Scott McLaughlin was able to earn a podium for the second race of the Iowa doubleheader, continuing his strong performance on oval courses.
The Kiwi driver had never raced on an oval before joining IndyCar in 2021, but quickly took to the new discipline and is usually in contention for a good result.
Asked following his strong performance on Sunday, McLaughlin said that he loved the short Iowa Speedway oval, and wishes he could race here more often.
“Yeah, this is up there,” said a smiling McLaughlin. “This is awesome. I wish we could race every weekend, to be honest. It’s just badass.
“You can throw it on the outside, run two lanes. You can take air off the guy behind you, guy will go behind you. It’s wicked, you know. Texas was fun, but It’s a bit more sort of like one-lane groove. Indy is its own kettle of fish.
“Ovals for me, I’ve said it a number of times, I learned from a blank sheet of paper. Had great people around me, Will [Power], Josef [Newgarden], Simon [Pagenaud] around me last year. Learned as it went.
“Really, really pumped with how we’re going, our development throughout the whole season. We’re right there. Unfortunately we didn’t get those points yesterday, which would have been pretty vital. We would have been right there with the guys at the front.”
McLaughlin finished down in 22nd for the first race of the doubleheader, but would have earned a better result if it were not for a wheel nut issue that cost him a lot of positions.
Following the dual races, he now sits seventh in points and is looking forward to the next few races on the summer stretch to attempt to gain more ground on his rivals.
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