“Execution” top of mind as McLaughlin defends St. Pete pole

Credit: Joe Skibinski

As he looks to rebound from a disappointing 2025 season, “execution” is very much the watchword for Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin heading into the new campaign.

Just as he did one year ago, the New Zealander has claimed pole position for the opening race of the season on the streets of St. Petersburg. Sunday’s curtain-riser will mark the third time he has led the field to green in St. Pete, having also taken pole in 2022.

“Maybe I need to move to Florida,” joked McLaughlin, winner of this race in 2022. “I don’t know what it is. I love this place. Great way to start our year. [But] we did this last year and I proceeded to have the worst year of my life. 

“I’m just focused on execution tomorrow and the rest of the season. This is one little step. Just really proud of the execution because I felt like we nearly actually missed Q1. We were right on the buffer there and the car was terrible. It was nice to tune it up and get it right and then it became one of my favorite cars I’ve had around here.”

After initially escaping Round 1 in fifth, McLaughlin ousted Andretti Global’s Marcus Ericsson by 0.0195s and stunning Dale Coyne Racing debutant Dennis Hauger by 0.0317s in the Fast Six to win the first P1 Award of the campaign in a typically competitive qualifying session. 

“We were firing springs in the thing and front wing changes and everything,” he said. “We threw the kitchen sink at it between Q1 and Q2, made it a little bit better through Q2, scraped into the Fast Six. And then it was just a matter of executing for the Fast Six and having some fun with house money, [as] we like to call it. So it was fun.”

Credit: Chris Owens

McLaughlin’s ’Thirsty 3s’ team is something of a new-look group at the start of the new season. He lost strategist Kyle Moyer in the firings of last May, while long-time engineer Ben Bretzman has been elevated to engineering manager of competition.

For the new season, the returning Tim Cindric - teammate Josef Newgarden’s ex-strategist and former team president - has stepped into McLaughlin’s strategist role and veteran Raul Prados is the new race engineer for the No.3 Chevrolet. And there is already high praise from the driver about the influence of the fresh faces.

“It’s a testament to Raul and the camaraderie that we’ve built already and the understanding for each other - and that can only grow from here,” McLaughlin said of his season-opening pole. “It’s definitely a refresh. All the guys that I lost are some of my best friends but they’ve gone on to cooler things for their careers and I can only wish them well.

“And now I’ve got guys that can do just the same job, if not better. I felt like me and TC, it was our first qualifying session together and I was telling him in spots to stop talking; we’re sort of warming up to each other a little bit and it was fun. There’s still a lot of things that we can work on as a group together but this is a great start.”

McLaughlin finished fourth from pole in St. Pete last year, falling foul of an ill-timed caution. It marked the first of four top-six finishes in the opening five rounds, before he only once finished in the top 10 in the subsequent eight races.

He recovered form towards the climax with four successive top 10s, including podiums in the final two races. But the challenging mid-phase of the year and failing to maximise throughout his season resulted in a regression from successive third-place championship results to 10th in the standings. And that is where execution comes in.

Credit: Joe Skibinski

“I know I’m 32 but I guess you could say it’s maturity a little bit - IndyCar maturity, knowing how long the season is,” McLaughlin said of last year’s shortcomings in execution. “One pole… it’s quite easy to be 20th next week at Phoenix. 

“It’s IndyCar racing. Enjoy the highs but work hard because it’s so close that people are going to be coming for us tomorrow. And we know how good the No.10 car has been and how good everyone else has been for so many years. 

“I’m just going out there, I’m trying to enjoy driving the car like a little kid again, just doing what I love and telling Raul what I want from the car and what will make me go faster. And we’re doing that. I didn’t feel good at Q1. I said: ’I need this, this and this to go faster.’ He gave me it, and it was about mixing the old potion together and sending it.”

Regardless of this fast start to the season, with 18 races ahead - including this one still to come from pole position - McLaughlin is staying firmly grounded

“We need to be better [than last year],” he said. “This is nice but we know we’re fast here. It’s just a matter of executing. Sorry I keep using that word but you’re going to get used to it. Yeah, I’m not counting my chickens before they hatch.”