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SCOTT MCLAUGHLIN No. 3 DEX IMAGING CHEVROLET
START: 6TH
FINISH: 6TH
POINTS: 8TH (-73)
RACE RUNDOWN: Scott McLaughlin and the No. 3 DEX Imaging Chevrolet team nearly brought home a top-five finish in Sunday’s 50th running of the Grand Prix of Long Beach before a late-race pass by teammate Will Power dropped them to sixth at the checkered flag. For the first time in his career, McLaughlin qualified for the Firestone Fast Six at Long Beach and led the Team Penske effort with a sixth place starting position. Like his teammates, McLaughlin also began the race on the Firestone alternate tires and quickly removed them on Lap 4 after fulfilling the mandatory usage requirement. He was unable to jump the competitors that started on the primary Firestone tire on this first round of stops, but McLaughlin was able to power around Scott Dixon following the second pit cycle to jump into the top five. Unfortunately for the No. 3 Chevy team that advance in positioning came from hitting pit lane a couple laps earlier than the field, resulting in McLaughlin needing to save fuel to make it into his final fuel window. As the laps wound down and drops of fuel became scarce, Power was able to make it past with plenty of fuel to spare to drop McLaughlin from the top five.
MCLAUGHLIN’S THOUGHTS: “We were just locked out a little bit there early, and then getting caught up with some guys that came out of pit sequences and stuff like that. So, lost some track position where we were in a really good spot at the start, but it is what it is. I mean, that was the most solid race I’ve had at Long Beach for a long time. So, it’s a P6 for me. I got a little bit of work before we come back here next year to be better. I feel like I’ve always had a couple of bad results to start the year. So, if we go to Barber with a formula we’ve had in the past, and have a win, we’ll get ourselves right back in it and see where we’re at. It’s like big focus. I can’t wait for it. Yeah, we’re ready for that place.”
