Scott McLaughlin is a three-time champion in the Australian Supercars Series. Team Penske brought him over the pond to pilot an Indy car alongside champion drivers Josef Newgarden and Will Power. That decision has paid dividends as McLaughlin has taken to these vastly different cars like a duck to water. In this interview (during the 2024 Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach) he talks about how fun and challenging these Indy cars are to drive and makes a quick comment on a new driver coming into the series. He also talks about how he prepares in the off-season as well as what it’s going to take to do well at Indianapolis. Unfortunately, his Long Beach weekend ended prematurely with a gearbox issue, however the following weekend at Barber Motorsport Park he qualified on pole position and earned his second consecutive victory there! He exemplifies that laid-back Australian personality, yet he’s highly dedicated to success. Enjoy!

Note: McLaughlin was disqualified from his third-place finish at the season opening race at St. Pete due to Team Penske having the “Push-to-Pass” system enabled when it wasn’t allowed and was activated by both himself and Newgarden (who was also DQ’d). Will Power was docked 10 points for having the system enabled but he never used it. The breach was discovered during the Sunday warm-up at Long Beach and the penalties were applied that week.

By Larry Mason

Copyright © 2024 Larry Mason

Scott McLaughlin waves to the fans just prior to the start of the 2024 Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.

McLaughlin has had quite the odyssey of a season so far. He’s finished on the podium in three of the first four races. However, his third place result at St. Pete was nullified and his second place result in the “$1 Million Challenge” at The Thermal Club was a non-points affair. He’s shown here attacking the Turn 4 curb at Long Beach.

McLaughlin hustles his car through the deceivingly quick Turn 9 at Long Beach.

McLaughlin is used to hammering the curbs in the Supercars he came from. Here in Turn 10 at Long Beach he tries to see if that helps him lower his lap times.

McLaughlin is steering left at the exit of the right-hand hairpin of Turn 11 in an oversteering moment. He’ll soon be laying down another black streak of rubber like that to the left front of him.

Interview and photos Copyright © by Larry Mason (unless otherwise noted)