McLaughlin hails impact of IndyCar LEGEND on oval win

Hy-Vee Homefront 250 winner Scott McLaughlin has hailed the impact of an IndyCar legend after finally taking his first victory at an oval.

The New Zealander's win was the sixth of his career in IndyCar but his first at a four-corner track, and he praised former team-mate Simon Pagenaud after the race for helping him.

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McLaughlin had worked with the Frenchman in the pre-season to improve his expertise on oval tracks and, with pole at the Indy 500 and a win in the second oval race of the season on Saturday, the work seems to be paying off.

He also had some words for Ben Bretzman, his race engineer who previously worked with Pagenaud.

Another for the #Thirsty3s? 👀

NTT DATA predicts @smclaughlin93 will go back-to-back in today’s Hy-Vee One Step 250.#INDYCAR // @INDYCARatIowa pic.twitter.com/8yAnPaX4MV

— NTT INDYCAR SERIES (@IndyCar) July 14, 2024

McLaughlin: Pagenaud's notes are crazy

“He’s been unreal for me, as you know, such a good teacher," McLaughlin said. "It’s special to work with someone like that. For him to basically give me everything, it’s crazy.

"You should see the notes I get. He sends me notes every morning before I go on track. I don’t even have time to read it sometimes. It’s crazy. It’s like essays, longer than your reporting stories. It’s crazy.

“Ultimately, I treasure them. I save them. I’ll never give them to anyone else ’cause they’re just that good. Yeah, I’m very proud to do it for him, do it for Benny as well. Benny has been a huge help for me in that regard, Benny Bretzman.

“I’m very thankful to have the people, blessed to have the people in my corner. That goes from the people I work with, but then I’ve got my wife, (I’m) soon to be dad. All that stuff. It puts into perspective. It’s called winning races, but it’s always good having good people in your corner.”

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