McLaughlin reigns supreme at Mid-Ohio
Scott McLaughlin picked up his second career IndyCar victory yesterday, which may go down as one of the most special wins of his career.
The New Zealander won at MidOhio Sports Car Course with his nervous parents watching from pit lane. McLaughlin had not seen his family in 31 months because of the pandemic.
Wayne and Diane McLaughlin booked their trip to maximise their visas and planned nine IndyCar races on their tour of the United States. It took four to see their only their son drive his Team Penske entry to victory lane.
When he won his first race in February on the street course in St Petersburg, Florida, he had to celebrate with his parents via FaceTime.
‘‘I really wanted to get a win here with mum and dad,’’ said McLaughlin, who had won three consecutive V8 Supercars championships in Australia.
McLaughlin’s fellow Kiwi, Scott Dixon, – a six-time winner at the course – finished fifth.
The race took a turn when five different Chevrolet drivers were knocked out with various problems, and Andretti Autosport began battling internally.
Alexander Rossi and Romain Grosjean kept bumping wheel-towheel and their final contact knocked the steering wheel out of Rossi’s hands, leaving him unable to turn as both cars went off course.
‘‘What the hell is wrong with him?’’ Grosjean screamed.
So he was less than pleased to later receive team orders to aid Rossi’s finish.
‘‘What do you want me to do? Just block everyone behind and not go ahead?’’ Grosjean asked.
Told that yes, Andretti Autosport expected Grosjean to hold up traffic to help his teammates, the Frenchman declined.
‘‘Because Rossi put me in the wall, so I am not going to protect him,’’ Grosjean replied.
Grosjean was then informed of the stakes via team radio: ‘‘Rossi is not a lap down, you are.’’
Rossi finished 19th, Grosjean was 21st and Colton Herta spun mid-race and finished 15th, best of the four-car Andretti fleet.
IndyCar champion Alex Palou finished second for Chip Ganassi Racing and Honda, and Will Power had a brilliant run to put a second Penske driver on the podium. Power had been penalised in qualifying, started 21st, spun in the opening laps and charged through the field to finish third.
The race had the potential to upend the IndyCar standings after the top three drivers in the standings – Indianapolis 500 winner Marcus Ericsson, Power and Penske team-mate Josef Newgarden – all had poor qualifying efforts.
It put Pato O’Ward, who was fourth in the points, on the pole with the chance to close major ground in the title hunt.
Instead, he and Arrow McLaren SP team-mate Felix Rosenqvist were two of the five Chevrolets knocked out early, and Ericsson retained his hold on the standings. He leads Power by 20 points.
Rinus VeeKay finished fourth for Ed Carpenter Racing and was followed by Chip Ganassi Racing team-mates Dixon and Ericsson.
Jimmie Johnson finished 16th for his best result on a road or street course. He gained 11 positions on track.