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Writer's pictureArchie O'Reilly

Gateway front row reacts: McLaughlin embracing IndyCar’s oval “backbone”

Updated: Aug 24

Written by Archie O’Reilly


Scott McLaughlin has won his fourth NTT P1 Award in a stretch of five IndyCar oval races and his second in succession at World Wide Technology Raceway. Meyer Shank Racing pair Felix Rosenqvist and David Malukas followed the Team Penske driver in the qualifying order.


As McLaughlin did last year, Rosenqvist will drop off the front row due to a nine-place unapproved engine change penalty. Malukas will inherit second place for a maiden top-two start at a track where he has a two-from-two podium record.


Here is how the fastest two on the speed charts reacted to their qualifying session on the Gateway short oval…


How McLaughlin achieved pole


With qualifying being held on Friday afternoon, the sole practice session leading into the drivers’ two-lap runs was very important. And for McLaughlin, the car was “great from the jump” after a focus on qualifying running in practice.


Speaking on the television broadcast, he even detailed a procedural error that led to a feeling that he may see his 179.972 mile per hour two-lap average toppled. But the speed held up.


“I cannot go into detail but I made a mistake,” he said. “I thankfully held on. I thought that maybe Will [Power] or [Alex] Palou could have got me. But it was just something that is part of my process with the car.”


McLaughlin said there is “a lot going on” in the cockpit in short oval qualifying, especially with the addition of the hybrid system. Making an error is easy.


“Lucky I play a lot of Call of Duty so I feel like I’m pretty good with hand movements and looking around,” he quipped. “But I think if you talk to people up and down pit road, we’ve actually enjoyed that. It’s been quite fun and it’s rewarding when you do a good job.”


An adoration for IndyCar on ovals


It is no wonder that McLaughlin loves oval racing when you consider his growing success on a type of track he views as integral to IndyCar. He took his first oval win at Iowa Speedway and has achieved a pole on each of his last four oval visits.


“Me and Benny [Bretzman, engineer] were talking about… our average must be pretty cool since we’ve started working together,” McLaughlin said. “From ‘22 onwards, even ‘21, I’ve felt strong. It’s just nice to have the confidence in the race car you’re driving. The team give me a great car and I’m able to just execute the way I want to. 


“I like oval qualifying because, it might sound weird, but it does replicate Supercars in some ways and the top-10 shootouts we used to do back there. Getting my tyres up to temp and trusting the tyres into Turn 1, it’s been a strong suit of mine in the past - probably a little bit more aggressive in that regard.


“I really enjoy it. Love ovals. I think it’s the backbone of our series and I’ve enjoyed having a lot more on the schedule.” 


No frayed relationships at Penske


Last time McLaughlin was on track, he was gesticulating angrily at teammate Will Power after a collision in Toronto took him out of the race late on. But all is well again.


“We talked basically straight after the race and then throughout the week,” McLaughlin said. “We’re good as gold. Just a couple Australians butting heads - well, I’m not Australian, I’m a Kiwi, but down under. All-Blacks versus the Wallabies - we're used to that rivalry.


“But me and Will, we work together really well. I think all three of us work together really well. You’re never going to have it be 100 percent the whole way. You’re going to have ups and downs, but it’s how you rebound from that and I think we’ve rebounded really well. 


“We’re working together and certainly we both want to win this championship.”


Is McLaughlin in the title fight?


Scott McLaughlin was not pictured beneath the Gateway arch beside the Astor Cup as IndyCar photographed the top-five title challengers ahead of the run-in. McLaughlin came into the weekend sixth in the standings and 83 points off the championship lead. 


But he is not ruling out his chances.


“I think we’re in a really good spot for [the race] tomorrow to maybe make some points back here,” he said. “There’s no doubt in my mind that we can put ourselves back in the hunt with a good result tomorrow. That’s our big focus.”


There is no doubt in McLaughlin’s mind that, especially when you consider his oval form and Penske’s oval pedigree with four of the final five races on ovals, he could yet claw back the deficit. 


“Yeah, yeah, for sure,” he responded when asked whether he could yet win his maiden title this year. “Yeah, 100 percent. There’s no doubt. I’ve come from basically the back at the start of this year and we’ve found ourselves in position in less races. 


“There’s anything that can happen in this sport. It takes one bad race from Palou and everyone is jumping down his neck. I think we’re well in reach to get there if we can perform well on the ovals, which I know I feel comfortable on now. There’s no doubt in my mind we can get there.”


Chip Ganassi Racing duo Alex Palou (championship leader) and Scott Dixon (third, 53 points back) are starting 16th and 19th due to engine penalties. Andretti Global’s Colton Herta (fourth, 57 points back) crashed on his qualifying run and will start 25th. Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward (fifth, 71 points back) is set to start ninth. 


Power (second, 49 points back) is McLaughlin’s biggest threat starting from fourth.


What is clicking at Meyer Shank?


On the other side of the front-row equation, Rosenqvist was similarly effusive about his team’s execution of qualifying.


“It was a really good run and you could feel it was well-executed, good balance, everything was good with the tools and the car feeling,” Rosenqvist said. “I got some good feedback from Dave [Malukas] as well. He did really good starting early in the qualifying.”


Having confidence in the car in all four corners of the 1.25-mile Gateway is crucial. Rosenqvist said drivers have to be able to push the limit, otherwise incidents such as Herta’s crash - while on a pole-contending run - may occur.


“The two ends are so different on the car and you can’t have a perfect car on both ends,” he said of the track. “I'd say it seemed like a lot of guys were pushing the limit of trimming and going more loose. I think Herta obviously reached the limit of that. But that’s what you have to do if you want to fight for pole. You’re kind of happy when the two laps are over.”


Rosenqvist is now five races, Gateway included, from the climax of his first season with Meyer Shank Racing (MSR). The season started with four successive top-10 finishes - which could have been a likely six if not for an Indianapolis 500 engine failure - as well as a $1 Million Challenge podium, St. Pete front row and Long Beach pole.


But things have tailed off a little and Rosenqvist has dropped to 13th in the standings.


“For various reasons, we’re not super happy with how the season has gone after a really strong start,” Rosenqvist said. “But I just talked to Mike and it was like: ‘Hey, last year we had zero top-six qualifyings and this year we have 13 combined between the two cars. You have to take in the bigger perspective of things.


“We’re excited. We’re fast. We have to get a bit better at closing on race day and tomorrow with the grid penalty it’s going to be tough with a pretty track position-based race. But it’s better to be P11 than being all the way in the back.”


Working alongside David Malukas


Rosenqvist kicked off the year alongside Tom Blomqvist before MSR parted ways with their former, and possibly future, sports car supremo. Malukas was unveiled as his replacement upon return from injury after two stand-in races for Helio Castroneves.


“He’s been really impressive,” Rosenqvist said. “He’s quick on every kind of track. He’s known for being very good here [at Gateway] but been impressive on every track we’ve been so far. Especially with that hand injury, recovering from that, it’s pretty impressive. 


“I’ll be sad to lose him next year for sure. But I’ll be happy he’s got his future sorted.”


Malukas moved to MSR after losing his Arrow McLaren drive due to the uncertainty surrounding his availability due to the wrist injury suffered in pre-season. But after only five races with MSR, Malukas announced during the week that he will be moving to AJ Foyt Racing for the 2025 season.


It is no wonder that the Penske-partnered team wanted his services. Malukas has quickly got back up to speed, qualifying no lower than 14th since returning and now three times in the top six inside six races.


“When you have a quick teammate, you’re scratching your head: ‘How can I beat this guy?’” Rosenqvist said. “That’s what you want internally. It’s a healthy thing to have between teammates. I think we see it in all the best teams.


“Penske, Ganassi and Andretti, they have some really, really good drivers pushing each other. I think it always keeps you on your toes and you maximise your stuff a little bit more every session.”


How may Saturday’s race look?


After two races at Iowa where passing was a significant challenge, seeing overtake counts less than 20 percent of what they were in 2023, there are concerns about the spectacle that may be delivered at Gateway. And there is some concern even for Rosenqvist, starting in 11th, that coming through the field may be a challenge.


“I think staying out of the pits would be very good,” Rosenqvist said. “Don’t come into the pits - it’s costing a lot. Especially now with the stage pit limiter, I think there’s another three seconds or so lost from going into the pits on a track that was already very penalising for that. 


“If you can do the three-stopper, I think a lot of people are going to start looking at that early. Especially if you want to go forward from a position where you feel like you deserve to be further forward, you’ve got to start making some different plans early in the race. Because if you want to save fuel, you’ve got to commit early.”


IndyCar has made it more commonplace to run a high-line practice session on ovals - as ahead of Friday’s post-qualifying night practice - to aid the opening of the second groove to help overtaking. McLaughlin said this “can’t hurt” but still expects it to be “somewhat of a track position race” on Saturday, barring restarts.


“Texas that year when we ran it, it transformed the race,” Rosenqvist said. “So it works. It helps. I think if we don’t do it, there’s no way anyone is going to venture up there. Maybe on the restarts but that’s it. 


“It’s all a matter of physics - it looks easy to go up there, but from behind the wheel, it can be super scary and slippery.”

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