CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Scott McLaughlin was supposed to leave Australia for the United States this month to make his IndyCar debut on the road course at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
With sports on hold because of the coronavirus pandemic, the two-time V8 SuperCars champion's original plan was postponed.
McLaughlin instead settled for a virtual victory Saturday on the oval at IMS - his second win of IndyCar's six-event series with iRacing - after a wild finish in which most of the leaders crashed as they rushed toward the checkered flag.
"Unbelievable," McLaughlin said. "I was literally just hoping there was going to be a wreck at the end. I thought we were going to be third, and then the three wrecked and we won."
McLaughlin celebrated in the seat of his simulator in Australia with a glass of cold milk, a nod to the traditional victory celebration at the Indianapolis 500. He declined to pour it over his head while sitting in his expensive rig.
Formula One driver Lando Norris, winner of last week's IndyCar virtual race, was headed for what appeared a 1-2-3 podium sweep for the Arrow McLaren SP entries on the final lap. But Norris ran into the back of Simon Pagenaud, a two-time iRacing winner and the 2019 Indy 500 champion, to take himself out of contention.
Then Oliver Askew and Pato O'Ward crashed, cars sailed airborne and McLaughlin slid through the carnage to give Team Penske drivers their fourth win in the virtual series. McLaughlin and Pagenaud won twice, and Norris and Sage Karam were the other winners of this series created for content while IndyCar is on hold.
AP photo by Eric Gay / IndyCar driver Scott McLaughlin, right, jokes with his crew and visitors during testing on Feb. 11 in Austin, Texas.Conor Daly finished second and was followed by Santino Ferrucci, who figured there would be a lot of angry drivers after the 175-mile race.
"So many people are going to be salty over that," Ferrucci said. "It's a video game. Let's try to have some fun."
Daly, who has earned new fame through the iRacing series for his colorful commentary on his in-race stream, again delivered with one-liners during the action and a humorous speech afterward.
"Quite a day on the internet today. It was an electric factory of a race. It was hilarious at the same time. I think we were involved in three accidents," Daly said.
He then walked viewers through his setup from his Indianapolis home: "I am sitting on one of four kitchen table chairs that is from downstairs. There is a mattress behind me; there's not really much room for a simulator. My pedals are currently being supported by a box with a big, full thing of batteries on top of it because that provided some extra weight and stability. So yeah, pretty technological setup here in the Conor Daly Tech Center."
The field of 33 gave 29 guaranteed slots to full-time IndyCar competitors, plus Norris, McLaughlin and part-time series driver Sage Karam based on their victories in previous iRacing events.
The final four slots were determined Wednesday in a special qualifying session and went to Scott Speed, Stefan Wilson, James Davison and RC Enerson. Those who tried to make the race but did not were Robert Wickens, who had raced the past four iRacing rounds, and 2019 NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Busch, who finished 13th in his IndyCar iRacing debut.
Also absent from the field were fan favorite James Hinchcliffe, as well as Kyle Kaiser, Felipe Nasr and Spencer Pigot, who had all participated in previous IndyCar iRacing events.
AP photo by Christian Bruna / Red Bull driver Max Verstappen wins the Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring race track in Spielberg on June 30, 2019. Formula One hopes to finally begin its 2020 season at the same site with a doubleheader.F1: Double debut in the works
PARIS - Formula One hopes to finally start its season with a doubleheader in the naturally isolated environment around the venue for the Austrian Grand Prix.
Despite the first 10 races having been canceled or postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic, the targeted start date is July 5 in Austria. F1 still envisages holding 15 to 18 of the 22 scheduled Grand Prix races for the international circuit.
One way to make up for lost time is having consecutive weekends at one site, like the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, Austria. F1 manager director of motorsports Ross Brawn said this is a "real consideration" so long as iron-tight safety regulations are met.
"One of the logistical challenges is getting everyone tested and cleared to enter the racing environment," he told an official F1 podcast. "We can contain everyone within that environment, and therefore once we are there it is appealing to have another race the following week."
The Red Bull Ring's location in the Styrian mountains makes it naturally isolated.
"It's pretty challenging to find the right sort of races early on where we can control the environment well enough to ensure the safety of everyone," Brawn added. "Austria fits that bill very well. It has a local airport right next to the circuit, where people can charter planes into. It's not too close to a metropolis."
It is unclear where F1 would race after Austria, if it even goes ahead.
The British GP is set to follow on July 19, and organizers are talking to the government about the viability of holding that race without fans. Silverstone would also reportedly be able to hold consecutive races.
The season could then continue later in the summer in Hungary, where the Hungaroring circuit is nestled in the countryside outside Budapest; and Belgium, where the Spa-Francorchamps track is within the Ardennes forest. The idea is then to move into Eurasia, Asia, and the Americas before concluding with Bahrain and Abu Dhabi in the Persian Gulf.
"It's important for us to try and get the season going. One reason is to excite the fans," Brawn said. "But it is (also) a very important livelihood for thousands of people."
Guenther Steiner, the team principal of the Haas F1 team, cautiously argued in favor of giving Austria the green light.
"I think Austria is a very good place to start," Steiner said Friday in a video interview. "They have got the disease well under control at the moment, and we just need to make sure that we don't bring it back."
Steiner also thinks consecutive races could be held there.
"I think it's realistic. I don't know so much about what is coming after," he said. "Let's hope we can get official (clearance) and we get also a good follow-up plan."