McLaughlin’s IndyCar deal sweetly timed

SYDNEY: Scott McLaughlin had no deal in place to leave Australian Supercars and expand into a fourth IndyCar entry for Team Penske when he flew from Sydney to the United States this week.

McLaughlin had just won his third consecutive Supercars title and immediately jumped on a plane to begin preparations for his IndyCar debut.

It was among the worstkept secrets that McLaughlin would be fulltime in IndyCar next season, but without a deal, the 27yearold New Zealander had approached today’s season finale at St Petersburg as a tryout.

‘‘I was confident that I’d be OK and have an opportunity next year,’’ McLaughlin said.

Instead, he said he was pulled into a meeting with team owner Roger Penske and president Tim Cindric and told a deal was done — Team Penske was leaving Supercars and McLaughlin was in the No 3 IndyCar next year.

‘‘They told me they were going to announce it and that suits me because it got a bit of a weight off my shoulders,’’ McLaughlin said.

‘‘I was able to walk into the pits knowing that I’m going to be back here in March and be at the Indy 500 and it’s an awesome opportunity.’’

He jumped to second on the speed chart in his first IndyCar practice but also spun twice. He qualified 21st.

McLaughlin, with 56 career Supercars victories, is second on the alltime list. He has three titles and set the singleseason win record with 18 victories in 2019.

Starting in IndyCars was a bit nerveracking, he said.

‘‘I was a big fish in a little pond and now I’m jumping in as a little fish again.’’ — AAP