Scott McLaughlin reveals Kyle Larson “texted” him after the thumbs up incident at Indy 500

Scott McLaughlin has spoken about the incident involving Kyle Larson during the Indy 500 event. The New Zealand driver was on the receiving end of sarcastic comments and a thumbs-up from Larson following his early crash in the race.

The Team Penske driver suffered a crash during the pace lap of the Brickyard event, as he skidded off the track and collided with the barriers while attempting to generate heat in his cold tires. McLaughlin's unfortunate crash meant the Indianapolis race would start under a yellow flag, much to the frustration of Larson.

The NASCAR Cup Series star, who was attempting the demanding Indy 500/Coca-Cola 600 double, vented his displeasure over his team radio with a flurry of expletives. As he drove past McLaughlin’s stricken car, he also gave a thumbs-up gesture.

Following the conclusion of the race, however, McLaughlin took to his X (formerly Twitter) account and quoted a video of Larson’s gesture.

“Guess I'm out of the best driver in the world talks. 🤷‍♂️”

A comment that subtly set the stage for a potential bad blood between the drivers.

However, ahead of the IndyCar Detroit Grand Prix, the Kiwi driver has detailed how Larson texted him to apologize following the incident.

“He texted me and we're all good. I mean, I’ve got a tremendous amount of respect for Kyle. I just love poking s*** at everyone too. So my tweet was about 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 either. That’s the type of person I am,” McLaughlin stated while sharing his thoughts in a post on X by IndyCar on FOX.

“To his credit, Kyle texted me and apologized. He didn’t mean it. I don't know — he’s a really respectful racer and kudos to him for even reaching out. He didn’t need to. He doesn’t care about my IndyCar award, so yeah.”

Further stressing that the frustration of attempting the double played a part in Larson’s gesture, Scott McLaughlin termed the attempt "logistically tough".

“Yeah, I understand it. I mean, they know it’s logistically tough regardless, and when you have a delay like that — I heard it was only 40 minutes. I mean, 40 minutes is pretty close. So maybe the two series can come together and talk about different times or whatever. But at the same time, you know, Indy is Indy and 600 is 600. If you want to run the risk of doing that, that’s up to you.”

While Scott McLaughlin's crash did narrow the time window for Kyle Larson to participate in the double, the stock car racing driver faced his own misfortune. On the 91st lap of the event, after he downshifted heading into the second turn following a race restart, Larson encountered issues. The 32-year-old subsequently flew out to North Carolina to compete in the Coca-Cola 600 NASCAR race.

How Scott McLaughlin reacted after his Indy 500 crash

Scott McLaughlin took to social media to detail his thoughts following his crash at the Indy 500 race. The former Supercars champion skidded off the track as he attempted to generate tire temperature during the pace lap of the Indianapolis event.

The 31-year-old, who was the earliest of the several casualties that heralded the event, shared his thoughts following the incident on X.

“I truly don’t know what happened. Just touched the throttle and around we went. I’m absolutely gutted for my crew, @Team_Penske @Pennzoil and all of our fans. We’ll be back stronger next year. I’m sorry. See ya in Detroit. ✌️”

Scott McLaughlin

@@smclaughlin93 ·

I truly don’t know what happened. Just touched the throttle and around we went. I’m absolutely gutted for my crew, @Team_Penske,@Pennzoil and all of our fans. We’ll be back stronger next year. I’m sorry. See ya in Detroit. ✌️

Scott McLaughlin was the first of the two Team Penske casualties, as teammate Josef Newgarden also faced an early retirement following a fuel pressure issue. The Kiwi native will now shift focus to the Detroit Grand Prix of Michigan, a race where he has yet to record any relatively impressive result since his foray into the American open-wheel racing series.

So far, McLaughlin's best remains a seventh-place finish recorded during the 2023 edition of the race.