McLaughlin elated by third IndyCar win, still in title hunt
Scott McLaughlin was left thrilled by his brilliant drive from pole position to checkered flag at Portland that left him still in the championship fight ahead of next week’s IndyCar finale.
The former Supercars ace, in only his second season of IndyCar racing, led 104 of the 110 laps around the 1.964-mile road course in Portland, OR., to add to his wins in St. Petersburg and Mid-Ohio. He is now within 41 points of points leader and teammate Will Power, who finished second today, having thrown all he could at his newest teammate in the closing 20 laps.
“I think the car felt really good in that first stint but as the race went on,” said McLaughlin. “It got a little bit worse so I just had to concentrate on where I wanted the strengths in the car and work with those and just make the best of the weaknesses.
“But all weekend we've been fast and it's been right there where we needed it. We did exactly what we needed to do this weekend, that was win and get max points. It keeps us in the fight.
“We're a long shot and I don't care… We're a shot and I'm looking forward to it.”
McLaughlin, who also headed the second ever all-Antipodean podium in IndyCar history as Scott Dixon finished third, said he was grateful to team owner Roger Penske and Tim Cindric for transfering him from the DJR/Team Penske Supercars team – with whom he won three championships – to the NTT IndyCar Series.
"When Roger and Tim gave me the opportunity to come over here, I knew it was going to be hard but I thought one day we could win.
“But the ultimate is obviously to be to win a championship and the 500. And I'm not going to stop until I get one of those or both. It's a long way to climb but you've gotta dream big to get it done.
"Now I'm going to have a beer."
While McLaughlin is fifth in the championship and still in with a vague chance of the championship, defending champion Alex Palou of Chip Ganassi Racing-Honda and Pato O’Ward of Arrow McLaren SP-Chevrolet were eliminated from contention. Palou dropped back from his third-row starting position, wrestling with a problem at the rear of the car, and came home a subdued 12th, while O’Ward damaged his car on Power’s Penske at Turn 1 following the restart, and was then penalized for blocking Dixon on the run into Turn 4.
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