McLaughlin resisting desperation in IndyCar championship fightback

McLaughlin was dumped to last in the IndyCar Series standings when he was disqualified from the St Petersburg race having benefited from Team Penske’s illegal push-to-pass system.

He bounced back in the best possible fashion with a maximum, 54-point haul from Barber Motorsports Park, having qualified on pole position (one bonus point), won the race (50 points), and led more laps than anyone else in doing so (one bonus point for leading a lap plus two more for leading the most).

The New Zealander is now back up to ninth in the standings, 42 points behind new leader Colton Herta, with three races down and 14 to go in 2024, the next two of which take place at Indianapolis in the Month of May.

“It’s just a nice little momentum shift, right?” said McLaughlin, who led team-mate Will Power to a one-two at Barber.

“We did it last year. We probably didn’t use the momentum the way we wanted to heading into the Month of May.

“We’ve got an opportunity to change that. I feel like we have a team and a car to do that.

“We’ll just keep working. It sounds pretty boring, just me keep rolling back to execution. That’s all it is.

“We don’t have to try and be three or four tenths faster than everyone. We just have to be better in areas that they’re not, execute to the highest level.

“That’s all we can do, and the rest will play itself out. That’s how we’re looking at it right now.”

The three-time Supercars champion had, however, already declared upon arrival at Barber that he can still win the 2024 IndyCar title.

“It’s the third race of the year,” he explained after winning that third race of the year.

“So much time is left to go.

“We know how much of a wildcard IndyCar racing is.

“I just know how good our team is, how fast my car can be. I feel like we just haven’t reached… We’re still building, as everyone is.

“It’s just hard to get into the cadence of the season. I feel like we always hit our stride around Detroit or just after.

“Just trust my guys, trust my team, trust my speed. Hopefully be okay.”