INDIANAPOLIS (AP) Scott McLaughlin crashed his Team Penske car in Sunday afternoon practice and ruined his chance to repeat last years Indianapolis 500 pole-winning run.
McLaughlin qualified Saturday inside the top 12 and was eligible to run for the pole later Sunday. But he spun at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and immediately lifted both hands to his helmet as he braced for impact with the Turn 2 wall.
The New Zealanders car was destroyed and Team Penske said theyd slot him at 12th and not even attempt a qualifying run Sunday. The car the team was working on for McLaughlin is Penskes backup speedway car and had been earmarked for teammate Josef Newgarden to use in next weeks pit crew competition.
McLaughlin, who last year led a Penske sweep of the front row in qualifying, was clearly deflated after he was released from the medical center.
Im OK, Im just really, really, really, really, really sorry for everyone at Team Penske, McLaughlin said. It was talking to me and I sort of felt it, and I probably should have backed out, but youre trying to complete a run to see what it feels like and was it worth the risk? Probably wasnt. Im incredibly sad.
He said he felt fortunate the car did not go airborne into the catchfence, but the crash did cause damage to the track surface that IMS workers were fixing during a stoppage created by his wreck.
They can build a new car for me, but Im just really gutted more than anything, McLaughlin said. Its hard to take, like you wish it was for something, but it was for nothing, right? In practice.
McLaughlin was also rattled to see his wife crying after his crash out of concern for him.
Theyre nervous about me, he said. I wanted to get out of the car straight away just so she knew I was OK.
There have been three hard crashes in the last two days at Indianapolis. Marcus Armstrong and Colton Herta both crashed Saturday and Armstrong has to qualify Sunday for the field of 33 using a road and street course backup car. Herta qualified inside the top 30 to lock himself into the field once his car was ready for qualifying.
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AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing
印第安纳波利斯（美联社）——周日下午的练习中，斯科特·麦克劳克林（Scott McLaughlin）驾驶的潘斯基车队（Team Penske）赛车发生碰撞，这导致他无法重演去年印第安纳波利斯500英里大赛（Indianapolis 500）杆位获胜的壮举。
麦克拉林（McLaughlin）周六在12强中获得了资格，有资格在周日晚些时候为杆位而战。然而，他在印第安纳波利斯赛车场（Indianapolis Motor Speedway）上失控了，他立即将双手举到头盔上，准备与第二圈的墙发生撞击。
新西兰车手的赛车被毁，潘思克车队表示将让他在周日排名第12位，并放弃尝试进行资格赛。车队为麦克拉林准备的赛车是潘思克的备用赛车场赛车，原本是为队友约瑟夫·纽加顿在下周的维修区竞赛中使用的。
去年，McLaughlin 在资格赛中带领Penske车队成功包揽了前两名的成绩，但在从医疗中心被释放后，他显然情绪低落。
我没事，我只是对Penske车队的所有人感到非常，非常，非常，非常，非常抱歉。
他表示，自己很庆幸赛车没有飞越护栏进入捕捉网，但这次碰撞确实对赛道表面造成了损害，而当时IMS的工作人员正因他的事故而暂停工作进行修复。
他们可以为我造一辆新车，但我现在的心情真是五味杂陈。
在车祸后，麦克劳林看到妻子为他而哭泣，这让他非常不安。
他们对我感到不安。
在过去的两天里，印第安纳波利斯发生了三次严重的摔车事故。马库斯·阿姆斯特朗（Marcus Armstrong）和科尔顿·赫塔（Colton Herta）都在周六摔车，阿姆斯特朗（Armstrong）周日只能使用备用车辆在33人的赛道上争取资格赛资格。赫塔（Herta）在赛车准备就绪后进入了前30名，从而确保了自己能够进入赛场。
美国新闻协会（AP）汽车比赛：
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