McLaughlin looks for a reset after clearing the air with Power over Detroit dispute

Scott McLaughlin is focused on getting back to his winning ways and this weekend’s Bommarito Automotive Group at World Wide Technology Raceway, previously known as Gateway, is a perfect a venue for the New Zealander to make it happen.

After recording his last win in August of 2024 at Milwaukee, the hunger to reach victory lane grows by the day.

“We had a really solid month of May, and then, even Detroit was really solid until the 1 percent where it just went bad, and it really took away from what was going to be a pretty awesome result,” McLaughlin told RACER. “And then, I come to Gateway now and I feel very excited; that track has always suited me. I've always gone really well here since I started in IndyCar, so I see no reason why we can't come out and be right there or thereabouts.”

He’s also cleared the air with former Team Penske teammate Will Power after McLaughlin’s No. 3 Chevy and Power’s No. 26 Andretti Global Honda did a bit too much slam dancing on the streets of Detroit.

“At the end of the day, we were racing hard, and I just got on the gas quite aggressively, because I saw an opportunity that if I could hold him back one more lap, I could maybe hold him off, because he was really strong on restarts but our long-term speed was really strong compared to him,” McLaughlin said.

“And then as I got in the gas, I hit the hybrid button, I just got a little loose, and then it put me wider, and I never got out of the gas. And I probably should have, looking back at it. I know Will was frustrated, and I have so much respect for him. I went and saw him, apologized for my part, but I disagreed with the part after that.”

Contact between the two on back-to-back laps left Power on pit lane with broken suspension and done for the race. McLaughlin’s race would be hindered well; he lost four laps in 100-lap contest and fell to 19th at the checkered flag.

“But then I realized he broke, and he didn't really have any control, so it was a bit of a ‘wrong place, wrong time,’” he continued. “After that, it escalated more than I probably wanted it to, in terms of I didn't think I needed to give him that much room, but obviously I had that moment, and it put me wide. He'd been really aggressive in the race, and I understand he needs a result, so that played into it as well. But it was all good once we had a chat.”

McLaughlin has a throwback livery for WWTR that celebrates the final stage of Penske’s decades-long relationship with Phillip Morris where the Marlboro branding was removed, but the famous red chevron remained on Team Penske’s cars. For WWTR, as the team honors its 60th anniversary season, the Kiwi chose the Indy 500-winning livery used by Helio Castroneves in 2009 as the base for his DEX Imaging Chevy – the "Printer Wagon" as he calls it – at the 1.25-mile oval.

“The team came to me, and I think they asked every driver what car they wanted to run, and I immediately said the ‘09 Indy 500 winner,” he said. “Just because I remember watching [Scott] Dixon in ‘08 winning and paying more attention to the 500 when he was on pole and he had a chance, and then he won, and he brought the trophy home, so ‘09 was the first year where I genuinely watched the whole race at 1am or something in the morning in Australia, and yeah, I'll never forget the story of Helio coming back and the tax stuff, and you know, all the crap that went on that year, and for him to win was really special.

“I thought it'd be really cool with TC (former Team Penske president Tim Cindric) on my stand this year to have it as well, and bring back some memories for him and a lot of cool moments there. I said, though, if we're going to do it, I want to do it properly – I want it to look exactly the same, and they've done an amazing job. The car looks incredible. I saw in real life, and it’s not only going to be a fan favorite, but I think a lot of people in pit lane who were around back then will love it.”