To prepare for his IndyCar experience, McLaughlin tested the Team Penske car during the offseason, including this year’s preseason test at Circuit of the Americas.
He has also been awake at 3 a.m. or 4 a.m. Australian time to watch the live coverage of the NTT IndyCar Series.
“It’s been good to get to know how some guys race, how the teams work, how the pit stops and the cautions work, just little things you can pick up with the coverage,” McLaughlin said. “The coverage that NBC does is amazing, the way that INDYCAR gets it to Australia is so cool. I’ve been able to, yeah, really enjoy that part.
“From a driving perspective, at the Indy 500 I sort of was listening in to Helio Castroneves’ radio. They are my crew guys, the 3 car. They are all of my pit crew, my engineers. They’re all very similar. It was nice to have an idea and an introduction to how everyone talks, gets through the race weekend.”
One of McLaughlin’s teammates, Josef Newgarden, has a shot at a third NTT IndyCar Series championship as he enters the final race of the season 32 points behind Dixon.
Because of the team’s championship chase, McLaughlin has realistic expectations of what he would like to achieve this weekend.
He wants to complete every lap, perform every pit stop and drive the car as fast as he can at his comfort level, which he admits will be lower than an IndyCar regular.
“I think if I finish top 10, I’ll be doing cartwheels, going crazy,” McLaughlin said. “I think I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t feeling some pressure, but it’s probably from myself more than anything.”
McLaughlin admits it will be the toughest challenge of his career, but a challenge he is prepared to accept.
“For me it’s one of the most competitive series if not the most competitive series in the world,” he said. “You look at the closeness, how different the winners can be up and down the field. It’s an all-around package. You can race on road courses, ovals.
“For me it’s a fresh start with being an open-wheeler, very different to what I’ve had before. I guess, yeah, it’s a different experience. If I’ve got the opportunity to be able to do it, I’ve got to grab it with both hands.”
McLaughlin believes he has accomplished all he can do in Australia. He won the Bathurst 1000 in 2019 and is a three-time Supercars titlist.
He is looking for the next challenge, and that is why he wants to join IndyCar full time.
“It’s an opportunity to learn and understand what goes into it,” McLaughlin said. “COTA was good in some ways where I understood the car, I understood how to get some time out of the race car.
“When you’re doing one lap by yourself, it’s a lot easier than when you’re put with 23 other drivers heading down to turn one. I’m fully expecting a new challenge when I get into the racing side of things with in-and-out laps, pit stops, all that sort of stuff.
“I think there’s still a lot of things that I haven’t come across that I need to learn and need to understand before I actually make a decision, as a team.”
McLaughlin is prepared to make the most of his big chance this weekend with Team Penske.
“This is an opportunity,” McLaughlin said. “It’s something that I’m just going to go in like a sponge, soak everything up, see what comes out of it. I’m pretty confident that I’m going to like the series, I’m going to like the cars, I’m going to like everything. There wouldn’t be a reason why I wouldn’t be here.
“It’s cool that I’m able to have that support from Roger, the team, Tim, to allow me to be able – I’m 27 years old, try to achieve stuff overseas, accomplish dreams. To have that support, it’s a pretty cool thing for a person who drives for someone.”