McLaughlin resets Indy 500 pole record average with 234.220mph run

“To have them as close as we have them, that’s impressive,” Josef Newgarden said after Team Penske blitzed the field on Pole Day at the Indianapolis 500 where the three-car operation went 1-2-3 to lock out the front row. After posting the fastest …

After posting the fastest run in the Fast 12 earlier in the day, New Zealand’s Scott McLaughlin led the group to earn his first Indy 500 pole with the No. 3 Chevy at a remarkable 234.220mph average in the Fast Six ahead of Will Power in the No. 12 Chevy (233.917mph) and Newgarden in the No. 2 Chevy (233.808mph).

“I felt like there’s two runs today were some of the best runs of my career,” McLaughlin said. “I thought the potential was there, even yesterday. It was just about getting the right balance. I knew my engineer would nail it, and they did, and when the first number came up, I just had to hold on. Got a little bit loose at the end but the Pennzoil Chevy held on. Super proud to put the Yellow Submarine back on the pole and sweep for Team Penske. What a great spot for the 108th Running [of the Indianapolis 500]. I’m really proud. I think it’s the first Team Penske clean sweep of the front row since ’88. In this day and age, that’s a proud moment.”

It was yet another statement for Kiwis after countryman Scott Dixon earned Indy 500 poles in 2021 and 2022, giving Antipodeans three of the last four top starting spots at the Speedway.

Teammate Power was rather dejected to lose out on earning his first Indy 500 pole, but went into the Fast Six with full knowledge that he was capable of going P1.

“I was going to be shocked if we weren’t on pole or fighting for it,” he said.

The story wasn’t over for Team Chevy as it captured the second row and two of the next three spots on the third row to give the oddsmakers a clear understanding of which engine supplier has the most horsepower.

Elsewhere in the top 12, Ed Carpenter Racing’s Rinus VeeKay put in a stellar performance to lay claim to seventh after crashing on Saturday.

“Seventh for the Indianapolis 500 after yesterday’s morning… sick!” said the Dutchman. “We were so close and were able to beat some fast cars today.”

The other big star of qualifying was found with Dreyer & Reinbold Racing’s Ryan Hunter-Reay who played the role of giant killer with the No. 23 Chevy to earn 12th ahead of much bigger and wealthier teams.

At the unfortunate end of Pole Day, there was also one driver who was sent home as Bump Day carved Dale Coyne Racing’s No. 18 Honda driven by rookie Nolan Siegel from the starting field. A crash on his final run in the Last Chance Qualifying session sealed his fate and saved Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Graham Rahal, who was on the bubble from being knocked out of consecutive Indy 500s in P33.

Siegel was unharmed in the crash and was frank in his assessment after falling short in the final minute of the session.

“I’m OK,” he said over the radio. “It was [way loose]. We tried.”

Katherine Legge (P31), Marcus Ericsson (P32), and Rahal weathered the gut-wrenching LCQ and will get to take part in the race.

Once the fast 12 activities commenced as the heat migrated over 80 degrees F, Hunter-Reay went first and recorded a 230.567mph average. VeeKay was next and shot to first with 232.620mph. Pato O’Ward was next and delivered a 232.584mph to go P2.

Takuma Sato motored to a 232.171mph to claim P3, and Santino Ferrucci was up next, but lost the cloud cover that cooled the track for O’Ward and Sato. It didn’t matter, though, as Ferrucci shot to P1 with an average of 232.723mph.

Rosenqvist was up sixth and had great cloud cover to use over his four laps to produce a 232.305mph run which moved him into P4. Kyle Larson also had good cloud cover for his blast and put up a 232.788 average to take P1 to the applause and delight of the fans.

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Kyle Kirkwood followed with the sun beating down on the track and delivered a 230.993 to go P7. Alexander Rossi had the same absence of cooler conditions for his run and, like Ferrucci, it made no difference as he registered the fastest run with a 233.071mph to take P1 from his teammate Larson.

Newgarden liberated P1 from Rossi with a stellar run of 233.286mph, and it was his teammate McLaughlin’s turn to make the penultimate attempt to transfer into the Fast Six and go for pole.

McLaughlin knocked Newgarden off P1 with a 233.492mph and then it was time for teammate Power to make the last run. Cloud cover emerged for Power’s last lap and held for his entire outing to miss P1 by a tiny margin at 233.483mph to take P2.

With McLaughlin, Power, Newgarden, Rossi, Larson and Ferrucci primed to go for pole, it was time for the LCQ group to run, led off by Nolan Siegel, who posted a 229.568mph.

Ericsson had a 230.653mph average through three laps but appeared to lift at start/finish at the start of the fourth lap —did he think the run was over?—to close the run with a 195.411mph lap that dropped his average to 220.702mph.

Legge dealt with more oversteer but held onto it to take P31 and lead the LCQ with a 230.092mph run. Rahal was the last to run before second attempts could be made and went 229.974mph to take P32 in front of Siegel in P33 and Ericsson in P34.

The Andretti team sat and waited to let Ericsson’s engine cool before sending him to try and bump Siegel out. With approximately 32 minutes left in the 60-minute LCQ session, Ericsson headed out and ran four slow laps averaging 168.986mph before pulling into the pits, putting on four new tires, and getting prepared to make a proper attempt to get into the show.

Ericsson rolled out with about eight minutes to go and went 230.027mph to grab P32, bumping Siegel out. Ericsson and Legge were in, Rahal was on the bubble, and Siegel’s car was pushed to the line and sent with two minutes left on the clock.

He wound the car up to 229.288mph on the first lap, nudged the wall on the exit of Turn 1, spun, and crashed. He was unhurt and, sadly, not going to participate in his first Indy 500.

The Fast Six started with Ferrucci up first and he held onto a sliding car to go 232.692mph before Larson registered a 232.846mph to move into P1. Rossi went third and dropped the fastest lap so far with a 234.062mph which generated cheers as he held onto a wiggling machine. His average of 233.090mph was enough to take P1 before the three Penske drivers went out to settle the pole.

Newgarden made a statement with his first lap—a 234.188mph—which led to more cheers. His second lap was almost as good—a 234.004mph—and his third was also good at 233.640mph and he closed it with a 233.400mph to shoot to P1 with a 233.808mph average.

Power was the penultimate pole runner and crossed the line with a 234.128mph and fell to a 233.955mph which looked like he’d stay behind Newgarden. The next lap was a 233.767mph, and on his final, a 233.819mph was enough to go P1 with an average of 233.917mph. It was up to McLaughlin to try and spoil Power’s party.

Lap one was the best of the day — a 234.526mph — and the battle was on. Lap two was another monster at 234.371mph and it was the Kiwi’s to take. Two more strong laps did the job; pole for McLaughlin and an explosion of cheers from fans on the front straight.

RESULTS

IndyCar completes second practice for 2024 Indianapolis 500, full results

IndyCar has completed the second practice for the 2024 Indianapolis 500. Check out the full results, including lap times and difference!

The second practice of the 2024 Indianapolis 500 took a while to get underway due to the weather in the forecast. The green flag for practice was delayed and forced drivers to sit around all day. However, the skies finally cleared up enough to let the track dry before rain paused practice on and off throughout the rest of the day.

NTT IndyCar Series drivers got several laps under their belts on Wednesday, including Tom Blomqvist, who led the way with 105 laps. [autotag]Scott McLaughlin[/autotag] led the field with a hot lap of 229.492 miles per hour, and a total of 78 laps. Kyle Larson, who is attempting “The Double,” placed 15th at 225.245 miles per hour on Wednesday.

Below, you can look at the results of the third 2024 Indianapolis 500 practice on May 15.

2024 Indianapolis 500 Practice 3 results:

No. 2 Scott McLaughlin, Time: 39.2168 seconds, Diff: —–
No. 12 Will Power, Time: 39.3414 seconds, Diff: 0.1246 seconds
No. 26 Colton Herta, Time: 39.4982 seconds, Diff: 0.2814 seconds
No. 2 Josef Newgarden, Time: 39.5301 seconds, Diff: 0.3133 seconds
No. 7 Alexander Rossi, Time: 39.5632 seconds, Diff: 0.3464 seconds
No. 27 Kyle Kirkwood, Time: 39.6461 seconds, Diff: 0.4293 seconds
No. 5 Pato O’Ward, Time: 39.6537 seconds, Diff: 0.4369 seconds
No. 10 Alex Palou, Time: 39.7065 seconds, Diff: 0.4897 seconds
No. 23 Ryan Hunter-Reay, Time: 39.7369 seconds, Diff: 0.5201 seconds
No. 06 Helio Castroneves, Time: 39.7855 seconds, Diff: 0.5687 seconds
No. 9 Scott Dixon, Time: 39.7977 seconds, Diff: 0.5809 seconds
No. 15 Graham Rahal, Time: 39.8396 seconds, Diff: 0.6228 seconds
No. 60 Felix Rosenqvist, Time: 39.9421 seconds, Diff: 0.7253 seconds
No. 21 Rinus VeeKay, Time: 39.9556 seconds, Diff: 0.7388 seconds
No. 17 Kyle Larson (R), Time: 39.9565 seconds, Diff: 0.7397 seconds
No. 28 Marcus Ericsson, Time: 39.9597 seconds, Diff: 0.7429 seconds
No. 75 Takuma Sato, Time: 39.9655 seconds, Diff: 0.7487 seconds
No. 77 Romain Grosjean, Time: 40.0178 seconds, Diff: 0.8010 seconds
No. 24 Conor Daly, Time: 40.0337 seconds, Diff: 0.8169 seconds
No. 8 Linus Lundqvist (R), Time: 40.0385 seconds, Diff: 0.8217 seconds
No. 6 Callum Ilott, Time: 40.0503 seconds, Diff: 0.8335 seconds
No. 98 Marco Andretti, Time: 40.0544 seconds, Diff: 0.8376 seconds
No. 11 Marcus Armstrong (R), Time: 40.0549 seconds, Diff: 0.8381 seconds
No. 30 Pietro Fittipaldi, Time: 40.1031 seconds, Diff: 0.8863 seconds
No. 20 Ed Carpenter, Time: 40.1954 seconds, Diff: 0.8886 seconds
No. 30 Christian Rasmussen (R), Time: 40.1224 seconds, Diff: 0.9056 seconds
No. 45 Christian Lungaard, Time: 40.1522 seconds, Diff: 0.9354 seconds
No. 66 Tom Blomqvist (R), Time: 40.1876 seconds, Diff: 0.9708 seconds
No. 4 Kyffin Simpson (R), Time: 40.2627 seconds, Diff: 1. seconds
No. 41 Sting Ray Robb, Time: 40.3198 seconds, Diff: 1. seconds
No. 51 Katherine Legge, Time: 40.3448 seconds, Diff: 1. seconds
No. 18 Nolan Siegel, Time: 40.3608 seconds, Diff: 1. seconds
No. 14 Santino Ferucci, Time: 40.5796 seconds, Diff: 1. seconds
No. 78 Agustin Canapino, Time: 40.6086 seconds, Diff: 1. seconds

Due to the shortened track time this week, IndyCar has revised Thursday’s schedule to a 10:00 a.m. start and 6:00 p.m. finish.

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McLaughlin, Power mull risk vs reward in team battle

Will Power found satisfaction, a second place and a climb to within a single point of the NTT IndyCar Series championship lead at Barber Motorsports Park – just not the win that he’s been coveting, which went instead to Penske teammate Scott …

Will Power found satisfaction, a second place and a climb to within a single point of the NTT IndyCar Series championship lead at Barber Motorsports Park — just not the win that he’s been coveting, which went instead to Penske teammate Scott McLaughlin, who he tailed most of the way, on the same three-stopping strategy, after they had qualified 1-2.

“Yeah, very pleased with the podium. Actually made a little mistake there in the race, went off. It’s very rare for me. I was very disappointed in myself,” said Power. “We had such a gap that [when] I came back on — I couldn’t believe it — I only lost one [place].”

Multiple cautions in the rough-and-tumble race softened that blow, though, and Power actually briefly managed to get ahead of McLaughlin on a restart when they were both were forced back into the pack on strategy, only for the No. 3 to quickly return the favor on the No. 12.

“I think we raced each other as hard as we normally do,” McLaughlin said. “We were smart about it. I think we had big picture [in mind].

“I knew the pass with Will, that battle with Will when we were 20th or something, that was important for being positioned right if it all came our way — like it did in the end. It was effectively for the race win, you could say.”

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“It was aggressive. It was combative, actually,” Power said of the mid-pack tussle. “The thing is, when you’ve been running at the front in very clean air and hard, you get back there with all that dirty air, how much the car moves around, yeah, you kind of are not ready for it when it first restarts. You got to get used to the car being very much on top of the road again.

“You’re also thinking in your head, like, Scott and I kind of racing potentially for the win, but we’re in the pack. The risk versus reward, you’re kind of trying to decide.”

“We always race fairly. It’s hard,” McLaughlin mused. “He probably cut me a little bit of slack. He still tried pretty hard. Yeah, I always enjoy racing Will. A lot of transparency there between the two of us — even the start of the race, for us to get through [Turns 1-2]. Ultimately, him being in second was great for me. It’s just working together, which is really nice.”

Power acknowledged the circumstances of racing a teammate, especially in the aftermath of the push-to-pass controversy that had engulfed Team Penske last week, weighed on him.

“I think I wasn’t aggressive enough,” he admitted. “I should have worked harder to keep Scott behind. I didn’t block him. With everything that’s happened this week, I just didn’t want to bloody have two Penske cars off in Turn 1. I just kind of let it go.

“Yeah, I was happy for the team to get that [win], though. I’ve been around long enough where you actually are happy for the team. You’re not so selfish. When you’re young like him, you just got to go.”

McLaughlin starts his bounce back with commanding win at Barber

The 90 laps of racing at Barber Motorsports Park were among the best we’ve seen with the IndyCar Series as differing race strategies and a big pack of front-runners starting deep in the 27-car field made for a thriller won by Team Penske’s Scott …

“Thank you so much. So proud of you,” McLaughlin said to his team after crossing the finish line.

The polesitter and front-row Team Penske partner Will Power committed to a three-stop strategy, fell out of contention when the first caution arrived at an inopportune time that favored the two-stoppers, and shot back into the winning frame at the end of the race as subsequent cautions blighted the chanced of those like Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou who was leading the two-stop contingent.

With McLaughlin driving like an animal and Palou forced to lap the road course in an extreme fuel-saving mode—at times between 2-3s slower than the Penske driver—McLaughlin pulled out a big enough lead to make his third and final stop and get back to racing ahead of Palou. Power was able to do the same, giving Penske a 1-2 finish.

“We just have to keep rolling,” McLaughlin said to NBC after climbing from his car. “We know our job; we know what we need to do. I’m just super proud of the execution. …A couple yellows didn’t fall our way, but we just showed our pace.

“Execution, execution — that’s our word, and we’ll just keep going.”

Ganassi’s two-stop plan for Palou kept going south as his rookie teammate Linus Lundqvist, also on a three-stop run, charged past Palou to grab his first podium in the No. 8 Honda.

The back-and-forth affair made for a fun blend of charging and saving with no chance to predict how the race would be decided as the cautions shifted the odds between the diverging strategies.

What a wild start to the INDYCAR race at Barber!

📺 : NBC and Peacock pic.twitter.com/2AKaBUsu3R

— INDYCAR on NBC (@IndyCaronNBC) April 28, 2024

McLaughlin led away from pole with teammate Power and Christian Lundgaard in tow. Colton Herta and Santino Ferrucci had two wheel-banging incidents, first at Turn 1 and soon after at Turn 5. Ferrucci got the better of the last exchange.

Starting 16th, Scott Dixon charged up to eighth in the opening laps.

Pato O’Ward’s day went sideways on the second lap when the 2022 Barber winner spun on his own under braking entering Turn 5. The Mexican fell from fourth to 24th.

The first caution of the day arrived on the sixth lap when Pietro Fittipaldi was fired into the barriers after being hit by O’Ward. The Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing driver backed into the wall and broke the right of the No. 30 Honda.

The early caution was everything that teams on a three-stop strategy did not want to see; some altered their plans and began saving fuel to try and make a two-stop plan work.

With the field under control, eight drivers running towards the back—led by O’Ward — took the opportunity to pit on lap 8. Getting back to action on lap 11, McLaughlin pulled away again as O’Ward was instructed to perform a drive-through on pit lane as the penalty for taking Fittipaldi out.

Dixon’s forward progression was halted on lap 18 when he paid a nearly identical visit to the Turn 5 gravel trap as O’Ward. Trying to go by Graham Rahal on the right into the corner, he found Rahal moving to the right, which squeezed Dixon onto the curb and grass. Rahal did not appear to be aware of Dixon’s presence. Dixon fell from seventh to 18th.

Up front, McLaughlin held a comfortable 2s lead over Power and 3.2s on Lundgaard on lap 22. Turn 5 — the bane of drivers today — caught Will Power on the next lap as he couldn’t get his car stopped in time to round the corner; he fell to third after driving through the runoff. Now second, Lundgaard went straight to pit lane and became the first of the leading three-stoppers to hold firm to the plan.

McLaughlin held 7.9s over Power and 13.7 on Alex Palou on lap 28. Power pitted at the end of the lap and McLaughlin followed one lap later on lap 29. Palou, who inherited the lead, pitted on lap 30.

Josef Newgarden’s race took a backwards step after pitting on lap 32. A fight with Marcus Armstrong—on hot tires—saw Newgarden try to defend his position entering the penultimate corner, but contact between Armstrong’s left-front tire from the inside line and Newgarden’s right-rear sent the Penske driver into the runoff. Dueling over 12th, Newgarden returned in 17th.

Next in the Turn 5 clash department were Romain Grosjean and Kyle Kirkwood, with Grosjean winning the wheel-banging exchange. Kirkwood settled the score in the same corner, and added some flair as Grosjean was knocked into the runoff.

Alexander Rossi was looking like Arrow McLaren’s top performer until he pitted and returned to the track with the left-rear wheel working its way loose. Stuck in the gravel with a three-wheeled car, the second caution of the race was required on lap 44 to remove his car.

McLaughlin pitted from the lead under caution on lap 47 as did Power; they resumed in 17th and 18th respectively, as Power got out ahead of Lundgaard, who restarted from 19th. The strategy battle to see if those three-stoppers — former leaders — could salvage their days as the timing of the two cautions turned the odds in favor of the two-stoppers at the front.

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Palou led the field on the lap 49 restart and had Felix Rosenqvist close behind in second.

The third caution was required on lap 55 when Sting Ray Robb’s A.J. Foyt Racing car turned hard right at the left-hand Turn 1 and hit the barriers. “I think the steering wheel broke,” Robb said before climbing from the car. Most of the field, led by Palou, pitted on lap 56.

Palou got out first with Rosenqvist and third-place Armstrong drag racing to the exit where Rosenqvist was slightly ahead. Armstrong forced the issue and raced him out and moved ahead on track. All three were done with pitting.

The caution timing, coming a few laps earlier than the two-stoppers wanted, tipped the odds back in favor of the three-stoppers. The two-stoppers like Palou down in 11th would need another caution to help; otherwise, extreme fuel saving would be required. Santino Ferrucci led the field to the green on lap 60, but it was waved off.

McLaughlin was in third, Power, fifth, and the extra lap under caution helped the two-stoppers chasing three-stoppers like McLaughlin.

Ferrucci and Lundqvist held strong in first and second, which was great for them but terrible for McLaughlin who couldn’t get by and needed to clear them and streak away to build a big gap over Palou before pitting for the third and final time.

With 23 to go, McLaughlin was 16s ahead of Palou; he’d need to get to at least 27s to be able to pit and return in front of the Spaniard and the other two-stoppers. It was up to 20s with 21 laps to go. At 16 to go, McLaughlin had all he needed with 31.1s over Palou and he pitted for the final time, as did Power.

The Penske duo returned to the track ahead of Palou — game over for the Ganassi driver’s winning ambitions. Three-stopping rookie teammate Lundqvist was pushing hard and passed Armstrong and Rosenqvist before setting off the chase Palou in third with 12 to go. Lundqvist captured third with 11 to run and had an 8.1s deficit to Power to manage.

A caution for the spun and stalled Christian Rasmussen led to a restart with two laps to go and the top three of McLaughlin, Power, and Lundqvist held station.

“I’m extremely happy with a podium,” Lundqvist said. “It’s my first in IndyCar, and it’s been a bit rough for me the first couple of races, and even struggled a little bit this weekend, but man, what can I say — the team did an amazing job. The American Legion Honda [was super fast today] and I basically just listened to whatever [the team] told me to do. They said, ‘Be patient here and you’ll get your reward at the end,’ and we definitely did.

“I think that was the first time [I ever] got to pass some cars, so I was excited about that!”

The NTT Data IndyCar Series heads home next for the the Sonsio Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course May 10-11.

RESULTS

McLaughlin beats Power to Barber pole

It was a hot and humid 80-degree afternoon in Alabama as the IndyCar Series field headed out to qualify for Sunday’s 90-lap race at Barber Motorsports Park. Adjusting to the rising temperature was a big part of how some teams and drivers thrived and others struggled, and with the clock wound down to the final minute, it was Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin who took pole, knocking teammate Will Power off of the top starting spot by a scant 0.0970s.

For McLaughlin, who won last year’s Barber race, it was his sixth career IndyCar pole position, and comes after a tough week for the New Zealander and the rest of Team Penske.

“The car today was just phenomenal,” McLaughlin said. “We’ve hardly changed it. When you arrive here, you drop it out of the truck, you don’t have to change it that much, you build more confidence, more confidence, more confidence. You just find the limit, know the limit. Thankfully the car was really good on that final set of reds. We were able to put her up the front.”

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With McLaughlin’s lap of 1m05.9490s setting the standard, only Power and Rahal Letterman Lanigan’s Christian Lundgaard were close (+0.1328s) to the Kiwi. Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward staved off a bad day for the entire team by claiming fourth (+0.3450s) as his teammates qualified 16th or lower.

Meyer Shank Racing’s Felix Rosenqvist — with a fresh engine after his Honda motor failed in the morning practice — continued his strong season of Saturday runs by capturing fifth (+0.5034s) and like O’Ward with his team, Chip Ganassi Racing’s Marcus Armstrong offered the one ray of hope after securing sixth (+0.9532s) as the lone member of the five-car team to crack the Firestone Fast Six.

The opening phase of the Firestone Fast 12 saw Alex Palou lead the 13-car group, followed by Pato O’Ward, Marcus Armstrong, Graham Rahal, Romain Grosjean, and Kyle Kirkwood transfer into the next round. Among the surprises were Long Beach winner Scott Dixon and runner-up Colton Herta, who missed the cut and will start 13th and 15th respectively.

“It is what it is,” Dixon said. “We just missed it. We need to find out why we didn’t have the speed.”

IndyCar newcomer Luca Ghiotto showed well, qualifying 21st in the 27-deep field on his second day in an Indy car.

The second phase of qualifying with the other 14 cars was led by McLaughlin, Power, Josef Newgarden, Lundgaard, Rosenqvist and Tom Blomqvist.

The surprises were found with Alexander Rossi and Marcus Ericsson, who will roll off in 16th and 18th respectively.

“We’re missing something and it’s a bit strange because the car feels OK to drive,” Ericsson said.

Rinus VeeKay, fastest in the morning practice session, was unable to make a proper qualifying attempt when an issue at the back of his car kept him on pit lane.

“We were losing power, but it’s because of an electrical issue,” VeeKay said.

The third round of qualifying — the Fast 12 — sent Lundgaard, Power, McLaughlin, Armstrong, O’Ward and Rosenqvist through to fight for pole.

Seventh through 12th was set with Rahal and four straight surprises in Newgarden, Kirkwood, Palou and Grosjean; Blomqvist completed the group.

“I didn’t do a great lap. It’s a decent spot for us,” Newgarden said.

RESULTS

McLaughlin on slow start: ‘I look at it as a challenge’

Buried down in last place in the championship after his podium finish at St. Petersburg was taken away during this week’s Team Penske push-to-pass contretemps, Scott McLaughlin is ready to start his comeback Sunday at Barber Motorsports Park and see …

It’s a tall task for the New Zealander, but with last year’s Barber victory in mind, he’s at the perfect track to begin digging himself out of the championship cellar.

“I look at it as a challenge. I look at it with excitement,” he told RACER. “I know what this team is capable of. I’m proud to drive for this team. I know we can win this race this weekend.”

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With his third-place run at St. Petersburg changed to 27th, and a tough day last Sunday in Long Beach where his No. 3 Chevy suffered a late and race-ending transmission problem which left him in 26th, McLaughlin sits 27th in the drivers’ standings with five points to his credit. To vault into title contention, the New Zealander will need to win and win and win again to bridge the points gap.

“I know we can potentially win the [Indy] 500 and then we’ll go onto amazing things if we get momentum because that’s exactly what we did last year,” he said.

“It is what it is now that that this stuff is behind us and we’ve got to focus forward. And it comes from my side; I’m the QB for the team. I gotta lead them through it and I can’t wait to do that.”

McLaughlin responds to St. Petersburg disqualification

Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin wants to clear the air after he was disqualified from March’s NTT IndyCar Series season opener in St. Petersburg, where he stood on the podium in third place. He and his race-winning teammate Josef Newgarden in the No. …

Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin wants to clear the air after he was disqualified from March’s NTT IndyCar Series season opener in St. Petersburg, where he stood on the podium in third place.

He and his race-winning teammate Josef Newgarden in the No. 2 Chevy were found to have made illegal use of IndyCar’s push-to-pass system when it was deactivated by the series.

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What the New Zealander shared in an evening post to social media aligns with what RACER has been told regarding the specific actions with his No. 3 Chevy team.

“First and foremost, I am proud to be a member of Team Penske,” he wrote. “I fully stand with everyone one of my teammates. Simply put, a mistake was made. I have the highest level of integrity and it is important to protect both my own reputation and that of the team.

“I was not aware of the situation with the software. In this instance, I used a single, very brief (1.9-second) deployment of push to pass in a section of the track, (the) exit of Turn 9, where it is typically utilized throughout the race. I hit the button out of habit, but I did not pass any cars, nor did I gain any time advantage.

“The data, which IndyCar has, confirms all of this information. While I accept the penalty, I want to be clear that I did not gain an advantage over my competitors.

“IndyCar’s competition is the best in the world and I would take no pleasure in achieving success in any way other than honestly. We will all press forward from here and focus on the task at hand this weekend at Barber.”

McLaughlin ‘hit everything but the pace car’ en route to second place at Laguna Seca

By his own calculation, Scott McLaughlin “hit everything but the pace car” on Sunday at Laguna Seca, but it didn’t stop him earning a second-place finish that vaulted him from fifth to third in the championship. “For me, [third in the points] is a …

“For me, [third in the points] is a pride thing,” said McLaughlin, whose previous best IndyCar championship finish was fourth last year.

“More importantly, we wanted to be the top Chevy team, beat McLaren, and we did that. I wanted to beat my teammates. Ultimately ticked both those goals.

“I talk about beating our teammates… we have a seriously good camaraderie between the three of us. It’s very competitive. It gets tense at times. That’s what you want in a relationship. I think we all push each other to new levels. To beat those two is a proud moment. [I’m] super-pumped.”

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McLaughlin’s No. 3 Team Penske Chevy found itself in the vicinity of several of Sunday’s many incidents, and the New Zealander said that the key to the afternoon was to make the most of the things that he and the team could control, and try not to get thrown off his game by the many things that they couldn’t.

“I think I had one really good restart where I picked off sort of six or seven cars,” he said. “I was just hauling. So much fun.

“But it was wild. I mean, for me as a driver, just thinking of my race, it was probably the most crazy race I’ve ever had in my career just from an up-and-down perspective. It probably takes me back to the year I lost the Supercars championship for the first time. Up and down, penalties, things you could avoid and couldn’t avoid. It was just nuts.

“It was peak IndyCar. To be able to come back from that is pretty cool.”

Malukas puzzled by McLaughlin’s stance on contact at WWTR

David Malukas shrugged off any accusation that he did something wrong while wrestling with Scott McLaughlin for a top-five finish in the Bommarito Automotive Group 500 at World Wide Technology Raceway. The Dale Coyne Racing w/HMD-Honda driver …

The Dale Coyne Racing w/HMD-Honda driver famously passed McLaughlin for second place in the closing laps of last year’s IndyCar race, and this year the pair again found themselves battling hard on several occasions throughout the race.

The decisive moment came in the race’s final 60 laps, when Malukas dived down the inside of McLaughlin’s Penske Chevrolet at Turn 1. The pole winner — who had to start from 10th due to an early engine-change penalty — squeezed down, made contact with the DCR car and the subsequent wobble sent him high and cost him several places. Malukas gathered up the moment and charged home in third, while McLaughlin also recovered well to claim fifth.

“I followed the car in front on the inside,” said Malukas. “Obviously for position, he squeezed down. I was right on the curb. It’s not like I washed up into him: it’s more that he cut into me. We had a tap. I managed to save it. I guess he did, as well.

“He came to me at the podium and said something about it. I don’t know if he’s, like, oppressed by it. I don’t know. I think he got a beef from that.

“From my standpoint, if you squeeze somebody down on the inside, what else are you going to expect? I can only go on the curb so much.”

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Quizzed as to how or why he and Coyne had again shone at this track, Malukas said, “We had a really good car. Going off the start, I was comparing to [early leader] Newgarden there. Our tires were falling off very similarly — compared to Herta, as well. He was falling off quicker than we were. I knew at that point we had a chance to go for it, with all the yellow playing out, the strategy.

“We tried to do what Dixon did. I don’t know how he can do it. We were falling off like a cliff trying to meet that fuel target. I was lifting at the start/finish line. I am like, ‘Guys, that’s not possible.’ We had to kind of cut it off and go heavy push from there. Then at that point I was just dealing with lapped cars.

“Overall, we had a really good car, and it was good for the team. Another podium at Gateway. Yeah, going through obviously IndyCar two times here and through Indy NXT, we just keep getting podiums.”

Malukas, who described conditions off-line as “treacherous,” added: “If you can do whatever possible to reduce marbles and we can actually use the second lane, then the lapped cars won’t be as much of an issue.”

McLaughlin wins WWTR pole, but cedes P1 to Newgarden

Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin took his fifth IndyCar pole and his first on an oval, but will roll off from 10th for this afternoon’s Bommarito Automotive Group 500 after taking a nine-place grid penalty, leaving the front row to teammate Josef …

McLaughlin was the only driver to run a 183mph lap of the 1.25-mile World Wide Technology Raceway in this morning’s qualifying session and produced an average of 182.951mph.

As if the session hadn’t been delayed enough — by almost a full day due to the torrential conditions in Madison, Illinois on Saturday — there was a further hold-up to clean the track after a couple of USAC cars spewed fluids on the asphalt.

Finally the action got underway with the cars running in reverse championship entrant point order, thus full-time owner and part-time driver Ed Carpenter hit the track first. His two laps were 174mph efforts, his second lap being 0.4mph faster than his first, but this was immediately shaded by rookie Benjamin Pedersen of AJ Foyt Racing, who was in the 176 zone.

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Sting Ray Robb of Dale Coyne Racing ran a 176.751 on his first lap but leapt to 178.845 on his second, producing a two-lap average of 177.792, but both of Devlin DeFrancesco’s laps were high 178s so he went to the top of the speed charts.

That didn’t last long, as Conor Daly — replacing Jack Harvey in the No. 30 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda — topped the 180mph barrier on his second lap to generate a 179.928mph average. That survived a strong attack from rookie Linus Lundqvist, still subbing for Simon Pagenaud in the Meyer Shank Racing entry.

Santino Ferrucci was the first driver to run 180mph on his first lap, but he felt the rear of his Foyt car dramatically let go at Turns 3-4 and had to back out, and so his second lap was only a 172.

David Malukas was the first drive to run two laps north of 180mph, and his second lap was 181.256 — the fastest lap yet seen this weekend — so the average for the Dale Coyne Racing Honda driver was an impressive 181.091.

Takuma Sato, in his final race for Chip Ganassi Racing Honda this year, went to the top of the charts with a 181.427mph average, after becoming the first driver to run 181s on both laps. However, he is one of several drivers who will have to drop nine places on the grid due to his car’s early engine change.

Felix Rosenqvist of Arrow McLaren Chevrolet immediately edged him with a 181.104 followed by the first 182mph lap, and moved to the top. That was an average that Romain Grosjean of Andretti Autosport Honda couldn’t match, but RoGro’s teammate Colton Herta went fastest with two 181.9 laps.

Will Power — in a rebuilt car after last night’s shunt — produced a 180.774mph — while the driver who he struck, Marcus Ericsson, had a major struggle in the spare Ganassi car sheathed in American Legion colors, running two 178.8s.

Pato O’Ward shaded teammate Rosenqvist to claim second (for now), but McLaughlin set a 182.5 followed by a 183.395, to set an average of 182.951. That was better than four-time WWTR winner Newgarden could manage, but Newgarden will start from pole thanks to McLaughlin being among those taking a nine-place grid drop.

That’s also applicable to the last two runners, Scott Dixon and Alex Palou, who ran 181.4 and 181.5mph averages respectively.

RESULTS

STARTING LINEUP (with penalties applied)