SCOTT McLaughlin believes the newly resurfaced Adelaide Parklands street circuit would be an “awesome track for IndyCar”.
McLaughlin won the last two Adelaide 500s before the event was axed in 2020, which was also his last year in Supercars before graduating to the American IndyCar Series.
Visiting Australia for the first time since leaving for the US at the end of 2020, the 29-year-old is at the reborn race as a ‘fanbassador’ and will also be part of the television coverage.
He presented the Adelaide 500’s perpetual trophy in front of media this morning, where he floated his dream of a Supercars/IndyCar double-header at the venue.
The two categories raced alongside each other for many years on the Gold Coast’s Surfers Paradise street circuit until 2008, when IndyCar pulled the plug on its Australian fixture.
“It’s fantastic, it’s a great race circuit,” said McLaughlin of Adelaide, which hosted Formula 1 from 1985-1995 and Supercars from 1999.
“To be honest, I’d love to bring IndyCar here, I think it would be an awesome track for the IndyCars. Alongside Supercars I think it would be an awesome thing.
“It’s a track that means a lot to me and now with the resurfacing, it’s something that the track needed because it was very old, the surface, going back to the Formula 1 days.”
While there are currently no indications that IndyCar plans to return to Australia, McLaughlin is well placed to start such a push.
His team boss Roger Penske bought the IndyCar Series and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2020.
“It’s something that we haven’t really spoken about at all but certainly… I think it’s a cool event and it’s a track that’s big enough for IndyCar,” he said.
“But who knows, it’s up to the powers that be and people that are a lot higher above in the pay grade than me to sort out. I’ll just drive the car wherever they take us.”
McLaughlin is meanwhile looking forward to working at the event this weekend and is predicting some exciting Supercars action ahead.
“You’re going to see records tumble; it’s going to be very fast-paced,” he said.
“I’m sure there will be some fireworks as well between the drivers because all bets are off for the last race of the year and the championship is done and what not, so I’m very excited.
“Hopefully they put on a good show for the fans.”
