{"id":255883,"date":"2026-01-28T12:45:17","date_gmt":"2026-01-28T12:45:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/255883\/"},"modified":"2026-01-28T12:45:17","modified_gmt":"2026-01-28T12:45:17","slug":"scott-mclaughlin-wants-redemption-for-terrible-indycar-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/255883\/","title":{"rendered":"Scott McLaughlin wants \u2018redemption\u2019 for \u2018terrible\u2019 IndyCar season"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"McLaughlin
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tScott McLaughlin during the 2025 Indianapolis 500. Image: Joe Skibinski<\/p>\n

In 2025, the Team Penske driver went winless in a year headlined by his crash on the warm-up lap of the Indianapolis 500.<\/p>\n

It was in stark contrast to 2024, where he was three times a race winner, stood on the podium eight times, and claimed five pole positions.<\/p>\n

McLaughlin wasn\u2019t the only one to suffer, though, with his teammates also enduring lacklustre seasons.<\/p>\n

Josef Newgarden finished outside the top 10 in the points for the first time since 2015, while Will Power just scraped into the top 10.<\/p>\n

Team Penske looked like it would go winless in IndyCar for the first time since 1999. Thankfully, Power broke the drought with three races remaining in the 2025 season.<\/p>\n

For McLaughlin, the forthcoming season \u2013 his sixth as a full-timer \u2013 is about reversing his fortunes.<\/p>\n

\u201cI guess you could say it\u2019s a bit of redemption in some ways. It was a terrible year on my part last year. I felt like we left a lot on the table,\u201d McLaughlin explained.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen obviously Indy is the first one that comes to mind, but there were a lot of things that I sort of did last year.<\/p>\n

\u201cLooking back at Nashville, dropped that race from the lead. Detroit, I hit Nolan (Siegel), we were in a good spot.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are things I\u2019ve got to tidy up, team has got to tidy up, but I think we\u2019ve had a really good off-season, and honestly, the morale on the team is so high and so excited right now.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s so much want to be back to where we want to be consistently, and I think there\u2019s a refreshed sort of focus which has been really cool to be a part of and see.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m really, really excited and just ready to go.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Scott<\/p>\n

Scott McLaughlin drives the iconic \u2018Yellow Submarine\u2019 at the 2025 Indianapolis 500. Image: Karl Zemlin<\/p>\n

Last year, McLaughlin\u2019s season started strong. He only finished outside the top six once in the first five races, and that was through no fault of his own when his car overheated.<\/p>\n

His Indianapolis 500 horror show began a downward spiral. Across the next eight races, he only cracked the top five once and was outside the top 20 on four occasions.<\/p>\n

There was a late upward surge, thankfully. A top 10 at Laguna Seca was followed up with seventh at Portland before back-to-back third place finishes at Milwaukee and Nashville.<\/p>\n

McLaughlin said that strong finish has him confident he can continue that momentum into 2026.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think what is different was already happening last year. All the pieces were put in place last year, and we found our mojo towards the end of the year,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cPersonally, I need to be better for sure. Gateway we were probably on for a podium; Toronto we were probably on the right strategy, be it that one we were on the same strategy that Pato (O\u2019Ward) was on and our wheel fell off. That was a mistake by us.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought we had genuine pace, but it just wasn\u2019t enough. I thought my start to the year last year was strong, but there\u2019s one guy that won five races in a row, and we somehow needed to combat against that, and that\u2019s ultimately up to us to just execute.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, I\u2019m just focused on executing and seeing what will happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

IndyCar begins its season on the streets of St Petersburg on February 27-March 1.<\/p>\n


\"\"\/
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