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SCOTT MCLAUGHLIN No. 3 GOOD RANCHERS CHEVROLET
START: 23RD
FINISH: 16TH
POINTS: 8TH (-142)
RACE RUNDOWN: Scott McLaughlin and the No. 3 Good Ranchers Chevrolet started 23rd and finished 16th in Sunday’s 90-lap NTT INDYCAR SERIES event at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. The 2022 winner of the event originally qualified 17th, but a mechanical issue in the morning warmup prompted an engine change and subsequent six-spot grid penalty per INDYCAR rules. McLaughlin and the patriotic red, white and blue “Meat Wagon” gained positions early, moving to 21st in the opening 10 laps. When the early pit window opened on Lap 10, strategist Tim Cindric encouraged McLaughlin to close the gap to the cars ahead before making his first stop on Lap 15 for four primary tires and fuel with no changes to the car. McLaughlin continued to make progress throughout the race, climbing to 15th by Lap 36 as the next pit cycle began. He returned to pit road on Lap 40 for four primary tires, fuel and a front wing adjustment before rejoining the field. Running 16th by Lap 45, McLaughlin remained in the thick of the midfield battle and held the position through Lap 53. With no full-course cautions to reset the field and passing opportunities limited, McLaughlin brought the Good Ranchers Chevrolet home in 16th place at race’s conclusion.
MCLAUGHLIN’S THOUGHTS: “Certainly, a challenging weekend for the Good Ranchers Chevrolet team. We knew it was going to be difficult to move forward from our original starting spot, and the engine change only made that task tougher by moving us further down the grid. Still, I’m proud of the effort from the entire team to get the engine changed and give us a chance to race. We were able to gain a few positions throughout the day, which was encouraging. Sometimes you have weekends like this, but we’ll put it behind us, learn from it and focus on being ready for Nashville in two weeks.”
