McLaughlin takes second at Thermal Club

Scott McLaughlin has continued his strong start to 2024 by finishing second at the non championship IndyCar All Star race at Thermal Club.

McLaughlin finished second to the dominant Alex Palou, who cruised to a 5.7s win in the $1 Million Challenge exhibition race where fellow Kiwi Marcus Armstrong also put in a fine drive to score fifth.

The Team Penske Kiwi also finished third in the IndyCar opener at St Petersburg.

McLaughlin won $350,000 for his drive and believed Palou was in another league, but was thrilled with his start where he claimed two spots from fourth to set up his runner-up finish.

“I better put some money up at the bar tonight,” McLaughlin joked. 

“Our XPEL Chevy just didn’t have quite enough for Alex (Palou). Congrats to him and his team. 

“Once you get that clear air, it was good. 

“I thought maybe that first restart would be okay, just to have a bit of a play around and see if we can get him, but ultimately just settled for my pace to make sure we come home in a good spot. 

“I was pumped with my first restart. My first restart was a lot of fun. I got from fourth to second, and that really set up our race.”

McLaughlin started second in a race that had drama straight away.

Colton Herta got into the back of Romain Grosjean, sending the Frenchman into a massive spin towards the pack going through turn 1 with Rinus Veejay the unlucky driver, getting taken out, while Aussie Will Power had to take evasive action.

But up front the Kiwi was racey, attacking Felix Rosenqvist for the lead around the outside of turn 2.

In the end Rosenqvist held on to lead home McLaughlin by half a second in the 10-lap heat.

With Power down in ninth and only the top six advancing, the Australian’s campaign ended early.

Palou dominated Heat 2, 5s ahead of Armstrong, who put in a good drive to second.

In the 20-lap main event Palou immediately sealed the lead with a strong rolling start to enjoy an untroubled journey into turn 1.

Behind McLaughlin, who started fourth and Rosenqvist went side by side for second and the Team Penske driver soared around the outside to snatch the position.

This proved critical as McLaughlin followed Palou home to take second.

Armstrong was holding down fourth but could not keep a charging Herta from snatching the position.

After some fun at the Thermal Club, IndyCar championship status returns to the famous streets of Long Beach on April 21.

Photo by Michael L. Levitt / LAT Images

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