Scott McLaughlin (racing Driver)
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Scott Thomas McLaughlin (; born 10 June 1993) is a New Zealand racing driver. He competes in the
IndyCar Series The IndyCar Series, officially known as the NTT IndyCar Series for sponsorship reasons, is the highest class of American open-wheel car racing in the United States, which has been conducted under the auspices of various sanctioning bodies sinc ...
, driving the No. 3
Dallara Dallara Group S.r.l. is the largest multi-national Italian race car manufacturer, founded by its current President, Giampaolo Dallara. After working for Ferrari, Maserati, Lamborghini and De Tomaso, in 1972 in his native village of Varano de' M ...
-
Chevrolet Chevrolet ( ) is an American automobile division of the manufacturer General Motors (GM). In North America, Chevrolet produces and sells a wide range of vehicles, from subcompact automobiles to medium-duty commercial trucks. Due to the promi ...
for
Team Penske Team Penske (formerly Penske Racing) is an American professional auto racing organization, competing in the IndyCar Series, NASCAR Cup Series, IMSA SportsCar Championship and FIA World Endurance Championship. Debuting at the 1966 24 Hours of Day ...
. He previously raced in the
Supercars Championship The Supercars Championship, also known as the Repco Supercars Championship under sponsorship and historically as V8 Supercars, is a touring car racing category in Australia and New Zealand, running as an International Series under Fédération I ...
, in which he won the drivers' title in
2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...
,
2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...
and
2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...
. McLaughlin won the
2012 Dunlop V8 Supercar Series The 2012 Dunlop V8 Supercar Series was an Australian motor racing competition for V8 Supercars. It was the thirteenth running of the V8 Supercar Development series. Supporting the 2012 International V8 Supercars Championship, it began on 1 Mar ...
and made his Supercars Championship debut at the 2012 Dick Smith Sandown 500 as a co-driver to
Jonathon Webb Jonathon Stephen Webb (born 10 December 1983) is an Australian former professional racing driver and team owner of Team Sydney, who once co-drove alongside Fabian Coulthard in the No. 19 Holden ZB Commodore for the Pirtek Enduro Cup. In 2016, ...
at
Tekno Autosports Tekno Autosports was an Australian motor racing team, established in the 1990s initially for the motor racing activities of Stephen Webb, and later his son Jonathon Webb. The team competed in the Supercars Championship using two Holden ZB Commo ...
. Having made a substitute appearance for
Garry Rogers Motorsport Garry Rogers Motorsport is an Australian motor racing team. It is owned by retired racing driver Garry Rogers who began the team to further his own racing efforts. Based in Melbourne, originally out of a Nissan dealership owned by Rogers, the t ...
at the final event of 2012, McLaughlin was signed by the team to compete full-time in the 2013 season. He took his first race victory in the sixth race of the year, becoming the youngest driver to win a Supercars Championship race, and went on to finish his rookie season in tenth place. McLaughlin remained with the team for the next three seasons and enjoyed continued success, recording 17 pole positions and eight race victories for the team, with a best championship placing of third in 2016. In July 2016 it was announced that McLaughlin would join
DJR Team Penske Dick Johnson Racing (formerly DJR Team Penske) is Australia's oldest motor racing team competing in the Supercars Championship. Founded by Dick Johnson, the team's drivers have won ten Australian Touring Car Championship titles (five of the ...
for the
2017 Supercars Championship The 2017 Supercars Championship (formally known as the 2017 Virgin Australia Supercars Championship) was an FIA-sanctioned international motor racing series for Supercars, which prior to July 2016 had been known as V8 Supercars. It was the nine ...
. He enjoyed immediate success with the team, taking a record 16 pole positions during the season as well as eight race victories. McLaughlin finished runner-up to
Jamie Whincup Jamie David Whincup (born 6 February 1983) is an Australian professional racing driver competing in the Supercars Championship. He currently is team principal for Triple Eight Race Engineering. He has driven the No. 88 Holden Commodore (ZB), Ho ...
in the championship, with Whincup securing his seventh championship title in the final race of the season. The following season, McLaughlin took his maiden championship title after a close battle with Whincup's teammate
Shane van Gisbergen Shane Robert van Gisbergen (born 9 May 1989), also known by his initials SVG, is a New Zealand professional auto racing, racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 88 Chevrolet Camaro (sixth generation)#ZL1, C ...
in the second half of the year. In
2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...
, McLaughlin dominantly won his second championship, winning a record 18 races during the season, including the Bathurst 1000, and securing the title with one event remaining. McLaughlin completed a hat-trick of championship wins in
2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...
, taking a further 13 race victories. During 2020 it was announced that McLaughlin would join the
IndyCar Series The IndyCar Series, officially known as the NTT IndyCar Series for sponsorship reasons, is the highest class of American open-wheel car racing in the United States, which has been conducted under the auspices of various sanctioning bodies sinc ...
with
Team Penske Team Penske (formerly Penske Racing) is an American professional auto racing organization, competing in the IndyCar Series, NASCAR Cup Series, IMSA SportsCar Championship and FIA World Endurance Championship. Debuting at the 1966 24 Hours of Day ...
in
2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...
. He made his debut at the
2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...
Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg The Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg is an IndyCar Series race held in St. Petersburg, Florida. In most years since 2009, the race has served as the season opener (or at minimum, the first race held on U.S. soil). The race is held annually ...
.


Early life

McLaughlin was born in
Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...
,
New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
moving to
Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: * Alexander Hamilton (1755/1757–1804), first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States * ''Hamilton'' (musical), a 2015 Broadway musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda ** ''Hamilton'' (al ...
aged 3 with his family before moving to
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
's Gold Coast at 9 years of age and attended Saint Stephen's College throughout his upbringing.


Junior and early racing career


Karting

McLaughlin began racing karts in 1999 at the Kartsport Hamilton circuit outside of
Hamilton, New Zealand Hamilton (, ) is an inland city in the North Island of New Zealand. Located on the banks of the Waikato River, it is the seat and most populous city of the Waikato, Waikato region. With a territorial population of , it is the country's List of c ...
, winning his first title in 2002. After his family relocated to the Gold Coast in 2003, McLaughlin began contesting Australian titles while also continuing to compete in New Zealand. In 2008, McLaughlin represented New Zealand in the Junior class at the Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals, alongside
Nick Cassidy Nicholas Robert Cassidy (born 19 August 1994) is a New Zealand racing driver, currently competing in Formula E for Jaguar TCS Racing. He previously raced for Envision Racing in the series for three seasons, becoming the runner-up during the ...
. Starting the Final in sixth place, McLaughlin was involved in an incident on the first lap and eventually finished 19th.


V8 Supercar Development Series

McLaughlin was part of the
Britek Motorsport Britek Motorsport was an Australian Supercars motor racing team owned by Bathurst 1000 winning driver Jason Bright. Established in 2005, the team originally ran as an independent team, however since 2010, its only remaining asset has been one R ...
scholarship in 2008, which saw him working closely with team owner and Supercars race winner
Jason Bright Jason Paul Bright (born 7 March 1973) is a retired Australian racing driver who competed in the Supercars Championship, Virgin Australia Supercars Championship. He drove the No. 56 Ford Falcon (FG X), Ford FG X Falcon for Britek Motorsport, a ...
. McLaughlin attended the
2008 Bathurst 1000 The 2008 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 was the twelfth running of the Australian 1000 race, first held after the organisational split over the Bathurst 1000 that occurred in 1997. It was the 51st race tracing its lineage back to the 1960 Armst ...
with the team, spending time in the pit garage and seeing the inner workings of the team. McLaughlin completed a week of work experience with
Stone Brothers Racing Stone Brothers Racing (SBR) was an Australian motor racing team that competed in the International V8 Supercars Championship between 1998 and 2012. The team was formed in 1998 when Ross and Jim Stone bought Alan Jones (racing driver), Alan J ...
(SBR) in 2009, after which he was offered a four-year apprenticeship with the team, starting in 2010. On 17 December 2009, the team gave McLaughlin his first test in a V8 Supercar. He recorded over 70 laps at
Queensland Raceway Queensland Raceway nicknamed "the paperclip" is a motor racing circuit located at Willowbank, Queensland, Willowbank in Ipswich, Queensland, Ipswich, Queensland, Australia. The circuit hosted Supercars Championship until 2019, Drifting (motor ...
, driving one of the team's
Ford BF Falcon The Ford Falcon (BF) is a full-size car that was produced by Ford Australia Ford Motor Company of Australia Limited (known by its trading name Ford Australia) is the Australian subsidiary of Automotive industry in the United States, Unite ...
s. McLaughlin impressed during the test, recording lap times just over one second slower than those of the SBR's full-time V8 Supercar drivers
Alex Davison Alexander Davison (born 3 November 1979) is a Auto racing, racing driver from Australia. He was the 2004 Australian Carrera Cup Championship, 2004 Porsche Carrera Cup Australia champion. Junior career Starting in karts at a young age, he prog ...
and
Shane van Gisbergen Shane Robert van Gisbergen (born 9 May 1989), also known by his initials SVG, is a New Zealand professional auto racing, racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 88 Chevrolet Camaro (sixth generation)#ZL1, C ...
. McLaughlin was signed by SBR to contest the
2010 Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series The 2010 Fujitsu V8 Supercars Series was an Australian motor racing competition for V8 Supercars. It was the eleventh running of the V8 Supercar Development series. The series supported the 2010 V8 Supercar Championship Series, beginning on 11 ...
in a BF Falcon. Due to his limited racing experience in cars, McLaughlin was unable to attain the required competition licence to compete in the first round of the series; he instead took part in the first two rounds of the
Australian Mini Challenge The Australian Mini Challenge was a touring car racing category in Australia. First held in 2008, the Mini Challenge supported both the V8 Supercar Championship Series and the V8 Supercar Development Series.2008 V8 Supercars Eastern Creek round o ...
and completed a single round of the Victorian
Formula Ford Formula Ford, also known as F1600 and Formula F, is an entry-level class of single-seater, open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held across the world have historically been an important step for many prospective Formula One dri ...
Series. He eventually made his debut in the second round at Queensland Raceway, becoming the youngest ever driver to race a V8 Supercar. McLaughlin qualified in seventh position, just under a second behind the pole position time of championship leader Steve Owen, and finished ninth in the first race of the weekend. The finishing order of the top ten was reversed to form the grid for Race 2, meaning that McLaughlin started the second race on the front row. He overheated the
clutch A clutch is a mechanical device that allows an output shaft to be disconnected from a rotating input shaft. The clutch's input shaft is typically attached to a motor, while the clutch's output shaft is connected to the mechanism that does th ...
during the start procedure and was unable to move his car when the race started. He was hit by
Owen Kelly Owen John Kelly (born 12 March 1977) is an Australian professional racing driver. Son of Chas Kelly, he has competed over the course of his career in V8 Supercars and NASCAR among other series. Racing career Kelly started his circuit racing ca ...
and Ryan Hansford, with the car suffering severe damage and taking McLaughlin out of the rest of the event. He went on to finish the season twelfth in the championship, with a best qualifying result of second at
Sydney Olympic Park Sydney Olympic Park is a suburb of Greater Western Sydney, located 13 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the Local government in Australia, local government area of the City of Parramatta, City of Parramatta Council. It i ...
and a best race result of fourth at
Winton Motor Raceway Winton Motor Raceway is a motor racing track in Winton, near Benalla, Victoria, Australia. History The Benalla Auto Club began planning for a permanent racing track around 1958, as a replacement for their existing track at Barjarg. In 1960 i ...
. McLaughlin suffered a heavy crash at
Mount Panorama Mount Panorama Circuit, officially Mount Panorama/Wahluu via Dual_naming#Australia, dual naming, is a motor racing track located in Bathurst, New South Wales, Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia. It is situated on Mount Panorama, New South Wal ...
, hitting the wall at the Reid Park section of the circuit during the first race of the weekend. McLaughlin remained with SBR in
2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...
and scored his first podium in the opening round at
Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...
, finishing seventh and second in the two races to be classified third overall. He followed this up with a pair of third-place finishes at
Barbagallo Raceway Wanneroo Raceway, currently known as CARCO.com.au Raceway for naming rights reasons, is a motorsport circuit located in Neerabup, approximately north of Perth in Western Australia. It was built by the WA Sporting Car Club. The circuit was ...
, moving up to second in the championship. After struggling in the third round at
Townsville The City of Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 201,313 as of 2024, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland and Northern Australia (specifically, the parts of Australia north of ...
, McLaughlin secured his first race victory at Queensland Raceway. Having qualified second behind championship leader Andrew Thompson, McLaughlin took the lead at the start of the first race and went on to win by two seconds. Six further top-five race finishes in the remaining rounds of the season saw McLaughlin finish fourth in the championship, having updated to a newer FG Falcon at the penultimate round of the championship. McLaughlin remained with SBR for the opening two rounds of the 2012 season before moving to
Matt Stone Racing Matt Stone Racing is an Australian racing team competing in the Supercars Championship with two Chevrolet Camaro (sixth generation) #ZL1, Chevrolet Camaro ZL1s. Cameron Hill drives the No. 4 car, while Nick Percat drives the No. 10 car. Superca ...
, a satellite team of SBR, for the remainder of the year. McLaughlin prevailed in a close title fight with
Chaz Mostert Chaz Michael Mostert (born 10 April 1992) is an Australian professional racing driver competing in the Supercars Championship, Repco Supercars Championship. He currently drives the No. 25 Ford Mustang GT for Walkinshaw Andretti United. Mostert ...
,
Scott Pye Scott Robert Pye (born 8 January 1990) is an Australian professional racing driver. He currently co-drives in the Supercars Championship, Repco Supercars Championship, and co-drivers in the No. 87 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Triple Eight Race Engi ...
and
Nick Percat Nicholas Paul Percat (born 14 September 1988) is an Australian racing driver who currently races in the Repco Supercars Championship, driving for Matt Stone Racing in the No. 10 Chevrolet Camaro. He won the Bathurst 1000 at his first attemp ...
; the quartet became known as the Dunlop Series' "Class of 2012", with all four drivers going on to become race winners in the Supercars Championship. McLaughlin scored his first round win in the series at Barbagallo Raceway, backing it up with another victory at Townsville. Another podium finish at Queensland Raceway gave McLaughlin an 88-point lead over Mostert with three rounds remaining. While on course to finish second in the first race at Mount Panorama, McLaughlin suffered a puncture which dropped him to 13th place. Despite recovering to finish sixth in the second race, McLaughlin left the event with a 20-point deficit to Mostert in the championship. Percat and Pye finished first and second in the penultimate round at Winton, while McLaughlin finished fifth; the results saw McLaughlin take a 32-point lead over Percat into the final round at Sydney Olympic Park, with both Mostert and Pye less than 100 points adrift. McLaughlin won the opening race of the final round, with incidents for Percat and Mostert giving him a comfortable points lead heading into the final race of the season. A third-place finish saw him secure the title with a 73-point margin over Pye.


V8 SuperTourer Series

McLaughlin drove a Holden VE Commodore in the 2012 season of the V8 SuperTourer Series. He won six races for MPC Motorsport on his way to becoming the inaugural series champion.


Supercars Championship

McLaughlin made his debut in the Supercars Championship at the
Sandown 500 The Sandown 500 (commercially titled Penrite, Penrite Oil Sandown 500) is an annual endurance racing (motorsport), endurance Auto racing, motor race which is staged at the Sandown Raceway, near Melbourne, Victoria, Australia from 1964. The even ...
in
2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...
, as a co-driver to
Jonathon Webb Jonathon Stephen Webb (born 10 December 1983) is an Australian former professional racing driver and team owner of Team Sydney, who once co-drove alongside Fabian Coulthard in the No. 19 Holden ZB Commodore for the Pirtek Enduro Cup. In 2016, ...
at
Tekno Autosports Tekno Autosports was an Australian motor racing team, established in the 1990s initially for the motor racing activities of Stephen Webb, and later his son Jonathon Webb. The team competed in the Supercars Championship using two Holden ZB Commo ...
. The pair performed well at both Sandown and Bathurst, finishing in tenth place at Sandown and in sixth place at Bathurst. McLaughlin also drove at the
Sydney 500 The Sydney 500 was an annual motor racing event for Supercars Championship, Supercars, held at the Homebush Street Circuit in Sydney Olympic Park, New South Wales, Australia. The event was a regular part of the Supercars Championship from 2009 ...
for Garry Rogers Motorsport after
Alexandre Prémat Alexandre Prémat (born 5 November 1982) is a French racing driver. He won the Pirtek Enduro Cup for Triple Eight Race Engineering alongside Shane van Gisbergen in 2016. He also won the 2019 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 with Scott McLaughlin (r ...
was forced out of the Sunday race due to extreme heat exhaustion the day before. McLaughlin was later signed by
Garry Rogers Motorsport Garry Rogers Motorsport is an Australian motor racing team. It is owned by retired racing driver Garry Rogers who began the team to further his own racing efforts. Based in Melbourne, originally out of a Nissan dealership owned by Rogers, the t ...
as a full-time driver for the 2013 season. McLaughlin continued with Garry Rogers Motorsport into 2014, under its new identity as Volvo Polestar Racing (later Volvo Cyan Racing). On 1 March 2014, McLaughlin scored a podium finish in Volvo's return to the series at the Clipsal 500 Adelaide. Four race wins at Barbagallo, Sydney Motorsport Park, and 2 wins at Phillip Island. He finished 5th in the standings.


DJR Team Penske


2017

For 2017, McLaughlin moved from Garry Rogers Motorsport to
DJR Team Penske Dick Johnson Racing (formerly DJR Team Penske) is Australia's oldest motor racing team competing in the Supercars Championship. Founded by Dick Johnson, the team's drivers have won ten Australian Touring Car Championship titles (five of the ...
to partner
Fabian Coulthard Fabian "Fabs" Coulthard (born 28 July 1982) is a New Zealand professional race car driver, currently competing in the Supercars Championship, Repco Supercars Championship, who will drive as an endurance co-driver for Nick Percat with Walkinshaw ...
. Throughout the year, McLaughlin was dominant in qualifying; acquiring 16 pole positions. Along with a string of strong results, McLaughlin would find himself in the box seat for a maiden championship title. After starting strongly in the final round at Newcastle, a chaotic second race saw McLaughlin pick up three penalties which would eventually contribute toward him narrowly missing out on the title to
Jamie Whincup Jamie David Whincup (born 6 February 1983) is an Australian professional racing driver competing in the Supercars Championship. He currently is team principal for Triple Eight Race Engineering. He has driven the No. 88 Holden Commodore (ZB), Ho ...
.


2018

In 2018, McLaughlin continued to race with DJR Team Penske. He won seven out of the 34 races, winning in Melbourne, Phillip Island, Barbagallo, Hidden Valley, and Ipswich. McLaughlin finished third at Bathurst alongside
Alexandre Prémat Alexandre Prémat (born 5 November 1982) is a French racing driver. He won the Pirtek Enduro Cup for Triple Eight Race Engineering alongside Shane van Gisbergen in 2016. He also won the 2019 Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 with Scott McLaughlin (r ...
in which was the Ford Falcon's final appearance at Mount Panorama. On 4 November, at Pukekohe Park Raceway, McLaughlin won race twenty-nine to join compatriot
Shane van Gisbergen Shane Robert van Gisbergen (born 9 May 1989), also known by his initials SVG, is a New Zealand professional auto racing, racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 88 Chevrolet Camaro (sixth generation)#ZL1, C ...
in winning the
Jason Richards Jason John Richards (10 April 1976 – 15 December 2011) was a New Zealand motor racing driver. A multiple championship winning driver in his homeland in the New Zealand Touring Car Championship, he moved to Australia to pursue a career in the ...
Memorial Trophy. In
Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area ...
, McLaughlin won race thirty (after van Gisbergen was stripped of his victory following a pit lane violation, demoting him to fifth) and finished second in race thirty-one to become the 2018 Virgin Australia Supercars champion.


2019

In 2019, DJR Team Penske debuted the Ford Mustang, which replaced the Falcon. McLaughlin was able to continue his dominance with the team, with 18 wins, which broke the record for most wins in a single year, 15 pole positions, 18 fastest laps, and 22 podiums to his name. He became the first-ever driver to claim the Darwin Triple Crown, after winning the first race, claiming pole for the second race, and winning the second race. On 13 October 2019, McLaughlin finally won Bathurst for the first time, with Alexandre Prémat as Scott's co-driver. Two weeks after this he had the biggest crash of his career, a 43g impact at the Gold Coast. He then had to drive a new car, due to chassis damage from the crash, for the last two rounds and was still able to successfully defend his championship title, with a round to go at Sandown.


2020

In a 2020 season shortened by the COVID-19 Pandemic McLaughlin won his third consecutive and to date last Supercars Championship and the final championship for DJR Team Penske. He scored thirteen wins on the season to go with eight podium finishes and fifteen pole positions.


2021

McLaughlin and Team Penske attempted to partner with Dick Johnson Racing again to field a car for the 2021 Bathurst 1000 but due to pandemic-related travel restrictions, he was not able to attend the race. McLaughlin stated that in future seasons he intends to compete within the Bathurst 1000 with Team Penske's backing after he completes the IndyCar season.


IndyCar

Speculation around McLaughlin moving to one of Penske's other motorsports programs began in 2019 when Penske team president
Tim Cindric Timothy J. Cindric (born April 20, 1968) is an American motorsports executive who is the former President of Team Penske. He is the father of racing driver Austin Cindric. Biography A native of Indianapolis, he is an alumnus of Rose-Hulman In ...
and McLaughlin met in Australia to discuss McLaughlin's future in the Penske organisation. Cindric originally envisioned moving McLaughlin to Penske's
WeatherTech SportsCar Championship The IMSA SportsCar Championship, currently known as the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship under sponsorship, is a sports car racing series based in the United States and Canada and organized by the International Motor Sports Association (I ...
programme to race alongside
Helio Castroneves Helio may refer to: * Helio AU-24 Stallion * Helio (wireless carrier), a defunct American wireless communications provider (2005–2010); originally a joint venture between SK Telecom and EarthLink, purchased by Virgin Mobile USA in 2008 * H ...
in Penske's
Acura Acura is the luxury and performance division of Japanese automaker Honda, based primarily in North America. The brand was launched on March 27, 1986, marketing luxury and performance automobiles. Acura sells cars in the United States, Canada, M ...
Daytona Prototype International A Daytona Prototype International (DPi) was a type of sports prototype racing car developed specifically for the International Motor Sports Association's WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, as their top class of car, acting as a direct replaceme ...
entry and potentially competing in the World Endurance Championship. McLaughlin however expressed interest in moving to Penske's team in the
Indycar Series The IndyCar Series, officially known as the NTT IndyCar Series for sponsorship reasons, is the highest class of American open-wheel car racing in the United States, which has been conducted under the auspices of various sanctioning bodies sinc ...
. He stated his primary motivators were the challenge of racing open-wheel race cars, his long time goal of racing in the
Indianapolis 500 The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly shortened to Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indian ...
, and competing against his childhood hero and fellow New Zealander
Scott Dixon Scott Ronald Dixon (born 22 July 1980) is a New Zealand racing driver who races the 9 Chip Ganassi Racing (CGR) Dallara DW12-Honda car in the IndyCar Series. He is a six-time drivers' champion of the IndyCar Series, having claimed the title in ...
. Cindric was sceptical about moving McLaughlin to Indycar as McLaughlin had not driven an open-wheel racecar since he raced in
Formula Ford Formula Ford, also known as F1600 and Formula F, is an entry-level class of single-seater, open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held across the world have historically been an important step for many prospective Formula One dri ...
. McLaughlin changed Cindric's mind by altering his strength and conditioning regimen along with undertaking private simulator time that to show he had the talent and physical fitness to move from the mechanical grip reliant Supercars to the
downforce Downforce is a downwards lift force created by the aerodynamic features of a vehicle. If the vehicle is a car, the purpose of downforce is to allow the car to travel faster by increasing the vertical force on the tires, thus creating more gri ...
reliant
Dallara DW12 The Dallara DW12 (formally named the Dallara IR-12) is an open-wheel formula racing, formula auto racing, racing car developed and produced by Italian manufacturer Dallara for use by the cars in the IndyCar Series. The DW12 was first used in the ...
, all during the middle of the
2019 Supercars Championship The 2019 Supercars Championship (known for commercial reasons as the 2019 Virgin Australia Supercars Championship) was the twenty-first running of the Supercars Championship and the twenty-third series in which Supercars have contested the Aust ...
. In January 2020, he tested a
Team Penske Team Penske (formerly Penske Racing) is an American professional auto racing organization, competing in the IndyCar Series, NASCAR Cup Series, IMSA SportsCar Championship and FIA World Endurance Championship. Debuting at the 1966 24 Hours of Day ...
IndyCar at
Sebring International Raceway Sebring International Raceway is a road course auto racing facility in the Southeastern United States, southeastern United States, located near Sebring, Florida. Sebring Raceway is one of the oldest continuously operating race tracks in the U.S ...
. Team Penske driver
Will Power William Steven Power (born 1 March 1981) is an Australian racing driver who competes in the IndyCar Series, driving the No. 12 Dallara-Chevrolet for Team Penske. He won the 2018 Indianapolis 500 and has won the IndyCar Championship twice, in ...
hailed McLaughlin as a phenomenal driver after the test. In February 2020 McLaughlin completed his first laps on an oval during Team Penske's test at
Texas Motor Speedway Texas Motor Speedway (formerly known as Texas International Raceway from September to December 1996) is a quad-oval Oval track racing#Intermediate, intermediate speedway in Fort Worth, Texas. It has hosted various major races since its inaugura ...
, with reigning Indycar Series champion and future teammate
Josef Newgarden Josef Nicolai Newgarden (born December 22, 1990) is an American racing driver who races the No. 2 Team Penske Dallara/Chevrolet in the IndyCar Series. He was the 2011 Indy Lights champion, and 2017 and 2019 IndyCar Series Champion. He won the 2 ...
hailing McLaughlin's ability to quickly adapt to the demands of racing the DW12 on ovals. On 5 February, Penske announced that McLaughlin will race a 4th Team Penske entry at the
Grand Prix of Indianapolis Events in the NTT IndyCar Series have been held annually at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course in Speedway, Indiana since 2014. Events are known as the IndyCar Grand Prix and the Grand Prix of Indianapolis. History The addition of the ...
. However, due to the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
, McLaughlin was unable to travel to the United States for that race. On 17 September, Team Penske announced that McLaughlin will instead make his IndyCar debut at the
Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg The Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg is an IndyCar Series race held in St. Petersburg, Florida. In most years since 2009, the race has served as the season opener (or at minimum, the first race held on U.S. soil). The race is held annually ...
on 25 October. The day before the race he posted on his personal
Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...
feed that he signed a multi-year contract with Penske to compete full time in the series.


2021

On January 25, 2021, McLaughlin and Penske announced that
PPG Paints PPG Industries, Inc. is an American ''Fortune'' 500 company and global supplier of paints, coatings, and specialty materials. With headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, PPG operates in more than 70 countries around the globe. By revenue it ...
would be the primary sponsor for most of his entries in the Indycar series in his rookie year, while Florida based office technology supplier DEX Imaging and used car outlet Car Shop would sponsor him for select events. For the
2021 Indianapolis 500 The 2021 Indianapolis 500 (branded as the 105th Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge for sponsorship reasons) was a 500-mile (800 km, 200 lap) race in the 2021 IndyCar Series, held on May 30, 2021, at the Indianapolis ...
he drove a
Pennzoil Pennzoil is an American motor oil brand currently owned by Shell plc. The former Pennzoil Company had been established in 1913 in Pennsylvania, being active in business as an independent firm until it was acquired by Shell in 2002, becoming a bra ...
-sponsored car, with the livery paying homage to that company's famed "Yellow Submarine" designs of the 1980s. Going into his rookie IndyCar season both Tim Cindric and
Roger Penske Roger Searle Penske (born February 20, 1937), also known as "the Captain", is an American auto racing team owner, businessman, and former professional driver. Penske is the owner of Team Penske, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, IndyCar, and ...
let McLaughlin know that he was not expected to compete for wins and that his primary goal would be to finish all the races. McLaughlin spent 2021 learning the different aspects of IndyCar racing. In addition to coming to grips with a car reliant on downforce rather than mechanical grip McLaughlin also had to learn how to drive a turbocharged car with temperature-sensitive tires and carbon-ceramic brakes, all aspects that were drastically different from the cars he raced in the Supercars Championship. McLaughlin admitted after the season that his biggest struggle of the season was learning how to build and manage the temperature of the tires and brakes, which is more critical and difficult in an open-wheel racecar like an IndyCar than it is in a touring car that McLaughlin was used to racing. In qualifying for road street course races, which made up 75% of the IndyCar calendar, McLaughlin struggled through the first three-quarters of the season with understanding how to build and maintain an optimal temperature in the tires and brakes in the short amount of time given in IndyCar qualifying on the road and street courses. These struggles in qualifying meant McLaughlin started with an average position of sixteenth on the road and street courses, meaning he would have to fight his way through traffic and work harder for the position despite recording a slightly above average 4.5 overtakes per race. He recorded his first fast six qualifying slot and first top ten finish on a road course at the first race on the IMS Road Course, where he qualified sixth and finished eighth. McLaughlin would struggle on road and street courses after the Indianapolis 500 and did not pick up another top ten finish on a road course until he finished ninth at
Portland Portland most commonly refers to: *Portland, Oregon, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon *Portland, Maine, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine *Isle of Portland, a tied island in the English Channel Portland may also r ...
. McLaughlin's strongest performances in his rookie season were on the ovals, with the strongest moment of his rookie season coming in the first race at Texas Motor Speedway, the Genesys 300. In his first race ever on an oval McLaughlin started fifteenth due to qualifying being cancelled by inclement weather, forcing the drivers to line up based on their championship points standings. Despite this technicality McLaughlin got his first IndyCar podium by finishing second to Scott Dixon. Not only did McLaughlin finish ahead of
Tony Kanaan Antoine Rizkallah "Tony" Kanaan Filho (born 31 December 1974), nicknamed "TK", is a Brazilian racing driver who is the team principal of Arrow McLaren. He is best known for racing in Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) from 1998 to 2002, an ...
and
Pietro Fittipaldi Pietro Fittipaldi da Cruz (born 25 June 1996) is a Brazilian and American racing driver, who competes in the IMSA SportsCar Championship for Pratt Miller Motorsports, and in the 2025 European Le Mans Series, European Le Mans Series for Vector S ...
(who filled in for Johnson and Grosjean respectively), he finished ahead of all his Penske teammates and all the active drivers who had won the Indianapolis 500 other than Dixon;
Takuma Sato is a Japanese racing driver, who competes part-time in the IndyCar Series for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. Sato competed in Formula One from to . In American open-wheel racing, Sato is a two-time winner of the Indianapolis 500 in 2017 a ...
,
Alexander Rossi Alexander Michael Rossi (born September 25, 1991) is an American racing driver, who competes in the IndyCar Series for Ed Carpenter Racing, Ed Carpenter. Rossi competed in Formula One at five Formula One Grands Prix, Grands Prix in . In America ...
,
Ryan Hunter-Reay Ryan Christopher Hunter-Reay (born December 17, 1980) is an American professional racing driver best known as a winner of both the Indianapolis 500 (2014) and the IndyCar Series championship in 2012. He currently competes part-time in the IndyC ...
, Tony Kanaan, and teammates Will Power and
Simon Pagenaud Simon Pierre Michel Pagenaud (; born 18 May 1984) is a French professional racing driver, who last drove the No. 60 Honda for Meyer Shank Racing in the NTT IndyCar Series. After a successful career in sports car racing that saw him taking the ...
. He picked up further top ten finishes in the second race in Texas and at Gateway. When asked why his performances on ovals were better than on road and street courses despite having never raced on them before McLaughlin stated that it largely came down to the oval qualifying format being similar to that in the Supercars Championship and that the IndyCar oval tires came to temperature significantly faster than the road and street course tires, giving him the confidence to push harder on ovals than he did on road and street courses. During the run-up and qualifying for the 105th Indianapolis 500 McLaughlin was mentored by former Penske driver and four-time Indianapolis 500 winner
Rick Mears Richard Ravon Mears (born December 3, 1951) is an American former race car driver. He is one of four men to win the Indianapolis 500 four times (1979, 1984, 1988, 1991) and is the current record-holder for pole positions in the race with six (197 ...
. Although Mears advised all the Penske drivers he focused the most on preparing McLaughlin for the 500. Mears' mentorship paid off for McLaughlin and led to him qualifying seventeenth on the grid, the highest Penske driver in what was considered Penske's worst qualifying performance for the 500 since
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. During the race McLaughlin ran for large portions at the back of the top ten before incurring a drive-through penalty on lap 116 for speeding in the pit lane, leading to a twentieth place finish. For his efforts McLaughlin was named Indianapolis 500 Rookie Of The Year, the third Penske driver to be named so along with Mears and race winner Helio Castroneves. The main narrative surrounding McLaughlin's rookie season was his place in a unique class of IndyCar rookies that included
NASCAR Cup Series The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the NASCAR, National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR), the most prestigious stock car racing series in the United States. The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, ...
champion
Jimmie Johnson Jimmie Kenneth Johnson (born September 17, 1975) is an American professional auto racing driver. He currently competes part-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 84 Toyota Camry XSE for Legacy Motor Club. Johnson has won seven Cup ch ...
and
Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...
veteran
Romain Grosjean Romain David Jeremie Grosjean (; born 17 April 1986) is a French and Swiss racing driver, who competes in the IMSA SportsCar Championship for Lamborghini and serves as a reserve driver in the IndyCar Series for Prema. Grosjean competed under ...
, with many pundits speculating which of the three, would have the strongest season. McLaughlin would be the only one of the three to run a full schedule in
2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...
, as Johnson opted not to race on any of the oval courses and Grosjean only chose to race at one of the four oval races. While Johnson would take the longest of the three to adapt to IndyCar racing McLaughlin and Grosjean were frequently measured against one another on the track. McLaughlin only outdueled Grosjean four times in their rookie season; at St. Petersburg when he raced there for the second time in six months, at Grosjean's first oval race at Gateway, and at Portland and Long Beach when Grosjean was caught up in accidents caused by other drivers early in both races. This meant that Grosjean had a chance at winning the IndyCar Rookie of the Year award despite not running a full schedule and McLaughlin racing in the double points earning Indianapolis 500. The two drivers largely downplayed the comparisons to one another, with Grosjean stating it was unfair to compare the two given his nearly two decades of open-wheel racing experience while McLaughlin only had one season in open-wheel racing before him joining the IndyCar Series.


2022

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...
McLaughlin would put together all that he learned in his rookie season and became a championship contender in IndyCar. He took his first IndyCar win at the season opener at St. Petersburg, took a second win later in the season at Mid Ohio, and a third win on the season at Portland. He picked up additional podium finishes at Texas, the second race at
Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...
, Nashville, and Gateway, along with earning three pole positions on the season. McLaughin would go into the season finale at
Laguna Seca Laguna Seca Raceway (branded as WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, and previously Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca for sponsorship reasons) is a paved Racing track#Motorsport, road racing track in central California used for both auto racing and Motorcyc ...
as one of five drivers contending for the Astor Cup, despite crashing out of the Indianapolis 500 and missing out on double points. He ultimately finished fourth in the championship standings.


2023

McLaughlin agreed on a multi-year deal to remain with
Team Penske Team Penske (formerly Penske Racing) is an American professional auto racing organization, competing in the IndyCar Series, NASCAR Cup Series, IMSA SportsCar Championship and FIA World Endurance Championship. Debuting at the 1966 24 Hours of Day ...
from
2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...
onwards. He picked up his only win of the season at Barber. Despite the lone win McLaughlin finished as the highest scoring driver for Team Penske in 2023, finishing third in the standings.


2024

McLaughlin got off to a rough start in
2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...
. He started the year finishing third in St. Petersburg, but was stripped of his result after it was found out that Team Penske had illegally manipulated ECU software during the race to allow their drivers to use push to pass on restarts, which McLaughlin took advantage of. He took a mechanical DNF at Long Beach but the year began to turn around as he took his first win of the season at Barber. McLaughlin qualified on pole for the 108th Indianapolis 500, though only finished sixth in the race. Further podium finishes at
Road America Road America is a motorsport Road racing, road course located near Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin on Wisconsin Highway 67. It has hosted races since the 1950s and currently hosts races in the IndyCar Series, IMSA SportsCar Championship, Sports Car Club ...
and Mid Ohio helped McLaughlin rebound on the season. He took his first career win on an oval at the first race of the Iowa double header, putting him in the top five of the championship. He secured a second oval win, and third win of the season, in the second race of the Milwaukee double header.


2025

McLaughlin crashed during the pace laps prior to the start of the
2025 Indianapolis 500 The 2025 Indianapolis 500 (branded as the 109th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge) was an IndyCar Series race that was held on Sunday, May 25, 2025, at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana. The race was round six of the 202 ...
.


Personal life

McLaughlin is married to Karly Paone, a schoolteacher from
Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...
. The two met by chance in 2016 in
Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...
when McLaughlin made the trip to help a fellow racer competing in an international karting tournament. Paone moved to Australia with McLaughlin in 2018 and the two were married in 2020. After McLaughlin moved from Supercars to the IndyCar Series he and Karly relocated to
North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...
to be closer to Team Penske's headquarters. McLaughlin has two dogs, one named Chase and the other named Luna. He began watching American team sports after he met his wife and is a fan of the
New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National ...
,
New York Knicks The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the Na ...
, and
Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The t ...
. On October 10, 2024, his wife Karly gave birth to Lucy Violet McLaughlin. On April 29, 2025, McLaughlin announced via his social media his
naturalization Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-national of a country acquires the nationality of that country after birth. The definition of naturalization by the International Organization for Migration of the ...
as an American citizen.


Racing record


Karting career summary


Racing career summary


Supercars Championship results

(Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)


Bathurst 1000 results


Complete Bathurst 12 Hour results


V8 SuperTourer results


Scandinavian Touring Car Championship results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)


American open–wheel racing results

( key)


IndyCar Series

( key)


Indianapolis 500


Complete IMSA SportsCar Championship results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; results in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) Points only counted towards the Michelin Endurance Cup, and not the overall LMP2 Championship.
* Season still in progress.


References


External links


Scott McLaughlin Official Website
updated by in 2018 * * {{DEFAULTSORT:McLaughlin, Scott 1993 births Living people New Zealand racing drivers American racing drivers Naturalized citizens of the United States Supercars Championship drivers V8SuperTourer drivers Swedish Touring Car Championship drivers IndyCar Series drivers Indianapolis 500 drivers Indianapolis 500 polesitters Indianapolis 500 Rookies of the Year Stone Brothers Racing drivers Matt Stone Racing drivers Garry Rogers Motorsport drivers Dick Johnson Racing drivers Team Penske drivers Bathurst 1000 winners McLaren Racing drivers WeatherTech SportsCar Championship drivers Porsche Carrera Cup Australia drivers Sportspeople from Christchurch Cyan Racing drivers TF Sport drivers