With four races remaining on the NTT IndyCar Series schedule, Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin and Dale Coyne Racing’s Romain Grosjean are locked in a tight battle for Rookie of the Year honours.
Just seven points separate the pair heading toward the final oval at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway, and with Grosjean committed to the event it is a straight fight to the season finale in Long Beach.
Three rookies began the season in contention with NASCAR convert Jimmie Johnson also classed as an IndyCar rookie. However, his lack of results have left him out of contention for the title.
It must be remembered that Grosjean has missed the double-header at Texas Motor Speedway and the Indianapolis 500 due to being unwilling to commit to Superspeedway racing in light of his fiery crash at the Formula 1 Bahrain Grand Prix last season.
McLaughlin has so far completed all of the rounds so far this season, but unlucky results in both rounds in Detroit and the recent two races in Nashville and the second race on the Indianapolis road course have meant the battle with Grosjean is close.
The top step of the podium has eluded both drivers so far, McLaughlin came close to beating Scott Dixon at the first race of the Texas double-header, while Grosjean has picked up two second-places on the Indy road course while fighting for victory.
Grosjean remains magnanimous about his chances of claiming the title, claiming McLaughlin’s quickly accustomed speed on ovals could play a factor in the outcome of who claims ROTY honours.
“When you miss three races it’s not easy to fight for a championship, but definitely it’s cool to be back in the game,” said the Frenchman. “Saying that, Scott [McLaughlin] is really strong on ovals, so he may be strong next week and score some good points.
“We just go racing, we have fun and we do the best we can. I think for the team it’s important to stay in the lead, leading second, and if I can get Rookie of the Year it would be nice. But if he has it, he would deserve it because he’s probably having a better rookie season than I am.
“So yeah, it’s cool to be catching back up. I think we could have more points if it wasn’t for Nashville and Detroit where we didn’t get very lucky.
“I think generally I’ve been impressed with Scott this season, coming from V8 Supercars, jumping in IndyCar, sitting in the seat and doing what he’s done, it’s been very impressive.”
Currently, McLaughlin leads Grosjean by a miniscule seven points, and both drivers firmly sit in the top half of the standings with only a few races remaining in the 2021 season.
