Scott McLaughlin showed the speed that has earned him two prior poles at this event, leading the first practice Friday for the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.
McLaughlin, NTT P1 Award winner here in 2022 and last season, was quickest at 1 minute, 1.1020 seconds in the No. 3 DEX Team Penske Chevrolet on the 14-turn, 1.8-mile temporary street circuit that hosts the NTT INDYCAR SERIES season opener. He led both the earlier portion of the 85-minute practice that contained all 25 cars and improved upon that time in the smaller session after the field was divided into two groups.
SEE: Practice Results
“Decent first day,” McLaughlin said. “Obviously, being P1 is a great start. The DEX Imaging Chevy was…