Race Report: Mission Foods Grand Prix of Monterey

MONTEREY, Calif. (Sept. 6, 2026) -- The NTT INDYCAR Series wrapped up its 2026 season with the Mission Foods Grand Prix of Monterey at the historic WeatherTech Raceway/Laguna Seca Sunday afternoon.

Running under clear skies, the 25-car field was slowed by just one 3-lap caution on the opening lap when Sting Ray Robb punted rookie Dennis Hauger into the tire barrier whose race ended with the contact.

Santino Ferrucci earned the Josten's Biggest Mover award after starting 21st and finishing 12th in the No. 14 Homes For Our Troops Chevrolet.

Ferrucci caught in a pensive moment.

"It looked like it was gonna start to be a good weekend but It's been pretty rough," said Ferruci. "It ended up being a really solid one. Really happy with the crew strategy. Our pit stops have been phenomenal. I mean, you can't do what we just did without having  great pit stops. And yeah, car was nice to drive. Obviously, really physical there at the end, but we just kind of nailed everything. So really happy."

Not quite as happy was Caio Collet who qualified 12th in the No. 4 Combitrans Chevrolet but incurred a six spot grid penalty and started 18th. His team had to install an engine after the Milwaukee doubleheader because that engine mileaged out and Collet had exceeded the INDYCAR rule of using four engines per season.

The views from the track are stunning.

Collet moved as high as 14th by the second fuel stint. When he pitted for tires and fuel in the final stint with 23 laps to go, the crew put on the alternate compound red tires to satisfy the INDYCAR rule of running both compounds during a race. Both Ferrucci and Collet saved their "red" tires until the end of the race figuring the track should be rubbered up by then which theoretically would make the tires last longer.

Collet dons his helmet prior to the 95-lap race.

In the final nine laps, Collet dropped from 14th to 20th.

"It was a decent race until the last stint," said the young Brazilian. "I think we did a pretty good job the first three stints. Then, with 15 laps to go, I just started to struggle a lot with the reds, especially with the rear. And then I was just losing two, three seconds a lap. Need to understand a little bit better what I did wrong or what we could have done a bit better to just protect the tire or shorten that stint a little bit more. But it is what it is. A big thanks to everyone for the season, for all the year, AJ Foyt Racing, Chevy, Combitrans, all the engineers, and the mechanics. It was a tough year but definitely also had some really enjoyable moments."

Pole winner Scott McLaughlin led 87 laps to win at the 11 turn, 2.238-mile road course. Trailing behind him were Kyle Kirkwood, Alexander Rossi, Felix Rosenqvist and David Malukas.

The 2027 season starts up March 7th in the streets of St. Petersburg.

In the INDY NXT by Firestone Series Race 2 of their weekend doubleheader, Alessandro de Tullio started 11th and finished eighth in the No. 14 AJ Foyt Racing entry.

De Tullio had a tough weekend but finished eighth on Sunday. (IndyCar Photo)

“Tough weekend at Laguna Seca — we struggled with the car balance and brakes," said de Tullio. . "Race One didn't go great with the contact, but in Race Two, we were able to make up a few positions, keep it clean, and bring home a P8. It's all we had for this weekend. Honestly, it’s not the way I wanted to end the year, but I'm still very happy with how the year went — all the pole positions and a couple race wins. Yeah, can’t be too mad about that. Big thanks to the whole No. 14 crew, AJ Foyt Racing, and our team alliance with HMD Motorsports for all the hard work done all year.”

Teammate Nicholas Monteiro started 23rd and finished 20th.

“We finished up the season with two races this weekend at Laguna Seca," said Monteiro. "I loved driving this track for the first time, it was so cool and unique. A couple of tough races, but I learned a lot across this entire season. The experience has given me a lot to build on as I continue my racing career. I’m so appreciative of all the hard work by the team this year. Full push into the offseason!”