Scott McLaughlin has to be one of the most fascinating drivers in IndyCar, having transformed from a raw touring car convert to Team Penske's top-scoring 2023 driver in the space of three years.
Yes, Penske has one of the series' best cars, but remember prior to his IndyCar debut at the back-end of 2020 McLaughlin had just a handful of Australian Formula Ford starts a decade before for single-seater experience and now already has four IndyCar wins and five poles in 51 starts over three full years.
And to top it all off, his second-place finish in the Laguna Seca finale helped him leap from fifth to third in the 2023 standings.
His Laguna Seca drive was spectacular. He was dumped off at Turn 2 and put to the back of the field twice for things that weren’t really his fault and still came back to second in the race.
He was aggressive when needed but also raced cleverly, working his way through a pack seemingly hellbent on causing chaos.
"We're gonna make this work."