Scott McLaughlin addresses potential visit to the White House after Donald Trump honored his Team Penske teammates

Team Penske star Scott McLaughlin featured on the latest episode of the Pit Pass Indy podcast and addressed the possibility of visiting the White House and meeting Donald Trump. McLaughlin's teammate, Josef Newgarden, and other Team Penske drivers met the US President earlier this month.

Team Penske owner Roger Penske, along with his drivers, visited the White House on April 9, 2025, where they met with Donald Trump. Josef Newgarden, Ryan Blaney, Joey Logano, and the IMSA team that won the Daytona 24 Hours were present at the White House.

Josef Newgarden’s Indy 500 winning #2 Chevrolet, Joey Logano’s 2024 Championship winning #22 Ford Mustang, and the #7 Penske Porsche 963 GTP driven by Nick Tandy, Felipe Nasr, and Laurens Vanthoor at Rolex 24 at Daytona also featured at the White House.

The host of the podcast detailed the same and suggested that Scott McLaughlin will get the opportunity to visit the White House if he wins the 109th running of the Indy 500. McLaughlin was then questioned, how big an honour it would be to visit the White House and meet the President.

“A huge honor. Regardless if you're red or blue, I think it's to go to the White House and see the history of the country and to be honored like that by probably the most important person in the world would be a huge honor for me and someone that finds it's a privilege to live here in a country this big and with this much opportunity. So let's just win the 500 first, but I would 100% take up the invitation to go to the White House,” replied Scott McLaughlin (30:30 onwards)

Scott McLaughlin took the pole position at the 2024 Indy 500 but was unable to convert it into a win. Nonetheless, the Kiwi driver still beat the record for setting the fastest ever qualifying time at the Indy 500.

Scott McLaughlin on signing a multi-year contract extension with Team Penske

Scott McLaughlin has been the highest finishing Team Penske driver in the IndyCar series for the last couple of seasons. The Kiwi driver finished third in the 2023 and 2024 championships. Hence, Team Penske signing a new contract with McLaughlin was a no-brainer.

The Kiwi driver announced his contract extension with the Team at the season opener, i.e., the Grand Prix of St Petersburg. McLaughlin posted the update on his social media with a post that read,

“We’re LIVE and ready for a big 2025! Signed a long term extension in the off-season with @Team_Penske and have been absolutely 100% focused on prep for this year. Let’s kick this season off right! STRAIGHT. TO. THE. MOON. #Thirsty3s”

During the press conference at St. Pete, McLaughlin detailed that he had signed the contract during the offseason.