Scott McLaughlin, stinging from 500 wreck, gets apology from Kyle Larson for gesture
DETROIT — There's one part of Scott McLaughlin's Indy 500 that he'll probably never get over. But there's another part that he's already moved past.
Kyle Larson gave McLaughlin a thumbs up when driving by his wrecked car on the Indy 500 pace laps. But Scott said he's harboring no ill will toward Larson after the fact.
Larson was on a time crunch trying to compete in and complete both the Indy 500 and Coke 600 races on Sunday. He apparently delivered the gesture as part sarcasm and part frustration over seeing his chances to complete both slip away, thanks to drizzle delaying the Indy 500 start.
The video went viral.
McLaughlin said Larson texted him. And McLaughlin also took a little dig at Larson in the debate about whether Larson is better than Formula 1 standout Max Verstappen.
"He texted me. We're all good," McLaughlin said Thursday, prior to a luncheon to kick off the Detroit Grand Prix weekend. "I've got a tremendous amount of respect for Kyle.
"I just love poking s--- at everyone, too. So my tweet was a bit of making fun of that whole conversation because that's been such a big piece. But also, I wasn't going to let him off the hook with that [gesture] either. That's the type of person I am."
McLaughlin said he never felt that Larson's gesture was vindictive.
Larson, the NASCAR Cup Series points leader and 2021 champion, had about a 40-minute buffer from when the race typically would end and when he felt he needed to leave for Charlotte. The rain delay lasted about 45 minutes, and McLaughlin's wreck delayed the start even longer.
"He texted me and apologized and didn't mean it. And I know he didn't," McLaughlin said. "He's really a respectful racer. And kudos to him for even reaching out. He didn't need to.
"He doesn't care about my INDYCAR [race]. I understand it. They know it's logistically tough. ... Forty minutes is cutting it pretty close to even do it. So maybe the two series need to come together and talk about different times or whatever? At the same time, Indy is Indy and the 600 is the 600, and if you want to run the risk of doing that, that's up to you."
As far as his own mentality, McLaughlin said the 2025 Indy 500 won't be one he will forget. He never took the green flag, and that came a week after he crashed in practice preparing for the qualifying sessions where he possibly could have won the pole.
"I'm not over it," McLaughlin said. "I don't think I'll ever be over it. It's been a character-building couple of weeks. Definitely the hardest thing that I've gone through ever in my career in terms of the 500 race and what happened there.
"I'm obviously replaying events over in my head, but the best thing for me right now is just get back on track."
McLaughlin has already been back on track — just not in his regular ride.
He tested a Legends car on Wednesday on the quarter-mile oval on the front-stretch of Charlotte Motor Speedway with NASCAR's Bubba Wallace and his former Supercars rival Shane Van Gisbergen.
"It definitely took my mind off it," McLaughlin said. "And we're hanging out with Bubba, who is a great friend of mine.
"Honestly, I had a lot of people reach out from all disciplines, from NASCAR, some F1 guys, some INDYCAR guys. I got a lot of support, which is really nice and humbling."
As far as the accident itself, McLaughlin could only be left wondering what he did to deserve spinning out on the pace lap as he warmed up his tires. He hit an inside wall and was out of the 500 before it even began.
Whether there was moisture on the track or not, McLaughlin said he was still unsure.
"You'll never know if there was or not," McLaughlin said. "I definitely picked up throttle — not aggressively — but it was coming to 1 [lap] to go, so I was getting warmed up. ... It was just unfortunate."
After the crash, McLaughlin saw his family and even signed some autographs as he went to a suite to watch the race.
"The first bit, I was pretty emotional, but when you go back and you see your kid and see your wife, you realize that's all you need," McLaughlin said. "It was definitely a hard race to watch."
McLaughlin even got a little philosophical when speaking on Thursday.
"I'm a big believer in everything happens for a reason," McLaughlin said. "Something happened there, and I'll figure it out, and everything will be good.
"I wasn't meant to start that race, unfortunately."
Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR and INDYCAR for FOX Sports. He has spent decades covering motorsports, including over 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Washington Post
8 minutes ago
- Washington Post
McCarthy, Vikings value Jefferson's presence and leadership in offseason practices
EAGAN, Minn. — The Minnesota Vikings urged Justin Jefferson to fully participate in their offseason program, a commitment some established NFL stars aren't willing to make each spring. The sixth-year wide receiver was already a step ahead of the coaching staff. This is a critical offseason for Jefferson and the Vikings, breaking in a new quarterback in J.J. McCarthy , so he was planning to make his attendance a priority. 'It's definitely important to gain a little bit of a sight of what the new year is coming to look like, to build that connection with my teammates and especially with my quarterback,' Jefferson said after practice on Monday. 'It's definitely great to be out here early to kind of get into the feel.' These late spring practices, known in league parlance as organized team activities, are when the basic installation of the playbook begins, even though only the three-day minicamp next week is contractually mandated. It's also a prime opportunity to build that rhythm and trust between the quarterback and his receivers. 'He's a tremendous talent, tremendous leader, but his leadership really shows up when he's here,' said McCarthy, who accompanied Jefferson to a Timberwolves playoff game last month when they sat together in courtside seats. 'Just being able to get that chemistry building on and off the field has been invaluable.' Jefferson, whose 7,432 receiving yards are the most in league history through a player's first five seasons, said he doesn't concern himself with the style or tendencies of who's throwing. 'As long as the ball gets close to my face, I'm going to try to catch it,' he said. 'It doesn't matter how fast the ball is going, the spin of it or if it's coming from a lefty or a righty. My job is to catch the ball.' What's most important to Jefferson is the quarterback learning to adjust to his route-running preferences, with an exceptional stride length and side-to-side agility that helps set him apart. 'It's that timing, those reps,' McCarthy said. 'All of that has to be built up over time.' Which is why Jefferson being around all the time is so valuable. 'He's an energy igniter of the whole building, and I think he's come back with a purpose and a mindset,' coach Kevin O'Connell said. 'You hear his voice, you hear his interaction with teammates, and they just carry such a long way.' Not just for the quarterback. 'The guys in that locker room know, 'If this guy, one of the best in the world at what he does, is pushing himself in May and June, I sure as heck better be doing the same thing,'' O'Connell said. McCarthy, whose rookie season was spent entirely in the training room recovering from knee surgery, at least had some meaningful time in strategy meetings that helped him start to build the knowledge base in the offense even if he wasn't taking snaps on the field. 'I've been really surprised by some of the things that he does know. You're like, 'Man, we covered that in a 10-minute burst in Week 11 last year. How do you remember that?'' O'Connell said. 'And then there's some other things where you're like, 'Oh, I assumed he knew that.' So it's our job — baseline teaching and stacking days and layered learning so that we're constantly making him feel like he's growing but never comfortable.' Jefferson can see that too. 'He definitely has an arm, that's for sure. He can definitely zip it whenever he needs to,' he said, before recounting his advice to McCarthy at this stage of the offseason. 'Just let everything happen. Don't try to make the best play every single play.' ___ AP NFL:
Washington Post
8 minutes ago
- Washington Post
Where's Marty McFly's guitar? Search is on for 'Back to the Future' prop 4 decades later
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Marty McFly grabbed a guitar in 'Back to the Future' and rocked out with the band at a 1950s high school dance, helping him narrowly avoid blinking out of existence before time-traveling back to the 1980s. The guitar, in real life, wasn't as lucky. Filmmakers went looking for the instrument while making the movie's 1989 sequel, but even now it's nowhere to be found. Four decades after the blockbuster film debuted, the guitar's creator has launched a search for the iconic Cherry Red Gibson ES-345.
CBS News
11 minutes ago
- CBS News
Teens arrested in Baltimore with multiple guns, ammo, device to create fully automatic weapons
While Baltimore is seeing record-low homicides, the city is dealing with persistent juvenile crime concerns. Four teenagers were arrested with multiple guns over the weekend. Police said the teens also had a device that turns a semiautomatic weapon into a fully automatic firearm. Baltimore Police Commissioner Richard Worley spoke to WJZ Investigator Mike Hellgren about the department's successes and challenges ahead of a pivotal budget hearing Tuesday night. "If you don't put the guns down, we're going to come in," Worley said. "We're going to do an investigation. We're going to indict people. We're going to turn it over to the state's attorney or U.S. attorney or attorney general, and they're going to prosecute you." Four teens arrested From her front porch, Katherine Davis can see the 800 block of North Curley Street where police say four teenagers — ages 16, 17, 18 and 19— were taken into custody Sunday and found with five weapons and ammunition. Their cache included extended magazines and an auto-sear device that makes weapons fully automatic. Commissioner Worley said it can be made using a 3D printer. While Baltimore is seeing record-low homicides, the city is dealing with persistent juvenile crime concerns—including four teenagers arrested with multiple guns over the weekend. Baltimore Police Juvenile crime concerns "We come up with who is driving the violence, who is doing the shooting. All of the wraparound services are offered to them," Commissioner Richard Worley said. Worley told WJZ Investigates all categories of crime are down except shoplifting and said a small number of juveniles are causing the problems. "We had a 13-year-old over the weekend, we caught with a handgun in Cherry Hill," Worley said. "It's just incredible that these kids aren't learning, so there's got to be some discipline for the ones who continue to commit crimes." Last week, WJZ obtained video of what the business owner believes are young people breaking into a Southeast Baltimore restaurant. The week prior, police say a 15-year-old repeat offender on electronic monitoring robbed a 12-year-old at gunpoint and kidnapped him. Baltimore City State's Attorney Ivan Bates mentioned that incident in an op-ed published Tuesday, where he wrote, "…We need a system that first and foremost holds juvenile offenders accountable for their actions. This does not include continuing to release these repeat offenders back into the community… ." Worley told WJZ, "We can't continue to put them out there because what's going to happen, we're going to have a tragic event with one of these young people trying to commit a crime and someone who has an open carry permit or whatever it is, they're going to end up getting shot." Record-low homicides The city is seeing success in bringing down the overall number of shootings, with 56 homicides year to date, down 24% from last year to the lowest number ever recorded. Non-fatal shootings are down 25% from 2024, with 128 year-to-date as of Tuesday morning. "We get judged by the one number, the homicide rate, and 56 is still too many for our city, so we want to continue to keep the foot on the pedal, the foot on the gas, and continue to drive down those numbers," Worley said. Metro Crime Stoppers recently publicized $8,000 rewards for several May homicides. "The mayor's office did a fabulous job with cutting down the number of ghost guns coming into the city," Worley said. "Before the lawsuit and the ban on selling in the city, a lot of ghost guns made their way into the city." Police staffing shortage The commissioner said while BPD is still down roughly 500 officers, they have added almost 50 in the past six months. He said he is confident the department can be at full, budgeted staffing levels within three to four years. Back in Southeast Baltimore, asked if she's feeling safer, Katherine Davis said, "I do because I don't bother anybody, nobody bothers me. …I sit on my porch and mind my business, and as long as they mind theirs, I'm good."
