No. 3 PPG Dallara/Chevrolet – Scott McLaughlin
Start: 7th
Finish: 8th
Status: Running
Laps Completed: 248/248
Laps Led: 0
Points Position: 8th (-54 pts)
Rookie Scott McLaughlin rounded out his impressive first weekend racing on an NTT INDYCAR SERIES oval track as he captured his second consecutive top-10 finish at Texas Motor Speedway in the No. 3 PPG Chevrolet.
McLaughlin, coming of a strong runner-up finish on Saturday night, started Sunday’s race in the seventh position with the starting grid based off of series points. On the opening lap of the race, however, a multi-car accident slowed the pace and the race ran under the caution flag for the first 20 laps.
The New Zealand native and INDYCAR SERIES rookie raced for most of the afternoon in the back half of the top 10, as he kept pace with the veterans in front of him while feeling out the handling of the PPG Chevrolet. All afternoon long, McLaughlin tried to move his way forward on restarts but he wasn’t able to gain ground and fell from ninth to 11th just past the halfway mark of the race.
Over the second half of Sunday’s event, McLaughlin continued to try and find the pace from Saturday night’s podium finish. Despite his struggles on restarts, McLaughlin made up a couple of positions late in the race to secure an eighth-place finish.
The top-10 result was his second of the year and second of the weekend as he enters his first month of May at Indianapolis ranked eighth place in the INDYCAR SERIES point standings.
Quote: “It was an up and down day for sure for the PPG Chevrolet. We got bounced around early cause these veterans are very quick and getting into their pace. For me, it just takes me some time to get comfortable and feel out the track conditions. The PPG Chevrolet was really strong, and I felt like we weren’t as strong as yesterday, but we were good with fuel saving. It was hard to pass out there and you had to make your time up with lapped traffic or on restarts. And my two restarts were terrible. Overall, it was a great weekend and now I’m pumped to get to Indy.”
TIL NEXT TIME, I AM STILL WORKING ON MY REDNECK!
