McLaughlin’s top-five potential in Race 1 at Iowa was stymied when he was sent out of the pits with a loose wheel, obliging him to make an extra pitstop in what was a three-stop race for the leaders. He was then pulled in again late in the race for a fresh set of tires, in the hope of gaining back track time should the field pit again for a final caution. However, when it didn’t come, he was left six laps down (stops in green flag conditions cost two laps at Iowa due to each lap being less than 20sec at racing speed).
In Race 2, he fulfilled his latent promise to score a strong third place, with strong pitstops from the #3 Team Penske crew and decisive passing from McLaughlin. This included Chip Ganassi Racing’s six-time champion Dixon on a restart.
