Scott McLaughlin, stinging from 500 wreck, gets apology from Kyle Larson for gesture

DETROIT — There’s one part of Scott McLaughlin’s Indy 500 that he’ll probably never get over. But there’s another part that he’s already moved past. 

Kyle Larson gave McLaughlin a thumbs up when driving by his wrecked car on the Indy 500 pace laps. But Scott said he’s harboring no ill will toward Larson after the fact.

Larson was on a time crunch trying to compete in and complete both the Indy 500 and Coke 600 races on Sunday. He apparently delivered the gesture as part sarcasm and part frustration over seeing his chances to complete both slip away, thanks to drizzle delaying the Indy 500 start.

The video went viral. 

McLaughlin said Larson texted him. And McLaughlin also took a little dig at Larson in the debate about whether Larson is better than Formula 1 standout Max Verstappen.

“He texted me. We’re all good,” McLaughlin said Thursday, prior to a luncheon to kick off the Detroit Grand Prix weekend. “I’ve got a tremendous amount of respect for Kyle.

“I just love poking s— at everyone, too. So my tweet was a bit of making fun of that whole conversation because that’s been such a big piece. But also, I wasn’t going to let him off the hook with that [gesture] either. That’s the type of person I am.”

McLaughlin said he never felt that Larson’s gesture was vindictive. 

Larson, the NASCAR Cup Series points leader and 2021 champion, had about a 40-minute buffer from when the race typically would end and when he felt he needed to leave for Charlotte. The rain delay lasted about 45 minutes, and McLaughlin’s wreck delayed the start even longer.

“He texted me and apologized and didn’t mean it. And I know he didn’t,” McLaughlin said. “He’s really a respectful racer. And kudos to him for even reaching out. He didn’t need to.

“He doesn’t care about my INDYCAR [race]. I understand it. They know it’s logistically tough. … Forty minutes is cutting it pretty close to even do it. So maybe the two series need to come together and talk about different times or whatever? At the same time, Indy is Indy and the 600 is the 600, and if you want to run the risk of doing that, that’s up to you.”

As far as his own mentality, McLaughlin said the 2025 Indy 500 won’t be one he will forget. He never took the green flag, and that came a week after he crashed in practice preparing for the qualifying sessions where he possibly could have won the pole.

“I’m not over it,” McLaughlin said. “I don’t think I’ll ever be over it. It’s been a character-building couple of weeks. Definitely the hardest thing that I’ve gone through ever in my career in terms of the 500 race and what happened there.

“I’m obviously replaying events over in my head, but the best thing for me right now is just get back on track.”

McLaughlin has already been back on track — just not in his regular ride. 

He tested a Legends car on Wednesday on the quarter-mile oval on the front-stretch of Charlotte Motor Speedway with NASCAR’s Bubba Wallace and his former Supercars rival Shane Van Gisbergen.

“It definitely took my mind off it,” McLaughlin said. “And we’re hanging out with Bubba, who is a great friend of mine.

“Honestly, I had a lot of people reach out from all disciplines, from NASCAR, some F1 guys, some INDYCAR guys. I got a lot of support, which is really nice and humbling.”

As far as the accident itself, McLaughlin could only be left wondering what he did to deserve spinning out on the pace lap as he warmed up his tires. He hit an inside wall and was out of the 500 before it even began.

Whether there was moisture on the track or not, McLaughlin said he was still unsure.

“You’ll never know if there was or not,” McLaughlin said. “I definitely picked up throttle — not aggressively — but it was coming to 1 [lap] to go, so I was getting warmed up. … It was just unfortunate.”

After the crash, McLaughlin saw his family and even signed some autographs as he went to a suite to watch the race.

“The first bit, I was pretty emotional, but when you go back and you see your kid and see your wife, you realize that’s all you need,” McLaughlin said. “It was definitely a hard race to watch.”

McLaughlin even got a little philosophical when speaking on Thursday.

“I’m a big believer in everything happens for a reason,” McLaughlin said. “Something happened there, and I’ll figure it out, and everything will be good. 

“I wasn’t meant to start that race, unfortunately.”

Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR and INDYCAR for FOX Sports. He has spent decades covering motorsports, including over 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass.