Scott McLaughlin expressed his frustration towards Devlin DeFrancesco during a recent incident at Portland, leading to a heated exchange between the two drivers.
Incident Overview
[IMAGE0CONTEXT:bmw_unknown] The Team Penske driver was visibly upset with his Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing competitor after DeFrancesco exited the pits directly in front of McLaughlin as he was starting a push lap. In response, the Kiwi driver pulled alongside the Canadian and gave him the middle finger. This wasn’t the first clash between the two; earlier this year, they had a tense moment in the pit lane at The Thermal Club, and more recently, DeFrancesco collided with McLaughlin at Iowa Speedway. Additionally, McLaughlin seemed to have a disagreement with AJ Foyt Racing’s Santino Ferrucci regarding track position.
McLaughlin’s Reaction
When asked about the middle finger gesture, McLaughlin remarked, “It just builds up, I guess. That’s twice in a row that Dev’s got me coming out of the pits. It just gets frustrating.” He elaborated on the situation, stating, “You’re coming down there at 180, 190 mph and the guy just parks at the apex of Turn 1. It’s etiquette, right? There were a couple of little bonehead moves out there I wasn’t happy with. It’s just like, what are we doing? It’s like, okay, you mess up, pull to the side off two, but he just keeps going. I was just like, okay. It’s annoying.”
Scott McLaughlin further discussed the incident with @Ghenneberry47 during Practice 2 at Portland, highlighting the ongoing tension between the two drivers.
DeFrancesco’s Perspective
In response to the incident, DeFrancesco described it as “unfortunate” but refrained from issuing an apology. He acknowledged the high-pressure environment of racing, saying, “Look, I’ve been in that position like he has too. It’s extremely frustrating. Adrenaline is high in the car, I get it. We were sent out. From what the GPS tracker was saying, we were going to slot in behind him and we came out in front of him right as he was on a push lap. It’s unfortunate.”
Qualifying Results
McLaughlin qualified 13th for the upcoming race but will start in 12th place due to teammate Josef Newgarden receiving an engine penalty, which dropped him from ninth to 15th. Will Power was the fastest among the Team Penske drivers, qualifying fourth. Power will also gain a position due to Newgarden’s penalty. McLaren’s Christian Lundgaard secured pole position but will start seventh because of an unapproved engine change, allowing McLaren teammate Pato O’Ward to take pole alongside Meyer Shank Racing’s Felix Rosenqvist.
Power commented on the team’s performance, stating, “We made some changes to the Verizon Chevy for the top six, to see if we could just get a little better. We just seemed to be off the quickest guys. Although Lundgaard was a standout there. One-tenth would have moved us up a couple spots, but that was it. It was a pretty good lap. I put it together. Obviously, there’s always a little bit in it somewhere. A big moment in [Turn] 10 there starting that last lap. Happy with that; any time you’re in the top six in this series is really good.”
Among the New Zealand drivers, Meyer Shank Racing’s Marcus Armstrong was the fastest, qualifying eighth, while Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon secured the 10th position but will start ninth. Alex Palou, despite going off track at the final corner, qualified sixth in the leading Chip Ganassi Racing car and will start fifth due to Lundgaard’s penalty.
Qualifying Results Summary
Results: IndyCar Series Grand Prix of Portland Qualifying, Portland International Raceway
| Pos | Num | Driver | Team | Lap | Diff | Gap |
|—–|—–|—————————–|——————————————|———-|——–|——–|
| 1 | 7 | Christian Lundgaard | Arrow McLaren | 58.3939 | | |
| 2 | 5 | Pato O’Ward | Arrow McLaren | 58.5343 | 0.1404 | 0.1404 |
| 3 | 60 | Felix Rosenqvist | Meyer Shank Racing w/ Curb-Agajanian | 58.5583 | 0.1644 | 0.0240 |
| 4 | 12 | Will Power | Team Penske | 58.6424 | 0.2485 | 0.0841 |
| 5 | 4 | David Malukas | A.J. Foyt Enterprises | 58.6557 | 0.2618 | 0.0133 |
| 6 | 10 | Alex Palou | Chip Ganassi Racing | 58.6690 | 0.2751 | 0.0133 |
| 7 | 20 | Alexander Rossi | Ed Carpenter Racing | 58.4973 | 0.3055 | 0.0163 |
| 8 | 66 | Marcus Armstrong | Meyer Shank Racing w/ Curb-Agajanian | 58.5320 | 0.3402 | 0.0347 |
| 9 | 2 | Josef Newgarden | Team Penske | 58.6960 | 0.5042 | 0.1640 |
| 10 | 9 | Scott Dixon | Chip Ganassi Racing | 58.7446 | 0.5528 | 0.0486 |
| 11 | 28 | Marcus Ericsson | Andretti Global | 58.7483 | 0.5565 | 0.0037 |
| 12 | 8 | Kyffin Simpson | Chip Ganassi Racing | 58.7715 | 0.5797 | 0.0232 |
| 13 | 3 | Scott McLaughlin | Team Penske | 58.5449 | 0.4264 | 0.0848 |
| 14 | 30 | Devlin DeFrancesco | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing | 58.4702 | 0.2282 | 0.0625 |
| 15 | 14 | Santino Ferrucci | A.J. Foyt Enterprises | 58.6237 | 0.5052 | 0.0788 |
| 16 | 26 | Colton Herta | Andretti Global | 58.5312 | 0.2892 | 0.0610 |
| 17 | 45 | Louis Foster | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing | 58.6376 | 0.5191 | 0.0139 |
| 18 | 21 | Christian Rasmussen | Ed Carpenter Racing | 58.5457 | 0.3037 | 0.0145 |
| 19 | 6 | Nolan Siegel | Arrow McLaren | 58.7105 | 0.5920 | 0.0729 |
| 20 | 27 | Kyle Kirkwood | Andretti Global | 58.5693 | 0.3273 | 0.0236 |
| 21 | 77 | Sting Ray Robb | Juncos Hollinger Racing | 58.9272 | 0.8087 | 0.2167 |
| 22 | 15 | Graham Rahal | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing | 58.5836 | 0.3416 | 0.0143 |
| 23 | 18 | Rinus VeeKay | Dale Coyne Racing | 59.0866 | 0.9681 | 0.1594 |
| 24 | 90 | Callum Ilott | PREMA Racing | 58.7557 | 0.5137 | 0.1721 |
| 25 | 83 | Robert Shwartzman | PREMA Racing | 59.7458 | 1.6273 | 0.6592 |
| 26 | 76 | Conor Daly | Juncos Hollinger Racing | 58.9617 | 0.7197 | 0.206 |
| 27 | 51 | Jacob Abel | Dale Coyne Racing | 58.9648 | 0. | |