Breaking news
IndyCar
McLaughlin seeking government exemption for IndyCar debut
Scott McLaughlin is in talks with the Australian government about a travel exemption that would allow him to make his IndyCar debut next month.
Andrew van Leeuwen
Edited: Sep 15, 2020, 11:34 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
The Kiwi has been linked to a Team Penske seat for the IndyCar season finale in St Petersburg, ahead of what could be a full-time Stateside switch in 2021.
While McLaughlin's schedules now align, the Supercars season wrapping up at Bathurst on the weekend before the St Pete race, there is a significant hurdle in terms of international travel.
Australia's borders are currently closed, which means residents require an exemption to leave and then re-enter the country.
While adamant the St Pete deal isn't quite done, McLaughlin has confirmed he is already in talks with the Australian government about getting an exemption.
"It's basically up to the government if I can get out of the country or not," he said.
"There's a lot of things to go under the bridge in America as well, in regards to getting a team together and all that sort of stuff. But [Penske president] Tim [Cindric] has said they're seriously looking at it, and if we can physically do it we will.
"It's up to me now and I've done the steps that I need to get across there. It's in the process now."
A number of Australian or Australia-based drivers and riders have been granted permission to leave the country, including newly-crowned F3 champion Oscar Piastri, Dakar winner Toby Price and TCR racer Dylan O'Keeffe.
The complications don't just stop at leaving Australia, however. There are currently both strict caps on hotel quarantine capacity and limits on available flights into Australia, with around 25,000 Aussies estimated to be stranded overseas.
McLaughlin isn't too concerned about the finer details of a return, though, his current focus just on getting to the U.S. in the first place.
"They're only letting a limited number of people in every week," he said.
"I'm not really sure. Honestly, I haven't done a huge amount of research on it. It's all happened pretty quickly. We'll see if we can get out of here first and worry about the rest later."
The two-time Supercars champion does at least have a family base in the States through his wife Karly, who is from New York.
McLaughlin's Supercars campaign will continue at The Bend in South Australia this weekend, his current advantage 143 points over Jamie Whincup.
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Foyt: Bourdais’ ability to boost smaller teams was key to appeal
Next article Nashville IndyCar street race confirmed for August 2021
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Andrew van Leeuwen
Toby Price explains 'unfortunate' Mitsubishi split
Dakar
Dakar
Dakar
Toby Price explains 'unfortunate' Mitsubishi split
Supercars parity review begins
Supercars
Supercars
Supercars parity review begins
SRO set for bigger Australian GT presence
GT World Challenge Australia
GT World Challenge Australia
SRO set for bigger Australian GT presence
More from
Scott McLaughlin
Palou pushes IndyCar’s IR-28 chassis to the limit in rugged Sebring test
IndyCar
IndyCar
Palou pushes IndyCar’s IR-28 chassis to the limit in rugged Sebring test
Team Penske and Chevrolet announce multi-year extension of IndyCar partnership
IndyCar
IndyCar
Team Penske and Chevrolet announce multi-year extension of IndyCar partnership
Scott McLaughlin delivers on ‘promise’ to daughter, with Laguna Seca win first as a father
IndyCar
IndyCar
Laguna Seca
Scott McLaughlin delivers on ‘promise’ to daughter, with Laguna Seca win first as a father
More from
Team Penske
Winners and losers from a different NASCAR Cup finale at Homestead
NASCAR Cup
NASCAR Cup
Homestead-Miami
3 h
Winners and losers from a different NASCAR Cup finale at Homestead
Winners and losers from the penultimate round of 2026 NASCAR Cup season at Martinsville
NASCAR Cup
NASCAR Cup
Martinsville II
Winners and losers from the penultimate round of 2026 NASCAR Cup season at Martinsville
You Ask The Questions: David Malukas
IndyCar
You Ask The Questions: David Malukas
Latest news
Alex Bowman hits out at critics in snarky post, shooting down early exit rumors
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Homestead-Miami
2 h
Alex Bowman hits out at critics in snarky post, shooting down early exit rumors
Ryan Blaney gets sweet redemption after 'nightmares' following 2024 Homestead loss
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Homestead-Miami
2 h
Ryan Blaney gets sweet redemption after 'nightmares' following 2024 Homestead loss
IndyCar 2026 season review: Dale Coyne Racing
IndyCar
Indy IndyCar 2 h
IndyCar 2026 season review: Dale Coyne Racing
Noah Gragson apologizes to Daniel Suarez for spinning him at Homestead
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Homestead-Miami
3 h
Noah Gragson apologizes to Daniel Suarez for spinning him at Homestead
Feature
Discover prime content
How Spanish engineering and Alex Palou brought IndyCar to Barcelona
Feature
IndyCar
Feature
IndyCar
By Joey Barnes
How Spanish engineering and Alex Palou brought IndyCar to Barcelona
Inside AJ Foyt Racing’s transition: Hauger’s arrival, Ferrucci’s future, and the Pierson waiting game
Feature
IndyCar
Feature
IndyCar
By Joey Barnes
Inside AJ Foyt Racing’s transition: Hauger’s arrival, Ferrucci’s future, and the Pierson waiting game
You Ask The Questions: David Malukas
IndyCar
By Joey Barnes
You Ask The Questions: David Malukas
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe