'Worst moment of my life': Scott McLaughlin crashes on Indianapolis 500 parade lap
INDIANAPOLIS— Scott McLaughlin's race ended before it started as the No. 3 Team Penske Chevrolet crashed on a warm-up lap before the 2025 Indianapolis 500 began, causing it to begin under caution.
'I have no idea what happened. I just lost it,' McLaughlin told reporters outside of the IU emergency medical center. 'I don't know whether there was a little bit of moisture, I don't know. Something happened and I'm just really sorry to my fans (and) my team that built me two fantastic cars with a lot of hope today. By far, worst moment of my life.
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'This is everything to us and I didn't even see the green flag so heart is broken in a million pieces right now.'
McLaughlin hit the throttle pedal hard on the main straight as the field was on the pace lap before starting the race. The car lost traction with the track and hit the inside retaining wall on the main straight.
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The hit with the inside wall destroyed the left front suspension on the car. McLaughlin climbed out of the machine after it came to a stop in the warmup lane inside of Turn 1. McLaughlin was starting 10th.
McLaughlin tried to motivate himself but the disappointment settled back in.
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'It is what it is, you just got to get on with it, pick yourself up,' McLaughlin said before shaking his head. 'Yeah, not good.'
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indy 500 2025: Scott McLaughlin crash during Indy 500 parade lap
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"For me, it just felt like I was back playing iRacing or rFactor," said Malukas, who was on the track in that area when Power pushed Kirkwood. "I was like, 'Yeah, I'd totally do that in a video game.' "…But it was interesting to see. I couldn't believe it. I was very confused at the start. I thought something was wrong with Kirkwood and Power was towing him across like the "Cars" movie. "It was interesting at first, but then I realized it was not that, so..." It was certainly unconventional, but Kirkwood understood why Power did it after the practice concluded. "The track is not big enough to fit all the cars, and he got frustrated," Kirkwood said last Friday after he was the fastest in practice despite the incident with Power. "I'm not upset. I don't care. We had damage from that, too, so maybe we (could have been) a little bit faster." Power made sure to talk to Kirkwood and explain the incident. "I didn't get to see him after the session," Power recalled. "I went to look for him. I saw his guys, I apologized. When I saw Kyle the next day just before the session … we kind of laughed about it because it was obviously at an incredibly low speed with the very bottom of first gear just sort of idling along, I guess. "It wasn't like we're doing 100 miles an hour so we're doing literally 15 miles an hour or something, if that. "I thought it was Marcus Ericsson, and he had held me up a couple of times in the previous races, so I had a little bit of frustration there, but had I known it was Kirkwood's car, probably wouldn't have happened." Because Kirkwood was able to have a successful practice and ultimately win Sunday's Detroit Grand Prix for his second win this season, he was able to laugh it off with his teammates, including Ericsson and Colton Herta. "I think he was laughing about it, but he was definitely surprised," Ericsson said. "He said that as well. He never experienced anything like that previously in his career. "I think he was probably a bit shocked when it happened for sure. I think we all would have been." Although Power originally thought it was Ericsson's car that he was pushing instead of Kirkwood's, Ericsson has a great deal of respect for the Team Penske driver from Toowoomba, Australia. "For me, I only have good things to say about racing with Will," Ericsson said. "I've always had good and fair fights with him. So for me, we've always been racing hard but fair. And like you say, you know, he's a legend of the sport and a very unique character. "I always enjoy racing him and having him around in the paddock." Ericsson, however, believes some type of penalty should have been issued for the move, such as missing 10 minutes of practice. "Obviously, nothing more serious happened, but I think we should not as drivers use our cars to show our frustration like that," Ericsson explained. "I think that's not the way to do it. "I'm sure Will wasn't intending to put Kyle in the fence, but it was not that far from happening. He was shoving him for quite a while there and then it doesn't take much to lose the car there. So yeah. I think the consequences and also like if he had shoved into David Malukas there and they both crashed into the fence, I'm pretty sure INDYCAR would have ruled in a different way." Alex Palou of Chip Ganassi Racing continues to lead the championship by 110 points over Pato O'Ward and 111 over Kirkwood. Palou thought last Friday's incident in practice was interesting and concerning at the same time. "I would say in between," Palou said from his home in Indianapolis. "I don't think it's funny. "I mean it's funny when you look at it after and it looks like a video game. But that's the fact that it's not a video game, so I don't think it's funny. "I don't think it's overly crazy either, but I would say that this cannot happen again. I think INDYCAR should have said something about it." He added: "Now it's like this is okay to do and somebody else could do it and you cannot penalize somebody else because they didn't penalize Will. "I think maybe INDYCAR should have stepped on and said, 'Hey, 10-minute penalty for Practice 2, don't do it again' and we would not see that happening again." Palou believes every driver in INDYCAR gets frustrated at Detroit because of the nature of the street course. It can't be expanded or widened because the City of Detroit owns the streets, so the course is pretty much set. Palou is another driver who has great respect for Power as one of the most experienced drivers in the series. "I love Will," Palou said. "I have great battles with him, but I'm a big fan of him. So, yeah, honestly, I think coming from Will, it's like it's okay, right? Because it's Will. "I spoke to him, and he actually told me and told Kyle that he wasn't feeling like he was super upset or anything. He just thought, 'Oh, having this position, let's just continue pushing and see if I can get a gap and it worked.' "I was surprised to see that anybody would be able to do that in an Indy car. Like I would never think of like, oh, this is possible to do." Scott Borchetta is the Founder and CEO of Big Machine and the first to sign Taylor Swift to a recording contract. Borchetta is also a race team owner, a promoter and a partner of the INDYCAR Championship Race at Nashville Superspeedway on August 31. While Power is genuinely sorry that he made his Power Move, Borchetta believes it generated some organic interest. That helps sell tickets, especially for Borchetta's race at Nashville Superspeedway that will conclude the 2025 INDYCAR series season. "That's Will Power," Borchetta said. "Will wears his heart on his sleeve, and the guy always wants to go fast. "Not that we encourage that kind of behavior, but bring it, man. It's elbows out. These guys want to win. They want to win every practice. They want to win qualifying. They want to win every race. "Those are the drivers we want in the series." Bruce Martin is a veteran motorsports writer and contributor to Follow him on X at @BruceMartin_500 . recommended Get more from NTT INDYCAR SERIES Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more