One Year Later: Scott McLaughlin Moves On From ‘Worst Day Of My Life’

Indianapolis Motor Speedway (Speedway, Ind.) — Scott McLaughlin exited the infield medical center after a crash in the 2025 Indianapolis 500 much like he and other drivers do whenever they wreck at more than 220 mph. But this was no normal crash. It didn’t occur at 220 mph. It occurred on the pace lap. As McLaughlin tried to warm his tires, the car snapped loose and hit the inside wall. And with that, with a car starting 10th (inside the fourth row) on the grid, McLaughlin’s race ended before it ever started. A devastated McLaughlin said on the FOX Sports broadcast: “It’s definitely the worst day of my life.” Often a driver will speak in a little hyperbole after a moment such as that one. But just last week, McLaughlin reiterated that it was, in fact, the worst day of his life. “Yeah, it was,” McLaughlin told me and other reporters. “I felt like I wasted a really good opportunity, and an opportunity for someone else that could have made the race as well, and I didn’t even start. “I felt a bit of embarrassment in that regard, and for my team, obviously, and my family and my friends that showed up. It was that embarrassment that you hate, but at the same time, all those people had my back. Even today, and we start fresh this year, and I really think there’s no reason why I can’t come out and win.” The Team Penske driver will start ninth — the outside of the third row — in the 110th running of the race on Sunday. He doesn’t shy away from acknowledging the moment. His friends, such as NASCAR’s Bubba Wallace, will needle him about it. “It was pretty hard for sure,” McLaughlin said. “It was definitely the worst thing ever. But at same time, I feel like I really grew from it. I’ve watched it back a bunch of times now. It still hurts, but I’ve definitely learned from it.” One of the more engaging and affable drivers on the circuit, the fact he has handled the situation with a mix of seriousness and humor isn’t surprising. “It is what it is,” McLaughlin said. “It’s just a story. I’ve just got to create another storyline. I knew at some point, when I come back here, these are the questions I was going to get. It’s just part and parcel of the sport we’re in. “I’ve got an opportunity this month to create different storylines, and I’m excited to do that.” The three-time Australia SuperCars champion takes the questions in stride. It was one of the things that he was taught when he came to INDYCAR. Kyle Moyer, his former strategist now at Arrow McLaren, said they had a simple philosophy. “We used to have a saying that we had a 10-minute rule,” Moyer said. “You can yell and you can scream and do whatever for 10 minutes. But then after 10 minutes, we need to move on. ‘I think he takes that very seriously, like, ‘Okay, it’s done, it’s over.’ And that’s why he’s a champion — because he can put what happened behind and not let it settle.” Team Penske INDYCAR president Jonathan Diuguid doesn’t needle McLaughlin about it. “I try not to poke people in the eye in probably their most difficult moments, and I think Scott would probably describe that as probably one of his most difficult moments in his racing career,” Diuguid told me last week. “But the facts are, Scott’s a pole-winner here. He’s raced extremely competitive. He’s a race-winner in an INDYCAR and he’s an amazing driver. Look, mistakes happen. That’s all it was.” McLaughlin’s new Penske teammate, David Malukas, also doesn’t bring it up around him. “I don’t dare ask,” Malukas told me and other reporters. “Every time we’re here [at the track], they kept replaying the video on the screen all the time.” [READY FOR RACING? Ranking Entire Indy 500 Field, 33 To 1] He shouldn’t worry too much. McLaughlin has watched the video and the entire 2025 Indianapolis 500 several times. That’s part of the preparation for the race, where everyone could be chasing defending race winner Alex Palou, who sits on the pole for the race. “I’ve watched it multiple times,” McLaughlin said. “I’m more prepped than I ever have in. And I’ve watched it from the part where I’ve crashed. It’s part of getting over it, getting over the grief, you could say. But I’ve learned a lot, and I really needed to understand last year’s race.” “It sucks watching my part, but at the same time, I learned from everything. It was Alex’s time — and hopefully it’s my time this year.” So how will McLaughlin warm the tires up prior to this year’s Indianapolis 500? “Just turn left and right,” he told me. “To this day, I don’t know [exactly why it happened]. For sure, was I a little aggressive on the warming up? Perhaps. But at the same time, the amount of dudes [was large] that texted me after the race and said, ‘It nearly happened to me as well.'” “I think it was just one of those ones where me and my wife talked about it, like maybe someone higher up didn’t want me in that race. And I’ve just got to roll with it.”