Scott McLaughlin made an immediate impression when he arrived on the IndyCar scene in 2021, grabbing a podium in only his third race at Texas. The following year he won the season opener and collected two more wins and a further four podiums to take fourth in the championship.
McLaughlin’sexcellent form continued in 2023 with more wins and podiums and he improved to third in the points race at season’s end and was the best-placed Penske driver. Now a genuine IndyCar title contender, the Kiwi headed into 2024 very much the real deal, but the team came unstuck at the opening race at St Petersburg where he was disqualified.
His season turned around with a win at Barber followed by another two wins, four podiums and pole at the Indianapolis 500. The results were enough for him to finish the season in third place again.
The 2025 season didn’t shape up as many would have predicted. McLaughlin went winless this year, picked up three third-place results and finished the season 10th on the championship table.
“It’s been a tough slog. This year was really, really hard, as you can imagine. I was up and down like a yo-yo,” McLaughlin told the Weekend Herald.
“I think we left a lot of points on the table. I think we left probably 85 to 90 points on the table at ovals. At the Indy 500 I felt like I could have easily finished in the top five [he crashed on the warm-up lap].
Scott McLaughlin: "There's a light at the end of the tunnel." Photo / Photosport
“Gateway we were on for probably a win or P2 and then the car broke down. At a couple of other races I got taken out when we knew my car was really, really good. So, you know, I felt like we left a lot of points on the table.
“If I got some of those points back, just on the ovals, I’m probably third or fourth in the championship, but that’s all pie in the sky stuff now.
“I thought we had really good speed, but at the end of the day Alex Palou [champion] had like just a crazy year. I probably had the best start to my season before Indy and I was behind by nearly 100 points, but he raised the bar this year and that’s a credit to him and his team.”
Some of McLaughlin and his team’s struggles in 2025 can be attributed to big changes at Penske during 2025. Chief among them was the departure in May of Tim Cendric, Penske Racing president, Ron Ruzewski, managing director of Penske’s NTT IndyCar Series, and Kyle Moyer, Penske’s IndyCar general manager, after the team breached an IndyCar rule.
“We went into seven or eight races in a row where the team was just sort of stretched, and at the end of the day people were learning new roles.
“It really wasn’t until the last two, three, or maybe four races where everyone got really comfortable in their roles and we were starting to work on things that we should have worked on mid-season.
“It definitely slowed our progress for a little bit, but I think there’s a light at the end of the tunnel – and I truly believe that – so I’m excited for the years ahead,” he said.
McLaughlin ticked a race off his bucket list last weekend when he competed at the Suzuka 1000 endurance event. Despite not having raced a tin top since Daytona in January, he and co-drivers Alex Sims and Nicky Catsburg finished a creditable third in the pro class for Johor Motorsport Racing in a Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R.
He’s also got a couple of other races he’d like to tackle.
“Now that I’ve done the Bathurst 12-hour before I would love to do Le Mans to add to Daytona and Suzuka. There’s also Nürburgring, but I’m a bit on the fence about that one as it’s a little sketchy. Oh, and also the Spa 24 Hour,” said McLaughlin.
