Scott McLaughlin drove his way to a second career victory in IndyCar today at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.
Starting from second, the New Zealand driver followed closely behind leader Pato O’Ward during the first stint, getting within 0.8 seconds as he pitted.
A full-course caution saw McLaughlin manage to take first place all while being pressured from Alex Palou behind. Pole sitter O’Ward suffered engine troubles meaning he was retired from the race.
The #3 Team Penske driver held onto the lead with Palou finishing second and Will Power in third.
Fellow New Zealander Scott Dixon came home in fifth place.
It was a special win for McLaughlin considering his parents were watching trackside after not being able to attend any of his races up until the Indianapolis 500 in May due to travel restrictions.
“I really wanted to get a win here with Mum and Dad,” said McLaughlin.
McLaughlin took his first win during the season-opening round in St. Petersburg, Florida but in the five rounds since then, he hadn’t managed to place in the top five.
“Really proud of everyone on the Odyssey Battery Chevy – the pitstops were amazing, the strategy was great, that got me out in clean air,” said McLaughlin after the race.
“That was the plan the whole time, to try and jump Pato in the [pit] exchange and we did that.
“Super-proud of everyone to get win number two. We knew we had it in us, it was just about executing and that was on my end as well, so I’m really proud of everyone.
“It was tough because my car sort of went away a little bit towards the end of the race. It was good at the start but I think the track changed a little bit and when I hit dirty air, it got hard to put the power down which was making it hard to defend.
“But it is what it is, we’ll learn and move on. I think we made some changes which certainly helped us today, and thankfully we did them.”
Another win puts McLaughlin seventh in the IndyCar championship, two points behind Dixon and 69 points behind leader Marcus Ericsson. Eight races remain in this year’s IndyCar series.
