'I'm going to call myself an IndyCar driver now': Flying Kiwi Scott McLaughlin scores breakthrough win at Iowa Speedway
Scott McLaughlin can now call himself an IndyCar driver.
But he can't have a celebratory beer just yet.
The New Zealand star continued his fast weekend at Iowa Speedway on Sunday (AEST), winning the first race of the IndyCar Series doubleheader for his first victory on an oval track.
Stan Sport is the only place to watch the 2024 IndyCar Series. All the action streaming ad free, live and on demand
"I never was going to call myself an IndyCar driver until I won on an oval," McLaughlin said on Stan Sport's coverage.
"So I'm going to call myself an IndyCar driver now, if you don't mind."
McLaughlin, with his sixth career win, gave Team Penske their eighth IndyCar win at Iowa Speedway.
READ MORE: 'Outrageous' try seals Wallabies win against Wales
READ MORE: All Blacks cling on to 30 year record at Eden Park
READ MORE: Why Medvedev wasn't defaulted from Wimbledon semi
Scott McLaughlin drives at Iowa Speedway in Newton. AP
The former Supercars champion led for 164 of the 250 laps, winning by nearly half a second over Mexico's Pato O'Ward.
McLaughlin's win moved him up to fifth place in the series standings, 59 points behind leader Alex Palou of Spain.
"Hopefully the floodgates open," McLaughlin said.
Scott McLaughlin speaks to reporters after qualifying. AP
"We bloody need them too because we're a fair way behind in the championship, but we'll see how we go. I can't have a beer tonight, unfortunately, but the XL Chevy is unreal. What got it done tonight was the pit stops, the team got me out in front of (Colton) Herta and we showed our pace.
"That's a big deal today, man, I've been working on that for a couple of years.
"It takes a lot of hard work and I got pipped at the post a couple of years ago and it stung. So I'm really stoked, proud of the whole team at Penske. And yeah, another race tomorrow."
McLaughlin has had the strongest car all weekend.
Fans bow their heads during a prayer for former President Donald Trump before an IndyCar race. AP
He had the fastest time in practice, set the track single lap record in qualifying to earn the pole for Monday's (AEST) second race and started on the outside of the first row of the first race.
He was also the fastest out of the pits when it counted during two caution flag stops.
Herta, the pole sitter for the race, led the first 86 laps, but lost the lead by a narrow margin when McLaughlin beat him out of the pits during a caution flag round of pit stops.
Herta tried to get by on the restart, but McLaughlin was able to hold him off.
McLaughlin was leading by more than three seconds when Palou crashed on lap 177.
Herta, who had just pitted before the Palou crash, went a lap down, and McLaughlin kept his lead after the pit stops during the caution flag.
It was the second win for a Penske car at the track this season - Ryan Blaney won the NASCAR Cup Series race in June.
Josef Newgarden, McLaughlin's teammate who swept last year's doubleheader, finished third after starting 22nd.
Fellow Kiwi Scott Dixon was fourth, and Rinus VeeKay was fifth.
The concern, after the partial repaving of the track in May, that there would only be one racing groove proved to be true until late in the race.
The only change in the top 10 through the first 80 laps of the race came when Santino Ferrucci, running fifth at the time, had to serve a stop and go penalty for being out of line on a restart.
Palou finished 23rd. He has a 37 point lead over O'Ward, 43 points over Australia's Will Power and 44 over Dixon.
