IndyCar: McLaughlin admits he made a mistake that wrecked Grosjean

by Mark Cipolloni

Team Penske driver McLaughlin and Andretti Autosport’s Grosjean were battling over the lead after the final round of pitstops and it looked like one of them were going to win the race, depending on who got ahead after the final pitstop.

“First and foremost, I’m very sorry to Romain, he’s a friend of mine, and I know we were both going for the win there,” McLaughlin told NBC. “I just made a big mistake.

“I tried to push on cold tires, I just didn’t have the grip there like I did on the greens [Firestone’s alternate tire that used to bed red sidewalled] and locked the rears, and unfortunately, we made wheel contact this time that took us both out.

“Look, I don’t race like that. I apologize, I feel that I’ve had many good battles with many good drivers, just gutted for my crew. The fuel mileage was great and I just made a stuff-up, man.

“You have those: you have your good days and your bad days, and I really do have to apologize to Romain. I’ll go and see him soon.”

“Big apologies. I was just racing hard, man, I promise I don’t race like that, so I’m very gutted. We finished the race, but I’ll go man-up and see Romain now.”