Team Penske driver Scott McLaughlin heads into the Bommarito Automotive Group 500 at Gateway sitting 8th in points in the 2025 IndyCar standings. He is 147 behind championship leader Alex Palou.
After crashing out on one of the formation laps at the Indy 500, the New Zealander made another uncharacteristic error as he hit Nolan Siegel on a restart in Detroit. 30th and 12th does not represent the pace he had at the last two rounds.
Working on beating Palou
Alex Palou suffered his first DNF of 2025 at Detroit as he was taken out by David Malukas in the closing stages. The Spaniard had looked set to be bagging a solid top 6 result before that. It ended his astonishing run of five P1s and a P2 to start the campaign.
While Scott McLaughlin was satisfied with his performances before the 500, race pace has not quite been there to challenge the Spaniard’s number 10 machine, even if he himself is happy with the speed overall.
“I mean, depends how you look at it,” the Kiwi told Pit Debrief and other media outlets on Wednesday.
“I feel there’s definitely things I could have done better as well. All three of us could have done better.
“Palou is on a hot streak, for sure. He’s got the momentum. Momentum is a real thing.
“I personally think the start of my year prior to Indy was pretty strong, one of my strongest. Just one guy had won four out of five races at that point. He’s done it again.
“I guess you can’t dwell too much on the fact we haven’t won a race yet. We go to strong tracks. I think we showed really good pace. Just haven’t put it together. A little bit of luck, a little bit of making mistakes, bits and pieces. There’s a lot of things going on.
“I felt like we’ve been there or thereabouts pace-wise. We just haven’t quite executed. That’s on us. We’ll work hard.
“I’ve said it before, like with Alex, he’s on a run right now. You have to respect it. You’ve got to look at him and figure out where you can be better. Yeah, we’re working pretty hard to do that.”
The difficulty of winning in modern IndyCar
Team Penske have not won an IndyCar race since Milwaukee last year when the New Zealander took victory. It marks over nine months. Eight races have taken place since then. It’s their longest losing streak in a decade.
Alex Palou (five) and Kyle Kirkwood (two) are the only drivers to have won so far this year. However, the IndyCar field has been incredibly competitive in 2025. Along with Team Penske, Chip Gansssi Racing and Andretti, other teams like Arrow McLaren, Meyer Shank Racing, Dale Coyne Racing (with Rinus VeeKay) and AJ Foyt Racing have all had very strong showings as well.
The series has used the same chassis since 2012, a point Scott McLaughlin made in response to a question from Pit Debrief about Team Penske’s winless run heading into Gateway, along with praising the incredible competition in the category.
“The series is elite right now from a competitive standpoint. Every year it just gets harder and harder and harder, especially with the more we run with this car. Everyone has got a keen idea on what they’re doing setup-wise, so it really comes down to who executes the best from not only a driver’s perspective but engineers and strategists, what not.
“Yeah, I think we’ve had the pace to win races. Like I said before, we haven’t put it together. We got a pole. Been qualifying pretty well. I think we’ve been in most of the Fast Sixes this year but a couple. We’re right there, it’s just a matter of putting it together.
“Yeah, it is what it is at this point. You just got to try to look for more.”
McLaughlin unbothered by the pressure and outside noise of their winless run in 2025 to date
“If you’re worried about the pressure and the outside noise, you’re not going to be executing right. The only thing I can execute is what I can control. Control what I can control, drive the car to the best of my ability. If that’s a third, fourth, fifth, tenth, if that’s a win, great. That’s all I can do.
“Like I said before, I don’t think I’ve executed well the last couple of races. I’m looking to Gateway this weekend to make sure I can get back on that horse and execute a really good race. What will be will be.”
Gateway a traditionally strong track for Scott McLaughlin and Team Penske
The Bommarito Automotive Group 500 starts at 20:00 on Sunday evening ET. It marks the first night round for the series this year.
This particular short oval has been kind to the 32-year-old. Scott McLaughlin has taken pole position at Gateway over the last two seasons. He ultimately finished P2 to Team Penske teammate Josef Newgarden last year.
Along with his excitement for a night race, the three-time Supercars champion explained the work done by tyre supplier Firestone and IndyCar itself for the drivers to be able to race each other really close and hard at circuits like this one.
“Yeah, I think it raced incredibly well last year — better than I thought in some ways. Especially how hot it was, whatnot.
“We’re always crying for a nighttime race. I think it’s really cool we’re doing it this year. It’s going to be great for what the cars look like, how the track races, as you said.
“I think we can get that second groove working really well. High line practice, the track takes the grip really well, too. Yeah, seemed to sort of make it work.
“It’s a credit to Firestone, INDYCAR and the choices they make in terms of the aerodynamics and whatnot. Four or five years ago, it wasn’t quite like that.
“Definitely been improvements from the sporting side, but also us as drivers getting up there in the high line practice, doing it properly, clearing that second lane up.
“I think the key to any oval is getting that second lane working for us. That’s been an ideal thing the last few years.”
