Lumaktaw sa pangunahing content

McLaughlin wins first IndyCar race in St. Pete season opener

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Scott McLaughlin at last showed his long move from Australia to the United States was worth the gamble, getting his first IndyCar Series win on Sunday in the season-opening race through the downtown streets of St. Petersburg.

Now the New Zealander will have to see how far his first victory takes him: IndyCar’s season-opening winner has gone on to claim the championship the last three years.

McLaughlin, the three-time Australian V8 Supercars champion, made his IndyCar debut at St. Pete in the 2020 season finale and declared the experience “far out!” and “the best day of my life apart from my wedding,” even after a crash caused his early exit. In his third trip back, he made qualifying his priority and was rewarded with his first career pole.

He led 49 of the 100 laps but had to hold off reigning IndyCar champion Alex Palou over the closing laps to secure the victory. McLaughlin was held up by rookie Devlin DeFrancesco, the last car on the lead lap, on the final trip around the track, which gave Palou the chance to take one look at a pass for the lead. Palou couldn’t get close enough and McLaughlin followed DeFrancesco across the finish line for another win for Team Penske.

“I really struggled those last couple laps just to keep my head and then save the fuel and all that sort of stuff,” McLaughlin said.

McLaughlin stood atop his car in victory lane to celebrate but then tumbled off it to the ground in his excitement. He was greeted with a hug by team owner Roger Penske, who just one week ago celebrated his 85th birthday with Austin Cindric’s win in the Daytona 500.

“Thank you to Roger Penske for trusting me and giving me the opportunity to come here,” McLaughlin said as he sat on his car trying to catch his breath. “He’s the one that calmed me down last year. He said, ‘Hey, it’s a long story, not a short one.’ To pay back that faith and prove the trust he put in me is a very proud moment.”

Then he suddenly jumped again, this time in discomfort from sitting on the hot car under a clear sky and temperatures nearing 80 degrees Fahrenheit (26 degrees Celsius) at the checkered flag.

“My butt is getting burnt. Oh, that hurt, on the exhaust,” he said. “Oh my God, I’m just — love you Australia, New Zealand, miss you guys. Thinking of everyone in the Queensland floods at the moment. But oh, I can’t believe it.”

McLaughlin then appeared to be video calling his parents in New Zealand as he sat on the ground. He has not seen his family in two years because of the pandemic and has mentioned multiple times at St. Pete how much his misses them.

“I miss my mom and dad dearly, wish you guys were here,” he said into NBC’s live camera.

Toronto-born rookie Devlin DeFrancesco finished 22nd, while Dalton Kellett of Stouffville, Ont., was 25th in the 26-car field.

The wins by Cindric and McLaughlin are marked turn for Team Penske, which didn’t get an IndyCar driver into victory lane until the 10th race of last season. But the team has exploded out of the gate in 2022: Joey Logano won NASCAR’s exhibition Busch Clash in Los Angeles to open the season and Penske now has three straight victories to start the year. Cindric started from the pole later Sunday in the NASCAR race at California.

Palou finished second for Chip Ganassi Racing and Honda, and Will Power, who started alongside Penske teammate McLaughlin on the front row, was third to put a pair of Chevrolets on the podium.

Colton Herta, the defending race winner and favorite, was fourth for Andretti Autosport and followed by teammate Romain Grosjean in his debut with the team. Rinus VeeKay was sixth for Ed Carpenter Racing and Graham Rahal seventh for Rahal Letterman Lanigan.

Ganassi drivers Scott Dixon and Marcus Ericsson were eighth and ninth, and Takuma Sato completed the top-10 in his debut with Dale Coyne Racing.

NEXT UP: IndyCar is off until its March 20 race at Texas Motor Speedway, which will be the IndyCar oval debut for Jimmie Johnson. A seven-time NASCAR champion, Johnson won seven times at Texas.



McLaughlin wins first IndyCar race in St. Pete season opener
Source: Healthy Lifestyle
Mga etiketa:

Mga Komento

Mag-post ng isang Komento

Mga sikat na post sa blog na ito

Inflation seen to pick up in Jan

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said on Friday the country’s headline inflation likely rose to 3.7 percent this month on higher prices of fuel, meat and sin products, and on increased power rates. A shopper checks out goods at a stall in a market on Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City on Tuesday.PHOTO BY RUY MARTINEZ In a statement, BSP Governor Benjamin Diokno said January’s point inflation estimate was within the 3.3- to 4.1-percent forecast range of the central bank. The outlook was faster than the 3.5-percent consumer price growth in December 2020 and the 2.9 percent a year earlier. The Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) will release official January inflation data on February 5. “Higher prices of fuel and meat, as well as increased Meralco (Manila Electric Co.) power rates and excise taxes on alcoholic beverages and tobacco, contributed to upward price pressures during the month,” Diokno said. Local oil companies hiked fuel prices three times this month. Price incr...
Mag-post ng isang Komento
Magbasa nang higit pa

Signs Of Cervical Cancer All Woman Should Know

Cervical or cervix malignancy can be risky in women. Though the statistics of this disease are shocking, if diagnosed early it can be treated. Cervical malignancy is due to the highly infectious HPV or human papillomavirus.  It is sexually transmitted and exists in different forms. A HPV infection may disappear without treatment or develop to an abnormal cell development that could cause cervical cancer. 7 Signs of Cervical Cancer Continuous pain in the legs, hips or back The swelling in the cervix may compress other organs. This may make it difficult for blood flow in the veins and may prevent blood from reaching the pelvis and legs, thus pain and swelling in the legs. Abnormal discharge When the disease starts to develop in the cervix, the uterine divider cells begin to loosen hence a watery discharge. Pain or bleeding Cervical tumor may develop on the cervix’s dividers which can dry out and eventually burst, hence distress and rectal or bladder bleeding. ...
Mag-post ng isang Komento
Magbasa nang higit pa

The National Museum – in step with the ‘new normal’

Even as vaccines begin to make their way around the world, museums and galleries are most likely among the industries which will be last to make a complete return to operations. Here in the Philippines to be specific, museums and galleries, along with cultural centers and libraries, are considered non-essentials and can only open under Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine (MGCQ), with corresponding rules on safety. The National Museum The National Museum The National Museum The National Museum The National Museum The National Museum The National Museum The National Museum It has therefore been quite a while since the National Museum of the Philippines complex in Manila saw long queues of guests, which of course has been very disheartening for the community. But just like the rest of the nation, the vanguards of the country’s precious arts and artifacts proved to be resilient, resourceful and innovative as they quickly built and steeled an online presence through...
Mag-post ng isang Komento
Magbasa nang higit pa