DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Days after speeding across the finish line to win his class in one of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship’s marquee events – in just his second series race ever – Scott McLaughlin was still coming to terms with how much it resonated within.
McLaughlin drove the nerve-racking last stints of the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring in the No. 8 Tower Motorsports ORECA LMP2 07. Vaulting into the Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) class lead following a brilliant strategy call to pit before other LMP2 frontrunners, the fulltime IndyCar Series driver and three-time Australian Supercars champ overcame the perils of night driving at Sebring International Raceway while racing on older tires against more experienced LMP2 challengers, holding on to win by a scant 0.834 seconds.
“I don’t think it’s sort of sunk in with me how big a win that was just from a career perspective because I guess I usually put more of emphasis on winning (a race) outright,” admitted McLaughlin, who teamed with John Farano and Kyffin Simpson in the No. 8 on March 18. “That’s not taking away from what we did. … You realize it’s like, regardless of what class you’re in, it’s such a big deal and such a historic race, and it wasn’t really until after the race seeing how happy everyone was, seeing everyone talk about how cool it is to win, that you realize, ‘Well, this is actually really good!’
“It’s not that I didn’t respect the race because I’ve always wanted to do the race, but it’s just it’s not until something cool like that happens that you’re like, ‘Wow, that’s actually an awesome thing!’”
Prospects for a win didn’t appear strong just past the halfway point of the 12-hour race when Simpson ran wide exiting Turn 1, dropped a wheel off track and careened into the tire barrier. A full-course caution allowed him to limp the car back to pit lane, where the Tower crew made quick repairs that kept them on the lead lap. McLaughlin jumped in for the last time with 90 minutes to go and the No. 8 third in class.
The most intense portion of the race, in the darkest of conditions on the bumpy and uneven circuit, lay ahead with one of the least experienced prototype drivers at the wheel. McLaughlin himself admitted he was stunned at how much tougher driving Sebring at night was compared to his WeatherTech Championship debut in January at the Rolex 24 At Daytona.
“(Sebring) was probably the darkest race I’ve ever been a part of,” McLaughlin said. “Never seen anything like it. I was just building up confidence every lap out there at night.”
The winning break came with just under an hour remaining when a GT Daytona (GTD) car went off track. Sensing another caution about to come, the team ordered McLaughlin to pit for fuel only just before the yellow flag waved. It allowed him to leapfrog the other LMP2 contenders who made their stops under the caution.
A novice to prototypes, McLaughlin called on every ounce of his racing experience to hold off two-time defending Sebring LMP2 winner Mikkel Jensen over a pair of late restarts and capture the LMP2 victory while also nabbing third place overall in the race.
“I don’t know if I was struggling, just thinking as fast as I could and I didn’t care if I didn’t know what the hell I was doing, but I was just trying to drive it as fast and keep it as wide as I could,” McLaughlin said. “Some pretty big blocks going on and doing what I could to manage the cold tires – that was another thing, just learning that and what was working well under the safety car to keep the (tire) temps up and the pressures up. I learned a lot on the run but hopefully that sits better when hopefully I come back and have another crack.”
Which is what McLaughlin definitely wants to do, though no future rides are confirmed to date. While admitting it would be difficult to race in the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen in June with him in the midst of the IndyCar season, the 29-year-old New Zealander said he’d love to be in the Tower lineup for the TireRack.com Battle on the Bricks at Indianapolis Motor Speedway a week after the IndyCar season ends in September, as well as October’s Motul Petit Le Mans that closes the season at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta.
“Ultimately, the goal for the team is to win that championship and if I could be a part of trying to win the (IMSA Michelin) Endurance Cup with the team, that would be awesome,” he said. “Not sure I’ll make Watkins Glen, that’s probably gonna be a stretch, but I’d love to try and make Indy and Petit if I can.
“I’ve really enjoyed it so I’m hoping to do it.”