occur for an incident in the final corner. Everyone will let Agustín Canapino be, at least on the track. At least two rookies finish in the top ten. Sleeper: Felix Rosenqvist.