McLaughlin had set the early running in the final practice session before qualifying with a 1m16.296s, and eventually topped the times with a 1m15.460s lap to pip team-mate Josef Newgarden by 0.294s as Will Power claimed third.
After an early red flag, caused by Rinus VeeKay understeering into a wall at the cost of a nosewing on his Ed Carpenter Racing machine, Graham Rahal and Colton Herta did the same but without needing to be recovered by the safety team.
