INDIANAPOLIS — Scott McLaughlin left the Nashville street circuit and returned to his bus nearby beaming with joy on Saturday evening. He felt like he nailed his qualifying performance to what he said was the best that he’s ever done. 24 hours later, he was as upset as they come.

A runner-up finish left him somewhat dejected. He felt like he had a car capable of winning that day. Despite leading 25 of 80 laps, he didn’t.

A badly timed first caution. A slower stop than Kyle Kirkwood on stop 2. Late race restarts. Combined, it left him as red in the face as it was sitting inside of the cockpit of sweltering Nashville heat.

“Yeah, look, we’ve got a 24-hour rule,” McLaughlin told me on Wednesday afternoon. “I wasn’t too frustrated. I was more like a little bit bummed we missed out on the win there two years in a row, especially after having pole.

“We’ve always got a 24-hour rule. But it really didn’t take me too long. I was happy with our momentum, like I said. We had a strong weekend, led laps, got pole. The last few races have been fantastic for us. I think we started on the front row four times in a row now, which is really cool.

“If we can keep this momentum, it’s a big thing in INDYCAR, the confidence you have, the momentum you carry, because you can lose it pretty quickly. Hopefully we can have another good race this weekend and carry it into the last races. Especially Portland last year, we led every lap apart from four of them. Hopefully really strong end of the season for us.”

Now, that he’s had a few days to cool off, McLaughlin returns to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway this weekend for Saturday’s Gallagher Grand Prix (2 p.m. ET, USA, INDYCAR Radio Network) hoping to keep this momentum intact.

“I’m going to win every race from here in,” McLaughlin maintained.

Then he remembered, Indy is up next.

“I’d like to go well there because I suck there at the moment,” he continued.

Indy for whatever reason it the place that’s holding McLaughlin back the most. He’s had only two top 10 finishes in 5 tries here including finishes 23rd, 20th and 16th in his others. In three Indy 500 starts, he’s also only finished 20th, 29th and 14th respectively.

Outside of here?

He’s thriving.

He crashed while battling for the lead with 29 laps remaining in St. Pete. He led 38 laps that day. He was sixth in Texas a year after finishing runner-up, 10th in Long Beach, won at Barber, 7th in Detroit, 8th in Road America, 5th in Mid-Ohio, 6th in Toronto, 2nd and 5th at Iowa and now 2nd again last Sunday in Nashville.

McLaughlin brings with him 4 straight front row starts on the season but hasn’t won from any of them either. Can he pick up another on Friday and can he finally figure out Indy?

While he won at Barber, was also eighth in Road America and fifth at Mid-Ohio too, he’s hopeful for better results on the 2.439-mile road course.

“I don’t know. It’s just one of those things,” McLaughlin said on if he can pinpoint on his struggles here. “I think we’ve battled with qualifying, which has been a bit of an Achilles’ heel there. Haven’t been in the Fast 12 the last couple. I feel that’s been reasonably automatic for us on road courses. That’s on us to find everything.

“At the same time there’s a lot of very — it’s a tight field there. If you miss it by a little bit, you’re going to be back there. There’s not much room for error. If you are off by a little bit, it does affect you.

“I’m very confident we can go back there and be okay. I feel like our race car is really good. We always race well to the front. The qualifying car is definitely our Achilles’ heel. Hopefully we get on top of that this weekend.”

He’s only qualified off the front row just twice since Detroit which was the first race leaving here after May.

“For me, I’ve just got to make sure I lock in, work with the simulator, as we have been for the last couple days, the setup philosophy. I think we need to find something different to what we’ve been doing lately because it hasn’t been good enough at Indy road course.

“We’ll keep working, hopefully it works this weekend, and carry that momentum through.”

Really though, if you think about it, Indy is what’s kept him from being closer in the championship right now.

It was just qualifying 16th and finishing there in May’s GMR Grand Prix and finishing 14th after starting there for the Indy 500. Take those two races out, his average finish is 5.9. Even if you go back to the start of last season, take out the last two Indy 500’s and the last two GMR Grand Prix’s and his average finish is 6.34.

His average Indy 500 finish? 21st.

His average Indy Road Course finish? 14.2

See the glaring weakness?

“Look, I feel really strong,” he continued. “It hasn’t been probably my best track the last couple years. I mean, ever since I qualified in the Fast Six my first year, my first Indy GP, it’s been really tough since then.

“For me, I’ve just got to make sure I lock in, work with the simulator, as we have been for the last couple days, the setup philosophy. I think we need to find something different to what we’ve been doing lately because it hasn’t been good enough at Indy road course.

“We’ll keep working, hopefully it works this weekend, and carry that momentum through.”

This weekend, he’ll have some more pressure to perform here. Not only did Team Penske win the Indy 500, but McLaughlin will have familiar faces on these grounds. Shane van Gisbergen is a good friend from Supercars. So is Brodie Kostecki. He’s also from Supercars. Both will run in Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race here.

McLaughlin wants to put on a show for them on Saturday.

“I saw him at the simulator the other day,” said McLaughlin. “I felt it was cool to have him here, come into our session, just watch me race around for a little bit. It was funny, the differences between NASCAR and INDYCAR. He was laughing at that.

“Yeah, look, excited. I think he’s going to jump on the pit stand or something like that during one of those sessions over the races this weekend. Super cool to be racing the same weekend as him and Brodie. It’s going to be an awesome thing.”

While van Gisbergen is hopeful to find a home here in NASCAR next season, McLaughlin truly feels like he’s found one here in INDYCAR.

He came here in the midst of a global pandemic without knowing anyone but his wife. The 30-year-old was close with his parents but due to COVID, he moved here and didn’t get to see them for well over a year. With struggling at the onset of his new found endeavor, he was missing a piece of his heart – his parents.

Then he started finding comfort and success. He won the first race of the second full time season. Off he went. By time we were in Gateway last August, he was bummed about finishing third, a feat that he would have celebrated a year earlier.

“Look, like I said, I’m disappointed with third, which is a great thing. I’m feeling like we’re really building for the end of the year but also start of next year,” he said 12 months ago.

2022 was a year that revitalized the New Zealand native.

“Yeah. Starting to learn who I am now,” he quipped. “I’ve just had good teammates, got a good team, good cars, for me to be able to extract the speed and be really comfortable with it and learn quickly. I’m very thankful for that.

“Yeah, I think off-track life is a lot easier. I feel a lot more at home in the INDYCAR SERIES. Know a lot more faces. It doesn’t feel as unknown, even in the media, sponsorship land, even the Penske organization. It was a lot to take on last year. I’m very happy with where we’re at right now.”

2023?

“Right now, like, I feel really at home,” he told me on Wednesday. “I think last year, especially, but even now. Even from knowing everyone in the paddock, seeing people, whatnot, it does feel like home. Everyone’s been so nice and cool about us being here, which I appreciate.

“A lot of people could be, quite frankly, bastards about me being here, not nice. But everyone was really welcoming. That’s not just from a team level. That’s drivers as well, team owners, everyone. It’s probably the most welcoming sort of paddock I’ve ever been a part of. It’s made us feel welcome.

“From a performance perspective, obviously when we have good results, pole position, you’re just adding to what I guess proving that you belong here. It’s tough. This place, it’s full of the best drivers in the world, most competitive teams.

“I really enjoy it. Yeah, can’t wait to be here for a long time to come.”

He’s in a position to swing for the fences still and even admitted to the fact last month. He should have pit but didn’t in Toronto. He did pit off sequence in Iowa. He was running second in both instances and would finish 6th and 5th as a result.

Does he swing for the fences on Saturday or is Indy not a place that lends to that?

“For us, second (in points) is a massively realistic play, something that we’re working on,” he said. “At least top three obviously. We’re not that far behind Dixon.

“Yeah, for me, I’m working pretty hard on that right now with Benny, like I said before. But, yeah, certainly in our sights. If things happen, which I highly doubt it, Alex has been solid all year, we’ll give it a go for the whole thing.

“Absolutely our main objective right now is to get in the top three but maybe get second.”