INDIANAPOLIS (AP) Scott McLaughlin crashed his Team Penske car in Sunday afternoon practice and ruined his chance to repeat last years Indianapolis 500 pole-winning run.
McLaughlin qualified Saturday inside the top 12 and was eligible to run for the pole later Sunday. But he spun at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and immediately lifted both hands to his helmet as he braced for impact with the Turn 2 wall.
The New Zealanders car was destroyed and Team Penske said theyd slot him at 12th and not even attempt a qualifying run Sunday. The car the team was working on for McLaughlin is Penskes backup speedway car and had been earmarked for teammate Josef Newgarden to use in next weeks pit crew competition.
McLaughlin, who last year led a Penske sweep of the front row in qualifying, was clearly deflated after he was released from the medical center.
Im OK, Im just really, really, really, really, really sorry for everyone at Team Penske, McLaughlin said. It was talking to me and I sort of felt it, and I probably should have backed out, but youre trying to complete a run to see what it feels like and was it worth the risk? Probably wasnt. Im incredibly sad.
He said he felt fortunate the car did not go airborne into the catchfence, but the crash did cause damage to the track surface that IMS workers were fixing during a stoppage created by his wreck.
They can build a new car for me, but Im just really gutted more than anything, McLaughlin said. Its hard to take, like you wish it was for something, but it was for nothing, right? In practice.
McLaughlin was also rattled to see his wife crying after his crash out of concern for him.
Theyre nervous about me, he said. I wanted to get out of the car straight away just so she knew I was OK.
There have been three hard crashes in the last two days at Indianapolis. Marcus Armstrong and Colton Herta both crashed Saturday and Armstrong has to qualify Sunday for the field of 33 using a road and street course backup car. Herta qualified inside the top 30 to lock himself into the field once his car was ready for qualifying.
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AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing
印第安纳波利斯（美联社）——周日下午的练习赛中，斯科特·麦克劳林驾驶Penske车队赛车发生事故，错失了重现去年印第安纳波利斯500大赛杆位夺冠的机会。
麦克拉林在周六的比赛中进入前12名，并符合周日晚些时候争夺杆位的资格。然而，他在印第安纳波利斯赛车场（Indianapolis Motor Speedway）发生旋转，并立即用双手举起头盔，准备迎接与第二弯道墙的撞击。
新西兰车队的车被毁，Penske车队表示他们将把他排在第十二位，并决定在周日不进行资格赛尝试。车队为McLaughlin准备的是Penske的备用速度赛车，并已为队友Josef Newgarden在下一周的维修队比赛中预留了使用。
麦克劳克林去年在资格赛中带领潘氏车队占据前排位置，但当他从医疗中心出来后，明显显得非常沮丧。
我没事，我真的很，真的很，真的很，真的很抱歉给Penske车队带来的困扰。它跟我对话，我感到了一丝异样，我应该退赛的，但你尝试完成比赛想看看感觉如何，以及是否值得冒险？可能不值得。我感到非常难过。
他表示自己很庆幸车子没有冲入围栏并飞离地面，但这次撞击还是对IMS工作人员在因他的事故而产生的中断期间正在修复的赛道表面造成了损坏。
他们可以为我打造一辆新车，但我现在最遗憾的莫过于此了。
麦克拉林在撞车后看到妻子哭泣，对此他也很担心。
他说，他们对我感到不安。我想立刻从车里出来，这样她就知道我没事了。
在过去的两天里，印第安纳波利斯发生了三次严重的事故。马库斯·阿姆斯特朗和科尔顿·赫塔在周六均发生了事故，阿姆斯特朗在周日使用备用道路和街道赛车，获得了参加33人决赛的资格赛的资格。赫塔在赛车准备就绪后进入了前30名，确保了自己能够进入决赛场。
美联社汽车比赛：请访问[美联社汽车比赛新闻中心](https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing)以获取更多信息。
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