McLaughlin Moving Up

The man in the ‘Yellow Submarine’, Scott McLaughlin, jumped eight places on the second day of Indianapolis 500 practice.

After running 25th on the first day at The Brickyard, he improved to 17th place as Will Power slumped from the leading group down to 15th.

McLaughlin’s effort came after some car troubles on the first day, while Power had admitted that his Day 1 speed was helped by a considerable aero tow on his quickest run.

The quickest of all on Day 2 was Scott Dixon, at 226.829, ahead of Connor Daly and Ed Carpenter. He had been eighth on the first day.

“I felt like I was little more comfortable yesterday,” Dixon admitted.

“Obviously, track conditions are different. The wind direction, especially (Turns) 2 to 4, swaps pretty big. The track temp was up today.”

All of the quickest laps on Day 2 were run with aero assistance, although Alexander Rossi managed 221.114 when he ran alone.

McLaughlin ran his hot lap at 224.352 miles an hour (361.0595km/h), up from 222.836 on the first day.

Indy hopefuls now get a rest day before the final practice at low levels of turbocharger boost, before their Chevrolet and Honda turbomotors are cranked up for Fast Friday laps in Indiana and then the crucial Qualifying runs on the weekend that set the 33-car grid (meaning two drivers from practice will miss out) for the 2021 running of the 500.

As Dixon looked ahead, his prediction points to a tough contest.

“Once it gets a bit hotter, I think everybody has a bit of washout, and it’s harder to stay closer,” he said.

“We’ll see with the race, but it looks right now like the race will be pretty cool, which will definitely make for a pretty robust race for people to watch. It’s going to be tight.”