By David Morgan, Associate Editor
SPEEDWAY, Ind. – Is 2024 Scott McLaughlin’s year to win the Indianapolis 500?
Making his fourth start in the Greatest Spectacle in Racing, the driver of the No. 3 Team Penske Chevrolet has his best starting position yet, rolling off from the pole after setting a record pace in qualifying last weekend.
Joined by his teammates Will Power and Josef Newgarden on the front row, McLaughlin looks to turn his speed from qualifying into speed during Sunday’s race to join them as Indy 500 champions. Newgarden comes into this weekend as the defending champion, with Power the winner in 2018.
McLaughlin explained that since winning the pole, his world has gotten a lot busier, but remains cognizant of the fact that the big prize comes when the checkered flag falls on Sunday.
“It has been a pretty whirlwind week,” McLaughlin said. “Being fastest here for qualifying, obviously it’s the first box you want to tick, but ultimately you want to win on Sunday, but it’s still been a really cool week, and I’ve really enjoyed.
“I’ve really tried to soak it in as much as I can, but at the end of the day the job is this weekend.
“But just really proud to represent Pennzoil, and obviously it’s 40 years since Rick [Mears] won in this race car. It would mean a lot to the team and myself to do that, obviously. It would be a life-changing experience. But ultimately, we need to go through all the process, all the execution to get to that point as 32 other amazing race car drivers out there are going to be chasing us down and working us very hard. Yeah, no doubt about that.
“Just keep my emotions in check, just enjoy the moment and see what happens.”
With all three Team Penske machines starting on the front row, inquisitive minds want to know how the three drivers will handle the start and try to control the race. McLaughlin noted that they haven’t quite nailed down their game plan yet, but would be conferring with each other to make sure they’re all on the same page come Sunday.
“We haven’t had an active discussion about it yet, but at the end of the day I’m sure there will be a sit-down with all three of us before the race and sort of analyze a few things,” McLaughlin said.
“At the same time, I guess everyone knows that when you’re out in front, you’re chewing a lot of gas, so ultimately I think we’ll take turns maybe at doing that or making sure that we keep…
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