{"id":768,"date":"2026-08-14T17:30:00","date_gmt":"2026-08-14T20:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/?p=768"},"modified":"2026-08-14T17:52:26","modified_gmt":"2026-08-14T20:52:26","slug":"scott-mclaughlin-counters-pato-oward-sees-great-value-in-simulator-for-new-indycar-tracks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/indy\/scott-mclaughlin-counters-pato-oward-sees-great-value-in-simulator-for-new-indycar-tracks\/","title":{"rendered":"McLaughlin counters O&#8217;Ward, sees &#8220;great value&#8221; in simulator for new IndyCar tracks"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Key Takeaways (TL;DR):<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Simulator Advocate:<\/strong> <strong>Scott McLaughlin<\/strong> pushed back against Pato O&#8217;Ward&#8217;s critique, stating he relies heavily on simulator work to prepare for unfamiliar layouts.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Nashville Success:<\/strong> The Team Penske driver pointed to his strong track record at the Nashville street circuit\u2014including two pole positions and two podiums\u2014as proof that virtual prep delivers real-world performance.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Different Approaches:<\/strong> The contrast between McLaughlin&#8217;s digital preparation and O&#8217;Ward&#8217;s preference for raw track time highlights differing driver philosophies heading into back-to-back street races in <strong>Markham<\/strong> and <strong>Washington D.C.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Following Pato O&#8217;Ward&#8217;s comments dismissing simulator work ahead of new IndyCar venues, Scott McLaughlin offered a starkly different perspective, defending the value of virtual preparation. The Team Penske driver pointed to the series&#8217; former street race in Nashville to illustrate how simulator sessions directly translate into track speed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">McLaughlin competed in all three editions of the Music City Grand Prix on its original street layout, securing two pole positions and finishing second twice. He credits that early performance directly to simulator hours\u2014a strategy he hopes will yield similar advantages at Markham this weekend and in Washington D.C. on August 22\u201323.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;I think I enjoy it more than my teammates do, and I know Pato doesn&#8217;t like it at all,&#8221; McLaughlin told reporter Bob Pockrass.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;It&#8217;s funny how different drivers have different feels and different takeaways on what they want from the car. I&#8217;ve always been a sim guy\u2014I played a lot of iRacing when I was younger and always got great value out of it, like when we went to the Nashville street course a few years back,&#8221; he continued.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" src=\"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/br\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Bommarito-Automotive-Group-500-Saturday_-June-6_-2026_Large-Image-Without-Watermark_m157302-1200x800.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1001096001\" srcset=\"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Bommarito-Automotive-Group-500-Saturday_-June-6_-2026_Large-Image-Without-Watermark_m157302-1200x800.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Bommarito-Automotive-Group-500-Saturday_-June-6_-2026_Large-Image-Without-Watermark_m157302-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Bommarito-Automotive-Group-500-Saturday_-June-6_-2026_Large-Image-Without-Watermark_m157302-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Bommarito-Automotive-Group-500-Saturday_-June-6_-2026_Large-Image-Without-Watermark_m157302-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Bommarito-Automotive-Group-500-Saturday_-June-6_-2026_Large-Image-Without-Watermark_m157302-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Bommarito-Automotive-Group-500-Saturday_-June-6_-2026_Large-Image-Without-Watermark_m157302-150x100.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Scott McLaughlin (Photo: IndyCar)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Driver Preparation and Markham Schedule<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;I attribute the reason I was so quick and got a couple of poles there to grinding it out in the sim. Hopefully that translates here as well,&#8221; McLaughlin concluded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">IndyCar is back in action August 14\u201316 for the inaugural Markham Grand Prix in Canada. Following delays in track assembly, Friday&#8217;s Free Practice 1 was rescheduled for 6:00 PM local time (EDT).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What results did Scott McLaughlin achieve at the Nashville street circuit?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At the Nashville street circuit, Scott McLaughlin secured <strong>two pole positions<\/strong> and scored <strong>two second-place podium finishes<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Who does Scott McLaughlin drive for in the 2026 IndyCar Series?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Scott McLaughlin drives the No. 3 Dallara-Chevrolet for <strong>Team Penske<\/strong>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Scott McLaughlin recalled his strong performances at the Nashville street circuit, attributing much of his pace to extensive simulator preparation before new events<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1020311757,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"42wp_featured_image_caption":"Scott McLaughlin aims to translate virtual laps into real-world pace in Canada","42wp_featured_image_credits":"IndyCar","42wp_featured_video":"","42wp_featured_image_hidden":false,"42wp_authors_list":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[110,214],"42wp_author":[14],"class_list":["post-768","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-indy","tag-pato-oward","tag-scott-mclaughlin","42wp_author-daniel-balsa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/768","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=768"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/768\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":769,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/768\/revisions\/769"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1020311757"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=768"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=768"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=768"},{"taxonomy":"42wp_author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/42wp_author?post=768"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}