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）——苏格兰人斯考特·麦克劳林（Scott McLaughlin）在周日下午的练习赛中驾驶潘斯克车队（Team Penske）的赛车发生事故，并因此失去了去年在印第安纳波利斯500大赛中赢得杆位的机会。
麦克拉林周六在12强内获得资格，并有权在周日晚些时候争取杆位。然而，他在印第安纳波利斯赛道上失控并立即将双手举到头盔上，准备与第二弯道墙发生撞击。
新西兰选手的赛车被摧毁，潘氏车队表示他们将让他在周日以第12名的位置参赛，并且不会尝试进行周日资格赛。车队为麦克拉伦准备的赛车是潘氏的备用速度赛车，原本计划让队友约瑟夫·纽加顿在下一周的维修工位竞赛中使用。
麦克劳克林（McLaughlin）去年在资格赛中带领Penske车队横扫前排，但当他从医疗中心被释放后，他显然已经泄气了。
我没事，我真的很，真的很，真的很，很抱歉让Penske车队的每一个人失望。
他表示自己很幸运，汽车没有飞出赛道撞到围栏，但这次事故确实对赛道表面造成了损害，而正是由于他的事故导致IMS工作人员在暂停期间正在修复的赛道。
他们可以为我造一辆新车，但我现在的心情却比什么都沉重。
麦克劳林在摔车后看到妻子哭泣，也感到非常不安，这让他更加担心她的情绪。
他们对我感到紧张，
过去两天内，印第安纳波利斯发生了三次严重的碰撞事故。马库斯·阿姆斯特朗和科尔顿·赫塔都在周六发生事故，阿姆斯特朗只能使用公路和街道备用车在周日参加33人的决赛资格赛。赫塔在赛车准备就绪后，通过在资格赛前30名的成绩锁定了自己的参赛资格。
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