News
SCOTT MCLAUGHLIN No. 3 ODYSSEY BATTERY CHEVROLET
START: 11TH
FINISH: 26TH
POINTS: 10TH (-47)
RACE RUNDOWN: Scott McLaughlin and the No. 3 Odyssey Battery Chevrolet team fought through a tough Grand Prix of Long Beach on Sunday afternoon, finishing in the 26th position. The New Zealand driver was happy with his Chevy after both weekend practice sessions, but a slight mistake in a tight qualifying session resulted in an 11th-place starting position. When the only full-course caution flag flew on lap 15, McLaughlin’s team brought him to pit lane with several other competitors, including race winner Scott Dixon. This strategy put in him a great position to finish solidly inside the top 10 before a gearbox issue on lap 70 forced him to retire early from the 85-lap event. McLaughlin will head to next weekend’s race a Barber Motorsports Park as the defending winner on the Alabama circuit.
MCLAUGHLIN’S THOUGHTS: “Obviously very disappointing to DNF with an Odyssey Battery Chevy that was so fast. I got us off on the wrong foot by missing a key corner in qualifying, losing a couple of tenths of a second. We were much better than an 11th-place car in qualifying. Then you look at the race and we were on the same strategy as (Scott) Dixon and looked to be in a good spot for a solid day. The gearbox issue that ended our day was just the final straw. Again, disappointing to say the least but we head to Barber next looking for a second win there.”
