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McLaughlin presented the Rookie of the Year award
Alex Palou and Chip Ganassi Racing (CGR) were honored for their 2021 NTT INDYCAR SERIES Championship during the victory lap celebration on Friday night at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum.
Palou won his first Astor Challenge Cup in his first season driving CGR in the # 10 Honda NTT DATA Chip Ganassi Racing and his second season in the series. This is the 14th INDYCAR SERIES Championship overall for CGR, which won its first title in 1996 with Jimmy Vasser at the wheel.
The Spaniard Palou became the first NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion from his country. He finished the season 38 points ahead of Josef Newgarden, second in the Penske team, in the final standings, with three wins, eight podiums and an NTT P1 award for taking pole in qualifying.
In the most definitive sign of the youth movement this season on the series, Palou, 24, is the first NTT INDYCAR SERIES Under-25 Champion since his current CGR teammate Scott Dixon in 2003. Palou is seventh over young champion of INDYCAR SERIES history.
Three veterans of the CGR crew also won awards. Mike Hull and Barry Wanser shared the INDYCAR Championship Team Manager Award, while Ricky Davis received the INDYCAR Championship Chief Mechanic Award presented by Pennzoil. The team also received the Penske Racing Shocks Award for their title.
Newgarden did not return home empty-handed despite his failure in his quest for a third championship in the series with Team Penske. He received the NTT P1 award for scoring the most points after winning pole in a race in the 2021 season. Newgarden led the series with four poles this season in the No.2 Chevrolet Hitachi Team Penske.
Team Penske’s No.2 crew for Newgarden also won the Firestone Pit Stop Performance Award for the shortest accumulated time in the pit lane all season.
Team Penske also took home another playoff honor for the first time in their legendary history, as Scott McLaughlin took home the Rookie of the Year award. Hailing from New Zealand, McLaughlin has finished in the top 10 five times, including second in the Genesys 300 at Texas Motor Speedway in his first oval race, in the No. 3 Chevrolet Penske PPG Team.
Other winners of the ceremony included Takuma Sato of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing for the TAG Heuer “Don’t Crack Under Pressure” award for winning the most cumulative places during the season, and Honda Performance Development (HPD ) won the INDYCAR Manufacturers Award. for the fourth consecutive season. HPD President David Salters accepted the award on behalf of his team.
The 2022 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season begins Sunday, February 27 on the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida.
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