Scott McLaughlin is hopeful that he can quickly bounce back from his woeful Indianapolis 500, in which he did not turn a single lap in the race.
At the end of last month, McLaughlin was set to start the biggest race of the season from the 10th position.
But a mistake while warming his tires during the pace laps sent him spinning into the wall before the green flag even waved.
The New Zealand native was more than disappointed that he could not take part in his fifth Indy 500, and is still looking to find results that allow him to put the event behind him.
“Yeah, I mean, that whole month was pretty tough,” said McLaughlin, talking about the Month of May. “It started really well. It ended in a couple bad ways, my crash before that, then crash in another brand new car.
“Yeah, it was one of, if not the lowest points of my career. But it’s something that I’ll learn from.
“I still am a little bit perplexed about what happened in that scenario and how it did. Never done that before in my career.
“Yeah, it was tough. The champions are made learning from their mistakes. I truly believe we had a really fast car. I feel really strong on ovals. There’s nothing to be upset about apart from the fact that I felt like I sort of wasted a really good opportunity just from a pace perspective.
“Yeah, look, you live and learn. Sun always rises. You just got to get on with it. The best thing for me the week after that was getting back in the race car and felt really good, even if it wasn’t the most ideal result either.”
‘I need a bit of a rebound’
McLaughlin finished 12th in Detroit, which was only a small consolation for not being able to compete in the Indy 500 the week before.
He currently sits eighth in the points standings and has earned one solitary podium finish through seven events.
This weekend, McLaughlin returns to World Wide Technology Raceway to contest the first short oval of the 2025 IndyCar season.
He has found success at the 1.25-mile oval in the past, racking up second, third, fourth, and fifth place finishes along with earning pole position the past two years.
He is setting his sights forward and hoping to rebound from a set of disappointing race weekends.
“Really excited to get back [to WWTR]. Obviously it’s a track that I love and I’ve always gone pretty well at. I go into a place there with a lot of confidence.
“The way that the season’s going for me right now, I need a bit of a rebound here, just get going. The last two events have been pretty tough.”
Sunday’s Bommarito 500 from World Wide Technology Raceway gets underway at 7:00 PM central time, and will run into the nighttime hours under the lights.
