McLaughlin will mount his third assault on the Borg-Warner Trophy on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday from sixteenth, with Will Energy the one Penske runner to make the Quick 12 pole shootout.
In final 12 months’s race the Kiwi confirmed strongly earlier than his race got here to a sudden finish with 50 laps remaining when a snap of oversteer despatched him into the Flip 3 wall.
His broken automotive then skated throughout the infield and again throughout the monitor for a secondary contact on the last nook.
Though many could be eager to wipe such an incident from their reminiscence, McLaughlin defined that the expertise had helped deepen his understanding of learn how to keep away from a repeat incident in apply.
“Imagine it or not, you by no means need it to occur however it’s good to have the bogey of getting been within the fence now and crashing final 12 months out of the way in which,” McLaughlin informed choose media together with Motorsport.com.
“It is actually taught me numerous classes about this place and what the automotive looks like earlier than catastrophe in some methods.
“I’ve had numerous these moments all through the month the place I may really feel the automotive getting much like the way it ended within the 2022 Indy 500 and I’ve discovered a very great place with my instruments and learn how to repair all of that.
“It has been a little bit of a blessing in disguise in some methods, having that shunt final 12 months. I actually really feel I perceive the cadence of the race as nicely which is actually a giant assist.”
Scott McLaughlin, Workforce Penske Chevrolet
Photograph by: Jake Galstad / Motorsport Photographs
Regardless of his struggles in qualifying trim, all 4 Penske automobiles have proven considerably stronger long-run pace, which has given McLaughlin trigger for optimism.
“It is going to be fairly full on,” he added. “It seems like it will be a kind of races the place there’s numerous drafting. I do not assume you may have an thought of the winner till the previous few laps.
“The leaders will discover it very laborious to drive away so we have simply obtained to slowly transfer our method ahead.
“I actually assume we have got a racecar that may transfer ahead via the sequences, via the stops and ultimately discover ourselves with a ticket to the highest 5 for that last stint.”
McLaughlin ended Friday’s last apply session in tenth, with two-time Indy 500 winner Takuma Sato setting the tempo for Chip Ganassi Racing.