Team Penske's Scott McLaughlin had the worst weekend of his IndyCar career at Thermal Club, where he placed second in the track's exhibition race a year ago.
He spun in qualifying en route to setting the slowest lap time of his group, resulting in a 25th place starting position, and his No. 3 Chevrolet and the No. 30 Honda of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing's Devlin DeFrancesco made contact before the Thermal Club IndyCar Grand Prix even got underway on Sunday.
Here is a video of the pre-race incident.
Here's what happened between Devlin Defrancesco and Scott McLaughlin. #INDYCAR pic.twitter.com/8hUhZ3XDN1
— INDYCAR on FOX (@IndyCarOnFOX) March 23, 2025
Then McLaughlin had a hybrid issue which kept him mired in last place, several laps off the lead lap, and with Sunday's 65-lap race around the 17-turn, 3.067-mile (4.936-kilometer) Twin Palms layout at the Thermal, California natural terrain road course being the first caution-free race since 2020, he was unable to make up any spots due to a lack of further attrition.
He was officially scored in 27th place, 12 laps off the lead lap. DeFrancesco finished one lap down in 20th.
After the race, McLaughlin paid DeFrancesco a visit.
Warning: NSFW language contained in the video.
Some words between Devlin Defrancesco and Scott McLaughlin after the race.@BobPockrass | #INDYCAR pic.twitter.com/org5jjWU1I
— INDYCAR on FOX (@IndyCarOnFOX) March 23, 2025
As McLaughlin pointed out, DeFrancesco was issued a drive-through penalty for a reason, though from DeFrancesco's vantage point, he may have truly believed he was innocent, given the awkward nature of the corner where the contact occurred.
Having said that, there were 12 rows of cars ahead of them that actually made it to the start of the race without colliding, and McLaughlin clearly got the worse end of the deal.
And separately, but relatedly, it's no secret that DeFrancesco's driving abilities have been questioned throughout his IndyCar career, with money being the main factor behind him landing both his current ride and his former ride with Andretti Autosport. He never finished higher than 12th place in two seasons with Andretti.
Even current teammate Graham Rahal has had his own problems with DeFrancesco on the race track.
All things considered, it was a weekend to forget for McLaughlin, who entered tied for third place in the championship standings but plummeted to 10th and is now 61 points behind Chip Ganassi Racing's Alex Palou, who has opened up the year with back-to-back wins.
Race number three on the 17-race 2025 IndyCar schedule is the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, which is set to be broadcast live on Fox from the streets of Long Beach, California beginning at 4:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, April 13. Start a free trial of FuboTV and don't miss it!