He may still be under thirty-years-old, but Scott McLaughlin already has a trophy cabinet that’s the envy of most.
From Go-Karts and Supercars to SuperTourers and now Indy, he’s been ‘giving it some jandal’, standing on the podium and winning championships across multiple disciplines – and it would appear that he’s far from being done yet.
Born in Hamilton New Zealand on 10 June 1993, Scott Thomas McLaughlin is the son of Wayne (a successful transportation businessman) and his wife Di. Scott apparently showed a keen interest and aptitude for racing at a very early age and was given a go kart for his seventh birthday. He went on to win his first NZ title the very next year.
In 2003 the family upped sticks and moved to the Gold Coast where Scott immediately set his sights on beating the Aussies on their racetracks, (arguably something that’s stayed with him ever since), but he also still competed at various meets in NZ.
By the age of 13 Scott was leaning towards becoming a professional and that’s when his parents enlisted the help of a full-time engineer/mechanic, things rapidly grew from there.
2008 saw the young McLaughlin represent New Zealand in the Junior class at the Rotax Max Challenge Grand Finals, and the same year also had him become part of the Britek Motorsport scholarship where he worked closely with team owner and Supercars race winner Jason Bright, getting his first taste of Bathurst (albeit from the pits).
McLaughlin completed a week of work experience with Stone Brothers Racing in 2009, after which he was offered a four-year apprenticeship with the team, and then on 17 December 2009, (drum roll please) they gave McLaughlin his first test in a V8 Supercar. He ran over 70 laps at Queensland Raceway in a Ford BF Falcon, impressing all by recording lap times just over a mere second slower than SBR’s full-time V8 Supercar drivers.
Although McLaughlin was signed by SBR to contest the 2010 Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series, his limited racing experience meant that he was unable to attain the competition licence to compete in the first round of the series. However, the motivated teenager made his debut in the second round at Queensland Raceway and became the youngest driver ever to race a V8 Supercar.
Scott raced with SBR for the 2011 season and the first two rounds of 2012, registering his first podium in the opening round at Adelaide and grabbing his first victory at Queensland Raceway – finishing fourth overall in the 2011 championship.
McLaughlin then won the 2012 Dunlop V8 Supercar Series (with Matt Stone Racing) and made his Supercars Championship debut at the 2012 Dick Smith Sandown 500 with Tekno Autosports. Later that year, he made a substitute appearance for Garry Rogers Motorsport and was subsequently signed by the team for the 2013 season, driving a Holden VF Commodore.
GRM switched to a Volvo S60 for the 2014 season where he took his first race victory in the sixth race of the year, becoming the youngest driver to win a Supercars Championship race. Plus who can forget the 2014 Clipsal 500 at Adelaide’s post race interview when the exuberant McLaughin told the world “I just gave it some jandal, f### yeah” live on camera having snatched second place from Jamie Whincup.
McLaughlin remained with GRM for the next three seasons and recorded 17 pole positions and eight race victories, with a best championship placing of third in 2016. McLaughlin joined Team Penske in 2017, signing on with the DJR Team Penske squad competing in the Australian Supercars Championship. The racing star claimed 48 wins, 59 pole positions and three series championships over the next four seasons and in 2019, he also delivered a victory for Team Penske in the iconic Bathurst 1000.
Despite being one of the most successful racers in the history of Australian Supercars, in 2021 McLaughlin set his sights on driving for Team Penske in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES. Racing the No. 3 PPG/DEX Imaging/Pennzoil/Car Shop Dallara/Chevrolet, he produced a solid debut season, and won the NTT INDYCAR SERIES Rookie of
the Year Award.
The gains continued as ‘21 rolled into ‘22 and McLaughlin qualified for his first IndyCar pole position at the season opener in St. Petersburg, and subsequently went on to claim his first win at that meet.
Reminiscing over the racing greats of the past is often easier than celebrating what we have right now. But when it comes to Scott McLaughlin, regardless of brand or racing discipline, this Kiwi has already proven himself to be one of the greats.
Dave McLeod
Motoring Writer