After he finished a close second for the second season running in Nashville, at what’s become IndyCar’s trickiest street course, McLaughlin was clearly extremely hot and nearing exhaustion in both his post-race TV interview and the press conference that followed.
When the race was red flagged with five laps to go, McLaughlin desperately gesticulated for his cockpit cooling fan to be brought to his car – eventually persuading an IndyCar official to hand it to him as team personnel weren’t allowed to touch the car at the time.
He finished the race 0.7633s behind Andretti Autosport’s Kyle Kirkwood, who overcut him in the first round of pitstops, having lost by just a tenth of a second to Scott Dixon 12 months earlier.
“I gave it my all, tried my hardest, but Kyle and his team did a hell of a job,” McLaughlin told NBC after the race. “Days like today I should of probably worn the cool suit, but ate too many pies, so it’s a bit heavy for me.
“Proud of everyone, the pitstops were unreal and just really proud of the effort. Going to have a few waters and then maybe a few beers.”
Source: Autosport