Scott McLaughlin admitted that an aggressive “if I crash, I crash” mindset helped fuel his stunning late charge to a career-best third-place finish in the 2026 Indianapolis 500.
The Team Penske driver surged from 10th to the podium during the chaotic closing laps at Indianapolis Motor Speedway after a late caution completely reshaped the race.
McLaughlin ultimately edged Pato O’Ward and Marcus Armstrong in a dramatic three-wide sprint to the finish line to secure the best Indy 500 result of his career.
Scott McLaughlin attacked Indy 500 restart with ‘if I crash’ mentality
With eight laps to go, McLaughlin was still running 10th before a crash involving Caio Collet brought out another caution and set up a late-race shootout.
On the restart, he charged up to sixth before another caution led to a final one-lap sprint to the finish – and McLaughlin said he threw caution to the wind.
“For me, I was 10th on that first one (restart) and I was like, I’m just going to ship it and if I crash, I crash — this is it,” McLaughlin said.
“This is the pinnacle, and this is what I want out of everything.”
McLaughlin also credited a fresher set of tyres for helping him attack in the final laps.
“I think we were on the alternate strategy, but we had 10 or so laps better tire than everyone else.”
“So we knew that we probably had grip on the restarts, grip up high, just a matter of just making it happen.”
McLaughlin secured dramatic podium finish in final sprint
He passed Rinus VeeKay for fifth on the final lap, then drag-raced O’Ward and Armstrong to the line, with just 0.016 seconds separating third, fourth and fifth.
McLaughlin admitted he was so focused on beating O’Ward to the line that he barely noticed the fight for victory happening directly ahead.
“I honestly was looking left to see Pato and see if I got him on the line,” McLaughlin said.
“It’s quite a bit of money from fifth to third so I was trying to get third.”
Although McLaughlin celebrated the podium finish, he also reflected on the emotional difficulty of the Indianapolis 500 after Team Penske teammate David Malukas narrowly missed out on victory.
“It’s Christmas but not everyone gets a present, and that’s the worst part about it because you wake up you’re like, yo, we’re going to get presents, it’s going to be sick, and then only one guy goes home with one.”
“Everyone here that finishes not first despises today.”
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