Event 9 of the 2024 season represented the start of the category’s hybrid era, with drivers able to harvest energy automatically or manually and then deploy it for additional horsepower.
The hybrid unit can be deployed with push-to-pass for a combined 120 extra horsepower on top of the internal combustion engine, but there was little passing done by McLaughlin today.
The Team Penske driver did make a net gain of three positions from where he started, which itself was one spot higher than he qualified due to a grid penalty for Marcus Armstrong.
However, he made one of those spots on the start and another two in the first pit stop cycle, after which he trailed the leader by anywhere from 11 to 18 seconds and second place by almost that much.
“It was hard,” said the New Zealander.
“We were in no man’s land there, so I had my own race and was just playing with the hybrid a bit and learning it as well.
“I am just really proud of everyone on this Sonsio Protection Chevy. We have been up and down all year and it’s nice to get a solid result. Hopefully we can build on to this.
“Now we go to two ovals, two ovals that I really enjoy and just keep building some momentum.”
McLaughlin arrived at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course off the back of two poor races in his last three.
He had crashed out of second place in Detroit then managed to take himself out when he hit team-mate Will Power at Laguna Seca.
Today, he was told he was executing a “perfect” job in the #3 Chevrolet.
“It’s nice,” said the five-time IndyCar race winner.
“Your confidence gets knocked around when you make a couple of mistakes here and there.
“You come in with a lot of expectation and you want to be good every weekend, but ultimately you are human, and everyone makes mistakes.
“But as I have said, I have a great team behind me, and we have to keep pushing on and keep working.
“There are plenty of races left in the season and we can keep on improving and see where we are at.”
McLaughlin is eighth in the series standings, 105 points behind leader Alex Palou, who finished second to Pato O’Ward at Mid-Ohio.
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