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Arrow McLaren’s Pato O'Ward took a cheeky dig at Scott McLaughlin's FOX graphic weeks after Colton Herta did the same. Herta, O’Ward, and McLaughlin appeared before the media on Friday, March 21 at the Thermal Club. A clip from the interview about the Team Penske driver's graphic was shared on YouTube by Frontstretch.
Colton Herta took to social media platform X after the maiden IndyCar race of the 2025 season at St. Pete and uploaded a picture of Scott McLaughlin's FOX graphic. The revamped graphics of the post-session results made McLaughlin's picture look a bit scary with a big forehead and a serious look.
Herta uploaded the same on X with a post that read,
“If I wake up in a cold sweat tonight you know why”
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A reporter at the Thermal Club interview asked Herta whether he felt safe sitting next to Scott McLaughlin, referencing his post about McLaughlin on X. O'Ward took this opportunity to take a hilarious jab at the Team Penske driver which led to a jovial exchange between the three drivers.
“They did you so dirty man. I think they fixed it and I think it's because of you,” said Pato O'Ward
“I heard, my wife texted me. Colton texted me about it,” replied Scott McLaughlin.
Colton Herta sarcastically added, “ I thought the head looked a little too small.”
“Can land a helicopter on it,” said the Arrow McLaren driver
“Yeah, I know. It's kind of accurate though, I do have a big forehead,” replied McLaughlin
“But not that big, don't do yourself so dirty,” said O’Ward to conclude the conversation.
FOX took over the exclusive broadcasting rights of IndyCar from NBC starting in 2025 and introduced new graphics and commercials for the same. However, the cartoon graphics backfired for McLaughlin as Herta and O'Ward doubled up to take a dig at the Team Penske driver. However, the broadcaster has now fixed the issue.
Pato O'Ward detailed the importance of strategy at IndyCar's Thermal Club race
The 2025 Thermal Club race will be the first time that IndyCar drivers will be competing in a full-distance championship race around the 3.067-mile circuit. The 2024 race was an exhibition race i.e. $1 Million challenge which was only 20 laps long.
Pato O'Ward detailed how the tire strategy will make or break the race for the drivers, as he said, (via Racer)
“Whoever wins will be thanking his strategist. Strategy is going to be a big, big teller to how results end up playing out.”
“I think qualifying will be important, but I think strategy is going to have a way bigger sway in things, especially because we’ve never done a full race distance there. So everyone’s going to be just learning, learning, learning throughout the race.”
What adds to the conundrum is that Firestone will be bringing new tires compound this weekend. The primary hard rubber will last longer than last year's hard one, and the new alternate softer tires will also be brought. Conor Daly suggested that it might as be a four-stop race.
