- Former Australian Supercars champ finished 14th in the IndyCar standings in his rookie season.
- The New Zealand native scored two top-5 and five top-10 finishes.
- He also finished 20th in his first-ever Indianapolis 500, earning rookie of the year honors for that prestigious race.
In a sense, Scott McLaughlin had the IndyCar Rookie of the Year title sewn up before the 2021 NTT IndyCar season even began.
The New Zealand import was one of only three rookie drivers to join the circuit, but the other two – seven-time NASCAR champ Jimmie Johnson and former Formula 1 driver Romain Grosjean – came into the season knowing they would not run a full slate of 16 races.
McLaughlin ran the full 16-race schedule, Grosjean ran 13 races and Johnson ran 12.
But even though he was the only rookie running the full schedule, McLaughlin wasn’t about to coast or rest on his former laurels, including winning three consecutive Australian Supercars championships from 2018 through 2020 before taking his talent to America.
Admittedly, McLaughlin’s rookie season was close. Grosjean finished 15th in the standings, 33 points behind McLaughlin in 14th place. Grosjean also had slightly better statistics, earning one pole, four top-5 and six top-10 finishes, compared to McLaughlin’s zero poles, two top-5 and five top-10s.
Had Grosjean ran in one or more of the three races he missed, he would have given McLaughlin a run for his money for the top rookie title. But running all the races sealed the deal for McLaughlin.
“My goal was to win Rookie of the Year,” McLaughlin recently told Autoweek.
He then added with a slight chuckle, “But just because I was the only one running all the races, I needed to make sure that I did that. I would have been embarrassed if Romaine got me.”
McLaughlin, a native of Christchurch, New Zealand, dominated the Supercars ranks, earning a total of 48 wins from 2017 through 2020, including an outstanding 18 checkered flags and 22 podium finishes overall in just 29 races in 2019.
He potentially may have earned a few more races or podiums in the ’19 campaign had he not missed three other events that season.
That kind of performance convinced legendary IndyCar team owner Roger Penske– who also was part-owner of the Supercars team McLaughlin raced for – to bring the Kiwi across the Pacific Ocean to try his hand at American IndyCar racing.
McLaughlin had a typical rookie season, making mistakes and learning valuable lessons. His best finish was a runner-up showing on May 1, part of a two-race doubleheader weekend at Texas Motor Speedway.
From that point on, McLaughlin earned one other top-five finish (fourth at Gateway) and two other top-10 finishes (back-to-back eighth-place finishes in the second Texas race, as well as the first Indianapolis Grand Prix in May).
Also of note, he finished 20th in his first-ever Indianapolis 500, earning rookie of the year honors in the renowned Greatest Spectacle in Racing.
“I just wanted to take in as much as I could,” McLaughlin said of his first IndyCar season. “There was definitely a point in the season where I was trying to rush the whole process a little bit, and I definitely probably lost myself a little bit.
“Once I sort of brought back my goals and brought back what I was actually like, you know, I'm a rookie and realizing that I'm not a four-year veteran in the series and started enjoying it more, I started to be more relaxed about a few things and also just understanding and getting a lot faster.”
But there was somewhat of an irony for McLaughlin: in 13 of the 16 races, he finished within four places – up or down – from where he qualified.
“I felt that the last half a dozen races I was right there abouts in some ways,” McLaughlin said. “The biggest thing for me is qualifying is my Achilles heel and I need to make sure that I'm on right there or there abouts come next year. But I think we're in a good spot to just exceed our expectations again next year and see how we go”
McLaughlin is currently the second New Zealand native in the series. The other is six-time IndyCar champ Scott Dixon. Even though they’re on different teams – McLaughlin on Team Penske and Dixon on Chip Ganassi Racing – the two fellow countrymen have bonded and have become good friends.
McLaughlin says he’s thankful to be racing in IndyCar for Team Penske, a team that gave him not only an opportunity to race, but a chance to make new friends such as current Team Penske teammates Will Power (from Australia) and Josef Newgarden, as well as now-former teammate Simon Pagenaud, who will compete for Meyer Shank Racing alongside 2021 Indy 500 winner and former Penske driver Helio Castroneves.
McLaughlin was a quick study in learning the nuances of Indy cars, but he admits it was a challenge at times compared to his time in Supercars.
“Other than the four tires, that’s the only thing that’s similar,” McLaughlin laughed. “There’s really nothing that’s actually similar. The way the cars feel is completely different. Sometimes now I’ve got to think of mechanical grip and aero grip, whereas in Supercars, it was mainly just mechanical grip. So that's been a hard thing for me because sometimes I think I need more mechanical, but it's actually aero.
“That's been the hardest thing, going to different tracks, learning a different car and having a lot of bad habits which I've had to iron out.”
Even though the 2022 season is still nearly three months away (Feb. 27 in St. Petersburg, Florida), McLaughlin is already in full-on preparation mode.
“Oh, absolutely,” he said. “I’m back in the gym already. We are working hard with my team. I've really enjoyed working with Joseph and Will and Simon. I’m sad to see Simon go, but I’m excited for him in his new venture.
“The sky's the limit for me. I really think ovals I can really hit it hard because I feel really good and comfortable and I have a really good package there. But road courses, if I get to Q2 (second round of qualifying) more often than not most weekends, which is bloody hard to do in the series now, then yeah, the sky’s the limit for me.
“I don't really know what to expect but I know my race pace has been as strong as these guys and know we can be there abouts come qualifying, then we’ll be okay.
“I work very hard, sometimes drives my wife up the wall (he said with a laugh). But I’ll be infatuated with the series until I’m successful. I feel like we’ll get there. It's just a little bit of polishing and dotting some I's and crossing some T's and we'll be okay.”
Ever since he came to America following the 2020 Supercars season, McLaughlin has envisioned winning his first IndyCar race – and what he anticipates will be the first of many – and then also hopefully winning the first of many IndyCar championships.
“I’ve envisioned it so many times,” McLaughlin said. “It would just be a realization of a dream, a goal accomplished. But then, it's not just a win. I'm not here to be here for a short time, I'm here for a long time. And that's the same with Roger (Penske). We both say it's a journey and I can't wait for the opportunity to take that with both hands and win a race.
“But the most important thing for me right now is I'd love to contest for championships eventually. I know it might not happen straightaway and whatever, but I believe in my talent and I believe in my work ethic. And if we put those together, I feel like it's a good ingredient to get to the top and I'll do my very best.”
Follow Autoweek contributor Jerry Bonkowski on Twitter @JerryBonkowski
