Scott McLaughlin’s engineer has explained why the call was made to keep the Kiwi on track when most of his key IndyCar rivals pitted under yellow flag conditions in Toronto.
The Team Penske pilot began the latest race from the front row of the grid and spent the lion’s share of the first stint just behind eventual race winner Christian Lundgaard.
On lap 49, just past the half-race distance, Lundgaard led seven cars from the top 10 into the pit lane under yellow flag conditions.
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McLaughlin was not one of those. Also opting not to pit was countryman Scott Dixon in seventh and Dutch driver Rinus VeeKay in ninth.
“I don’t understand this. I mean, look where Lundgaard is,” said IndyCar driver turned commentator Townsend Bell.
“He’s in seventh, so how do you get in a better situation by staying out?
“It’s going to take a miracle for these guys – McLaughlin, Dixon, VeeKay. They’re gambling big time here.”
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McLaughlin led the field to green and eventually pitted on lap 61 with a 1.3-second lead over Dixon.
The three-time Supercars champion fell to 15th as a result and 20 seconds in arrears of Lundgaard who had worked his way back to the lead.
McLaughlin eventually recovered to sixth while Dixon and VeeKay on the same strategy – who pitted on lap 62 and lap 50 respectively – wound up fourth and 13th at the end.
Team Penske only had to look to Will Power to explain why they opted not to pit McLaughlin under yellow.
The No.12 entry wound up one lap short on fuel and was forced to pit at the death, meaning he fell to 14th by the chequered flag.
McLaughlin’s engineer Ben Bretzman feared the No.3 would suffer the same fate.
Power, who was among those to pit under yellow, was left frustrated by the call. He believed he could have saved enough fuel to get to the finish.
Power had passed Colton Herta for third just moments before having to pit.
Herta, who finished on the podium, ran out of fuel just after the start-finish line.
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“Without getting into details that can’t be discussed, once the (Kyle Kirkwood, Helio Castroneves) caution came out it was going to be super tough for us to make it, as seen by others,” Bretzman wrote in reply to a fan’s Tweet.
“Potential if we pit under yellow = fifth while potential for pitting under green = fourth. Ultimately came sixth. Good recovery.”
McLaughlin backed the team’s decision to run long under green.
“Ride or die with this team,” he wrote on Twitter.
“Many people thought we were on the wrong strategy. But it could’ve easily gone the other way and I’m proud they trusted their gut and did something different.
“I can’t see half the stuff they see when I’m in the car, I trust them and nine times out of 10 they get it right.”
The IndyCar Series continues on July 23-24 with a double-header at Iowa Speedway.
The first of those, a 250-lap affair, gets underway at 5:00am on Sunday with the second 250-lapper on Monday at 4:30am (AEST).
Practice, qualifying, and the races will be live, ad-free, and exclusively on Stan Sport.
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