McLaughlin Aims to Get Back in Title Contention at Road America

By Dennis Krause

This weekend’s XPEL Grand Prix at Elkhart Lake’s Road America marks the midpoint of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES season.

While the 4.048-mile, 14-turn natural terrain road course has been a mixed bag for Scott McLaughlin, the driver of the No. 3 XPEL Team Penske Chevrolet is excited to get back to Road America where he’s had a couple of top tens and a podium in 2024.

“Yeah, I felt like the last two years we've led the race at some point. Just the way the strategies have worked out, it just hasn't been ideal for me,” McLaughlin noted.

“But we've always had reasonably fast cars. I guess you could say the past three years we led the race. It's a track that requires a lot of strategic mindset, especially if you have a yellow at a different spot. Sometimes you can be caught out regardless of your track position. People can take the yellow, may not, gamble on that part. It's going to be interesting how that works out.

“Always a track that I've loved ever since I came to INDYCAR. Feel like I go well there. Excited to get back there and give it a crack.”

Even a forecast of possible rain on race day can’t dampen McLaughlin’s enthusiasm for a return to Elkhart Lake.

“No, for sure it throws a bit of a wild card into everything. I'm from New Zealand. We run a lot of racing in the rain. I love driving in the rain personally. I always look at it, it's the same for everyone. I just got to get in the car and accept what we have, hopefully do the right thing at the right time.

“No, I've driven there in the wet before, which is probably a good thing. Most people have, I think,” McLaughlin continued. “You always have a little bit of a shower here or there at Road America at some time. It's nice to have some experience there in the rain, so it's not going to be a complete wild card.

“Yeah, sure, love driving in the rain. Sort of take it how it comes. It's the same for everyone.”

Photo: Joe Skibinski/Penske Entertainment

Consistently a driver considered to be a championship contender each year, McLaughlin currently sits seventh in the season point standings with three top fives, and five top 10s so far this season. Missing from his season stats, however, is a win.

“From the team perspective, it's nice we've had a couple wins for sure. I'd like to be one of those guys,” McLaughlin noted.

“It's been a pretty solid year. I think it's probably taken me a little longer to gel with my new engineering team, with Raul (Prados) and stuff. There's been plenty of good spots, as well, where we've made a lot of improvements in different areas.

“Since May, we've really started to gel well. I see a lot of light at the end of the tunnel for our relationship. That feels really good.

“From a driving perspective, I feel like I'm driving really, really well. Things haven't quite gone our way in some spots, outside of the Detroit sort of thing with Will (Power), which I'd love to have back. I think that's the one race where we probably let one go. I felt like we've really extended ourselves and taken results when we could have at most races. Solid year.

“We were just talking about it the other day. I'd give myself so far a B minus probably, B. But from the perspective we want to be a little bit better, for sure. As a team, we want to keep winning races. We're working hard to do that.”

McLaughlin’s last series win came at the Milwaukee Mile in 2024. For a driver who’s been used to winning, whether in INDYCAR, or the Australian Supercars Championship, McLaughlin feels it’s only a matter of time before he stands on the top step of the podium again.

“For sure, I'm a racer, I'm competitive, I want to win,” McLaughlin emphasized. “At the same time, like, it is what it is. We've had chances and we've had speed to do it. That's all I can ask for. It just hasn't quite gone our way.

“Sometimes it's like this. I've had this before in my career where I've gone 18 months, two years without a win. It's part and parcel of doing it. I feel like deep in my mind, I'm executing as well as I can. I feel like I'm driving as good as I ever have.

“It's just the competitiveness in the series right now is super high. When you have a chance to have a crack or have a win, you want to take that.

“That's where we probably haven't executed in the last year and a half in terms of taking the chance to win or maybe it hasn't worked out in that regard.

“I think we've been right there, thereabouts. If we can keep being consistent, keep putting ourselves in that position, I'm sure it's going to open the gates.”

With nine races to go over the next 12 weeks, McLaughlin feels consistency, and a win or two, can get him back in the championship mix.

“Yeah, no, for sure. It's going to be a busy couple months here. A lot of tracks you can get yourself in trouble or really turn things on its head.

“The idea is to be as consistent as you can in this period. I feel like we're well and truly still in the game if we can get a couple results here or there. All it takes is a couple events.

“You look at the 10 car (Alex Palou) on the weekend (at World Wide Technology Raceway) with the problem he had with running out of fuel. That stuff can completely derail a championship if it happens too many times.

“The idea for us is to just keep ticking along and keep executing as well as we can and take what we can get, ideally being consistent with a couple wins I'd love to have happen. We'll just take what we can get.”

With the points gap to four-time and reigning champion Palou closer than in years past , McLaughlin feels the title fight is still wide open going into the second half of the schedule.

“Yeah, I think 100% it's still wide open for anyone really. I think for sure from my end I'd love to close the gap down a little bit more. There's so many opportunities for good and bad to happen for any car or anyone. I think you'd be silly if you were writing off the championship right now.

“I think we just got to focus,” McLaughlin remarked. “We have a couple ovals coming up. An oval where we have two races at in Milwaukee. That could be a big points weekend if we have a very solid car and execute there.

“Yeah, there's so much. New tracks coming up, Markham, Toronto. We have the Washington, DC race. There's so much wild cards here in this last half of the season.

“Like I said before, if you just execute and get solid top fives and win the odd race here or there, get podiums consistently, it's probably going to be the battle of who doesn't make the most mistakes.

“For sure Alex is an amazing race driver, super fast, always there or thereabouts. As we can see, cracks do start to appear eventually. The problems that he had at Gateway (WWTR), that could happen again at some point.

“Obviously we'll just keep doing our thing and executing and hopefully get ourselves back in contention.”

Dennis Krause has spent decades covering all forms of motorsports, including over 40 Indianapolis 500s, with stints at WIBA Radio, PIT PASS - Radio’s Premier Motorsports Magazine and Motorsports Minute.

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