Indy 500 pole-sitter Scott McLaughlin on race day: 'Enjoy the moment and see what happens'

INDIANAPOLIS – Watching the 2008 Indianapolis 500 from his home in New Zealand was the day a 15-year-old Scott McLaughlin fell in love with the Greatest Spectacle in Racing when a fellow Kiwi, Scott Dixon, won the 500-mile race.

Sixteen years later, the two sat next to each other just two days before the 108th Indy 500. This time, Dixon will be chasing McLaughlin, as the Team Penske driver earned pole position during last week's qualifying, his highest starting position at the 500 by 13 spots. But Dixon isn’t the only legend McLaughlin is feeling the impact of this weekend.

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Not only is McLaughlin’s No. 3 Chevrolet donning the iconic Pennzoil “Yellow Submarine” livery, but the New Zealand native is wearing a replica of Rick Mears’ 1984 Indy 500-winning red and yellow gear. On top of that, McLaughlin revealed the “secret mentor” who has been providing him advice during his time at Indianapolis Motor Speedway is none other than 2019 Indy 500 winner Simon Pagenaud.

And with recent Team Penske controversies still swirling around the sea of McLaughlin’s personal and career highlights, it would be forgivable if the 31-year-old was feeling pressure heading into his fourth 500. Well, he’s not.

“You’ll get a sore neck looking back,” McLaughlin said.

McLaughlin called a potential Indy win a “life-changing experience,” but he was sure not to overlook his 32 competitors starting behind him.

“It has been a pretty whirlwind week,” McLaughlin said. “It’s been a really cool week, I’ve enjoyed it and really tried to soak it in as much as I can, but at the end of the day, the job is this weekend … Just keep the emotions in check, enjoy the moment and see what happens.”

Carb Day practice itself was fairly uneventful, with the sole noteworthy happening being Kyle Larson of Arrow McLaren running out of gas early. The yellow flag was briefly waved, and all was as normal as could be for the remaining time. Larson finished practice with a top average lap speed of 224.761 and completed 74 laps.

Graham Rahal of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing led the field with 106 laps, but his 224.353 mph top lap speed was middle of the pack.

Once the two hours concluded, Dixon of Chip Ganassi Racing led all drivers with a best lap speed of 227.206 mph. The 2008 winner completed 90 laps, tied for the 12th most out of the 33 drivers.

Despite starting in the seventh row, Dixon said his approach to race day will be the same as always: He’s going in with an open mind.

“If you go in with any kind of preset notion of what you want to do, it just takes one person to change that,” Dixon said. “Especially with weather conditions, there's a lot of things outside of your control.”

His strategy for the final official practice before the Greatest Spectacle in Racing was perhaps even simpler: go fast.

Contact Kyle Smedley with comments via email at KSmedley@Gannett.com or on X @KyleSmedley_.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indy 500 pole-sitter Scott McLaughlin, Scott Dixon ready for race day