Racer Scott McLaughlin Switches Super for Indy

Team Penske has announced three-time defending Supercars champion, Hamilton-born Scott McLaughlin, 27, will drive Indy cars full-time starting in 2021, Nathan Brown reports for The Indianapolis Star.

Roughly 18 months ago, team owner Roger Penske and team president Tim Cindric approached their dominant touring car driver with a proposition, knowing his lifelong dream of racing in the United States, Brown writes.

While in the midst of his second Supercars championship run, where he won 18 races during the 31-event season, the team officials proposed a run in IndyCar to follow in his idol Scott Dixon’s footsteps, first awarding him a mid-January test at Sebring earlier this year.

During his four-team DJR Team Penske tenure, McLaughlin amassed 48 of his 56 wins, which sits tied for fourth all-time, and he currently owns 76 pole victories.

“I’m looking forward to the challenge of joining one of the most iconic motorsports programs of all time, Team Penske’s IndyCar team. I wish the 2021 series would begin tomorrow,” McLaughlin said.

Original article by Nathan Brown, The Indianapolis Star, October 23, 2020.