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Fox Sports
13-06-2025
- Automotive
- Fox Sports
WWTR Offers Scott McLaughlin Chance To Wipe Away May Memories
INDYCAR The NTT INDYCAR SERIES heads to World Wide Technology Raceway this weekend for its second oval race of the season. Scott McLaughlin will look to complete his first such lap of the year. The Team Penske driver with two career oval wins suffered through a miserable Month of May at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. A week before the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge, McLaughlin hit the Turn 2 wall, sending his car airborne. The team opted to use a backup car in the race, and he crashed that during a warmup lap. McLaughlin still carries the pain of that errant moment on the front straightaway, and he might always do so given how deep such heartbreak goes in this sport. 'It was one of, if not the lowest points of my career, but it's something I'll learn from,' he said this week. 'I still am a little bit perplexed about what happened in that scenario and how it did. Never sort of done that before in my career. 'Yeah, it was tough. But champions are made from learning from their mistakes. I truly believe we had a really fast car. I feel really strong on ovals. There's nothing to be upset about apart from the fact I felt I sort of wasted a really good opportunity.' McLaughlin added there's nothing left to do but live and learn. 'The sun always rises,' he said. 'You just have got to get on with it.' This weekend's Bommarito Automotive Group 500 presented by Axalta and Valvoline comes at a good time for McLaughlin and his Team Penske teammates. McLaughlin, Will Power and Josef Newgarden are still in search of their first race wins of the season, and this 1.25-mile oval has historically been one of their best. McLaughlin has won the NTT P1 Award for the past two NTT INDYCAR SERIES races at World Wide Technology Raceway, and Power won the two poles prior to that. Newgarden has won four of the past five races at the track and five overall, including last year's, when he held off McLaughlin at the finish. Power won in 2018. McLaughlin hasn't won a race at World Wide Technology Raceway, but he has consistently been in position to do so. In this order, he has finished fourth, third, fifth and second, and he has combined to lead 79 laps, including 67 in last year's race. 'Really excited to get back there,' the driver of the No. 3 DEX Imaging Team Penske Chevrolet said. 'Obviously, it's a track that I've love and I've always gone pretty well at. I go into a place there with a lot of confidence. The way that the season's going for me right now, I need a bit of a rebound here, (to) just get going. The last two events have been pretty tough. 'But all good. We'll just go in there with a lot of confidence and see where it ends up.' The first practice will be held at 11:30 a.m. ET Saturday (FS1, FOX Sports app, INDYCAR Radio Network). Qualifying follows at 3 p.m. ET on the same broadcast outlets, and there will be a final practice at 6:30 p.m. ET. The race is at 8 p.m. Sunday ET on FOX, the FOX Sports app and the INDYCAR Radio Network. Sunday's race will begin a sprint to the Astor Challenge Cup. Ten races remain to crown the series champion, and they will be held on the next 12 weekends. Five of them will be on ovals, which suits McLaughlin just fine. The native of Christchurch, New Zealand, never drove on an oval until the 2021 season, and he immediately took to one of them. He finished second at Texas Motor Speedway in his maiden oval race. He followed that with an eighth-place finish in that weekend's second Texas race and later added a fourth-place finish at World Wide Technology Raceway. McLaughlin has finished in the top six of 15 of his 22 oval races. Now consider that he has made five starts in the '500' and only finished one of them (sixth in 2024). That means his performances at the non-Indy tracks has been astounding: an average finish of 4.8 with a pair of wins, four seconds, three thirds, a fourth and three fifths. McLaughlin said he came into his own on ovals with last year's two wins. With each oval now he feels confident, 'like it's my kettle of fish,' he said. And obviously, he particularly likes World Wide Technology Raceway. 'It's probably the closest (oval) to replicating a road course in some ways,' he said. 'Just fast, sweeping corners in Turns 3 and 4. (Turns 1 and 2 are) tight and twisty. You go down a couple of gears using the brakes a little. 'It's very unusual to use a brake pedal on an oval in INDYCAR -- we do that every lap. I just really enjoy that. I enjoy that style of racing.' Contributing to McLaughlin's current optimism is that he has put the Indy disaster behind him even as he still isn't sure what led to the car getting away from him and slamming the inside wall. 'I've had plenty of low moments in my career, and I've felt like I've come back pretty strong,' he said. 'As long as I try and turn this negative into a positive, that's the main thing. I can't just dwell on that moment.' recommended
Fox Sports
26-05-2025
- Automotive
- Fox Sports
INDYCAR Power Rankings: Who has Indy 500 hangover and who is just over it
The Indianapolis 500 — the biggest race of the INDYCAR season — was also the first oval race of the year. But did it give much insight into which drivers will perform best on ovals? Probably not. The 2.5-mile rectangular asphalt oval is nothing like any of the other ovals. The others are Nashville (1.33-mile concrete), WWTR Gateway (1.25-mile asphalt), Milwaukee (one-mile asphalt) and Iowa (0.875-mile asphalt). So keeping that in mind, the influence of the Indy 500 on the power rankings is a little debatable. In trying to weigh all the factors, here's the list: Dropped out: Rinus VeeKay (Last Week: 9) On the verge: David Malukas, Josef Newgarden, Alexander Rossi 10. Colton Herta (LW: 10) Herta showed speed at Indy, but then a crash in qualifying on Saturday put him behind. Herta finished 17th after a speeding penalty and then overshooting his pit. It was certainly a disappointing result when he had the speed. 9. Marcus Ericsson (LW: Not Ranked) Ericsson, it could be argued, should have won the Indy 500, as Alex Palou passed Ericsson when lapped traffic hindered his pace. It was still a great drive by Ericsson after finishes of 20th or worse in three of the previous four races. 8. Scott Dixon (LW: 7) Dixon finished 23rd at Indianapolis, three laps down after his left rear brake overheated on the warmup laps of the race. Up until then, he had a relatively solid month. 7. Will Power (LW: 4) Power finished as the best Team Penske car in the 500. Unfortunately for Power, it was a 19th-place finish and one lap down. A 20-second pit stop where Power overshot his pit stall and ran over the front air hose ruined his day. 6. Scott McLaughlin (LW: 2) McLaughlin probably still can't figure out what happened as he wrecked on the pace laps of the race, ending his day before it could even begin. 5. Felix Rosenqvist (LW: 8) Rosenqvist earned a solid fifth-place finish, completing a solid month at Indy where he also started fifth. The Meyer Shank Racing driver has five top 10s in the six races this year. 4. Christian Lundgaard (LW: 5) Lundgaard finished a quiet ninth at Indy, where he started eighth. This was another relatively good day, especially considering he didn't have the strongest car. 3. Kyle Kirkwood (LW: 6) Kirkwood had confidence in his car the entire month of May but just missed it in qualifying, starting 23rd. To see him race up to sixth was not a surprise. The Andretti driver is third in the series standings. 2. Pato O'Ward (LW: 3) O'Ward's fourth-place finish at Indy ended what he called a good points day, as he moved up to second in the standings. That would be great if he wasn't 115 points behind Palou. 1. Alex Palou (LW: 1) Palou's win earned him his fifth victory in the six races to open the season. It will take at least a few races to knock the Ganassi driver off this spot. Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR and INDYCAR for FOX Sports. He has spent decades covering motorsports, including over 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass. BEST OF FOX SPORTS' INDY 500 COVERAGE: Ranking Indy 500 drivers from 33 to 1: Can anyone unseat Josef Newgarden? Got milk? 33 potential Indy 500 winners pick preferred dairy option Pato O'Ward pens letter to Indy 500: 'Had my heart broken here … but it also fuels me' No oval experience, no problem: Rookie Robert Shwartzman captures Indy 500 pole Rash of Crash: Inside a wild weekend of wrecks during Indy 500 prep From 'magical' to 'legendary': Drivers describe the Indy 500 in one word 2025 Indy 500 liveries: See the designs of all 34 cars on the track at The Brickyard Counting down the 25 most memorable moments in Indy 500 history recommended Get more from NTT INDYCAR SERIES Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more
Fox Sports
28-02-2025
- Automotive
- Fox Sports
2025 INDYCAR odds: Pato O'Ward to win outright, Josef Newgarden to show at St. Pete
So you're looking to do some betting on the INDYCAR opener at St. Petersburg that airs this Sunday on FOX? Just remember this about the series: Seven drivers won two or more races last year. No driver won more than three. So parity is the name of the game, which makes betting a bit of a challenge. Let's dive into my picks for St. Petersburg: Pato O'Ward Outright Winner O'Ward won last year but didn't know he had won until more than a month after the checkered flag. That's because it was discovered that "winner" Josef Newgarden had access to the push-to-pass boost mechanism on restarts when it should have been disabled. O'Ward won the race with no laps led but a solid second-place run across the finish line. He wants to show he can earn the trophy by coming across the finish line first. PICK: Pato O' Ward 11/2 Outright Winner Scott McLaughlin Place The Penske driver was also disqualified last year for the same violation as his teammate. But St. Pete is still a place where McLaughlin has good vibes, as he earned his first career INDYCAR victory in the 2022 season opener. PICK: Scott McLaughlin 14/5 to Place Josef Newgarden Show Newgarden will want to prove that he earned last year's victory — despite the disqualification. He won races at St. Pete in 2019 and 2020. This is still one of his best tracks no matter what the record book says. PICK: Josef Newgarden 10/11 to Show Chevrolet Winning Manufacturer The winner listed here drives a Chevrolet, as do the place and show selections. That's not to say a Honda win would be a surprise, as a Ganassi or Andretti car certainly could capture the victory. PICK: Chevrolet 10/17 to be Winning Manufacturer Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR and IndyCar for FOX Sports. He has spent decades covering motorsports, including over 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass. Full INDYCAR on FOX coverage: INDYCAR Power Rankings: Alex Palou tops preseason list, but for how long? INDYCAR on FOX primer: 25 key questions answered for the 2025 season McLaren boss Zak Brown 'couldn't be more excited' for start of 2025 INDYCAR season How to watch the 2025 INDYCAR season: TV channels, streaming, dates Old faces, new places: Ranking INDYCAR lineup changes for 2025 Two-time defending INDYCAR champ Alex Palou's next challenge: Conquering ovals 5 INDYCAR storylines to watch in 2025: Alex Palou's three-peat attempt Hailie Deegan moving from NASCAR to open-wheel racing for 2025 recommended Get more from NTT INDYCAR SERIES Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more
