Mission Foods Grand Prix of Monterey wraps up 2026 IndyCar season as Alex Palou takes fourth consecutive title and Scott McLaughlin wins the finale

Dueling burnouts at gave the NTT INDYCAR SERIES a proper send-off to the 2026 season. The celebrations on the front straightaway were for 's fourth consecutive season championship and fifth title in six years, alongside 's first race win of the year.

For Palou, the eighth-place finish in the Mission Foods Grand Prix of Monterey wasn't typical given he had won the past two races and three of the past four on the 11-turn, 2.238-mile road course, but it was another example of his high-level consistency. Through 18 races over numerous types of tracks, he delivered six wins, 12 top-five and 15 top-10 finishes to win the championship by 86 points. This was the second year in a row that he secured the title in advance of the season's final race.

For McLaughlin, the victory ended a 36-race drought spanning two years and five days. His last win was Sept. 1, 2024, at the Milwaukee Mile, and this one gave him eight wins for his six full seasons in this series. McLaughlin dominated it, too, leading 87 of 95 laps from the pole. As important is the momentum the performance gives him and the team moving into the offseason as they prepare to challenge Palou's reign in 2027. McLaughlin gave Team Penske its third race win of the season, with having won the other two at Raceway and .

didn't lead any laps in the finale and never seriously threatened McLaughlin's lead in finishing 1.3739 seconds behind him, but it nonetheless was a productive race. Kirkwood overtook for second place in the season standings, and that should be a big confidence boost for the 2021 INDY NXT by Firestone champion heading into his sixth season in this series. Racing's ended the season on a high, grabbing his first podium finish of the year by finishing a strong and competitive third after leading four laps.