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Motorsport Week
Home Single Seater IndyCar

Qualifying is McLaughlin’s Achilles heel in rookie IndyCar season

by Kevin Dejewski
4 years ago
A A
Qualifying is McLaughlin’s Achilles heel in rookie IndyCar season

McLaughlin has finished on the podium twice this season, but has not yet earned his first win. Photo: Kevin Dejewski

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Scott McLaughlin is one of a few drivers that switched over to IndyCar this season after having a career that could already be classified as successful in other series.

His biggest challenge so far this season has been qualifying, which has left him mired in the middle of the pack, where turmoil often occurs.

This weekend at Portland, he’s hoping to turn that form around and place his Team Penske Chevy at the front from the drop of the green flag.

“The biggest Achilles heel for us has been our qualifying,” explained McLaughlin.  “We just need to qualify better.

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“I think our race pace has been strong.  We can certainly hold our own when we’re near the top 10.

“Looking to qualify a bit better; that’s certainly the goal over these next three races to get through Q2 and then maybe push that Fast Six again like we did in Indy earlier in the year.  We’ll see what we got.”

Qualifying may be particularly important this weekend at Portland, which has a first corner that is notorious for causing pileups on start and restarts.

McLaughlin is hoping to stay ahead of the chaos by upping his qualifying game. Photo: Kevin Dejewski

Any driver that can stay ahead of the chaos stands a much better chance of making it to the end of the race without any unexpected damage.

McLaughlin pointed out that sometimes it’s just plain luck, however, that dictates if you can make it through the first couple corners cleanly.

“Sometimes there’s a lot of luck involved, and if you don’t commit you could hurt yourself even more because just run over the back of you.

“You’ve just got to try to pick the right holes.  Sometimes they close up, sometimes they open.  It’s just luck of the draw some day.

“If I can qualify up front, hopefully I’m there or thereabouts, but I have seen regardless of where you qualify here you can get in trouble whether you’re back, middle, or front.

“We just got to make sure we keep our nose clean for that first part, then get on with the race.”

McLaughlin and the rest of the 27-car field will take to the track Saturday at 3:00 PM Eastern time for qualifying, followed by the Grand Prix of Portland at 3:30 PM Eastern on Sunday.

Tags: IndyCarMcLaughlinTeamPenske
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Discussion about this post

Power earned one victory in 2025, but is now switching away from his long-time Team Penske team. Photo: Kevin Dejewski
IndyCar

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September 3, 2025
Herta has been linked to an F1 opportunity for multiple years. Photo: Kevin Dejewski
Formula 1

Colton Herta leaves IndyCar to pursue F1 with Cadillac test driver role

September 3, 2025

Drivers’ Standings

#DriverPoints
1Álex Palou142
2Kyle Kirkwood108
3Christian Lundgaard96
4Felix Rosenqvist88
5Scott Dixon86
6Patricio O'Ward80
7Colton Herta73
8Scott McLaughlin69
9Will Power63
10Josef Newgarden58

Click here for full Drivers’ Standings

 

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