How Laguna Seca’s IndyCar end of term vibe was greater than ever

Thirty-two years ago, at arguably the peak of the CART era of IndyCar racing, Laguna Seca Raceway hosted the 1994 season finale with an “Arrivederci, Mario!” theme. It was the culmination of a year-long celebration of one of motorsport’s most legendary drivers as Mario Andretti reluctantly capped a farewell season of full-time competition.

There was a different kind of wistful end-of-era feeling to IndyCar’s Laguna Seca 2026 weekend. It started with the Friday morning christening of the historic California circuit’s most famous sequence of corners as the “Zanardi Corkscrew” to commemorate the recently departed Italian’s unorthodox last lap pass on Bryan Herta to win the final race of the ’96 CART season.

Later that day, Tony Kanaan donned a commemorative helmet and ran demonstration laps in Gil de Ferran’s 2001 championship-winning Penske-modified Reynard/Honda – the car many cognoscenti consider to be absolute peak IndyCar. It’s now owned by McLaren head honcho Zak Brown, and he wedged himself into the sleek machine to run a formation lap ahead of the IndyCar field for this year’s 19th and final race, with the championship already decided in Alex Palou’s favour.

There was another notable link to CART 2001 that amped up all the feels at Laguna Seca. The PacWest Racing Reynard/Toyota that 20-year-old rookie Scott Dixon drove to an unlikely win at Nazareth Speedway earlier that year was on hand as part of a display of historic IndyCars. You could see the emotion in Dixon’s eyes at age 46 as he sat in the car.

Dixon reminisced about that very car a few weeks ago, long before he knew it would be part of the celebrations at Laguna Seca.

“That was the best, when you look at the basics of big downforce and big horsepower, and what was fun about the CART era too was as a driver you had updates every three races,” he recalled with a smile. “Big updates too, front and rear wings, under wings, all small details. As my career has gone on, a lot of that stuff has just been derailed. We don’t really have any of that stuff now. Everybody has the same car, and the engine is the only difference.”

Dixon joined CART at what is considered to be its peak

Photo by: Phillip Abbott / Motorsport Images

This writer has attended more than 500 IndyCar races, and people often ask, “what was the best or worst race you ever saw?” I always go back to that Laguna Seca 2001 CART race when I think of the worst. The record book shows that Max Papis was the winner after starting 25th. Fantastic, right?

But there was nothing heroic about that victory from a driving standpoint. Papis made one on-track pass – on Casey Mears for 14th place – and took advantage of savvy strategy devised by dearly-missed Scott Roembke and a CART rulebook anomaly to cross the line first in a race he had no business winning.

It wasn’t really a bad race, rather one that created the result with the most sour feeling. It wasn’t exactly Kimi Antonelli charging from 19th to first to win the Italian Grand Prix.

The PacWest team failed to emerge from a 2002 reorganisation, and Dixon was fortunate Toyota stepped in to help him land with Chip Ganassi Racing. The rest is history, and at Laguna Seca this year, Chip Ganassi paid tribute to the six-time series champion

The real race that day – had it not been affected by the collision of a longtime rule limiting most CART races to two hours and a short-lived pit window rule to combat fuel saving strategies - was between de Ferran and Dixon. De Ferran was the defending CART series champion, who was methodically collecting points toward a second consecutive crown. Dixon had just turned 21 and was wrapping up an impactful rookie season with PacWest that already included that fuel strategy-driven victory at Nazareth Speedway.

They finished an unrepresentative third and fourth behind Papis and Memo Gidley at Laguna Seca, because they were in the wrong place in terms of their mandatory pit windows when the two-hour rule came into effect. De Ferran, who would soon clinch a second consecutive CART-sanctioned IndyCar title, had nothing but praise for Dixon’s performance that day.

“All credit to Dixon,” de Ferran said. “He’s in his rookie season, but he has a fantastic head on his shoulders. He’s a tremendous driver. He really drove extremely well all year long. He was very strong, mature and fast, all in one package.”

With little on the line, Laguna Seca produced a processional affair to close out the season

Photo by: Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

The PacWest team failed to emerge from a 2002 reorganisation, and Dixon was fortunate Toyota stepped in to help him land with Chip Ganassi Racing. The rest is history, and at Laguna Seca this year, Chip Ganassi paid tribute to the six-time series champion while presenting him with a nifty Rolex desk clock. There was plenty of emotion from both sides.

Sadly, Dixon’s 25-year tenure with Ganassi ended with a whimper, like too many of his races over the last two years. He qualified in the midfield, Mike Hull tried an alternate strategy that didn’t pan out, and Dixon finished 17th. Winless since August 2024, a 12th place finish in the standings is his lowest since 2005. He’d never been lower than sixth since, and it will be fascinating to watch how his move to McLaren for the final years of his career unfolds.

A narrow, old-school track, it’s difficult to pass at Laguna Seca. The races are often processional, and that was the case again this year. Penske’s Scott McLaughlin qualified on pole and he proceeded to dominate, leading 87 of 95 laps to end a 35-race winless streak. It was a much-needed confidence boost for the New Zealander.

“That’s what it’s going to take to win a championship,” he enthused. “What a great warmup we had…bring on 2027.”

Of course, Palou had already clinched this year’s IndyCar championship. Perhaps the hangover rolled in as he finished eighth in the season finale. Kyle Kirkwood kept McLaughlin honest and finished less than two seconds back to clinch second in the standings, with Christian Lundgaard, Pato O’Ward, and David Malukas up next.

For IndyCar, end-of-term can feel interminable. The next race is exactly six months away….

Who will pucker up to the IndyCar championship trophy for 2027?

Photo by: Penske Entertainment