Scott McLaughlin leads Indy 500 open test amid Kyle Larson and Takuma Sato’s major crashes

The ongoing 2025 Indy 500 open test is in its final day at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and Scott McLaughlin is currently leading the pack. The Team Penske driver is sitting pretty at the top by pulling off the fastest lap in the morning session at 232.686 mph.

This comes in light of the two big crashes courtesy of NASCAR legend Kyle Larson and IndyCar legend Takuma Sato. During the morning session, both Larson and Sato lost control over their respective cars. Renowned motorsport journalist Bob Pockrass posted the results from Day 2 on his X (formerly Twitter) handle.

The 2021 NASCAR Cup Series Champion's crash took place while exiting Turn 1 and into Turn 2, whereas Sato also had his issues in Turn 1 that led to him ramming his #75 RLL car into the barriers.

Interestingly, Takuma Sato completed the fastest non-tow lap before his crash. Sato had put on board a speed of 232.565 mph, which was followed by Kyle Kirkwood (231.464 mph) and Louis Foster (230.263 mph).

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Scott McLaughlin's take on his first day at the Indy 500 open test

Scott McLaughlin drives during the NTT INDYCAR Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg - Source: Getty

While Scott McLaughlin topped the morning session on Day 2 of the 2025 Indy 500 open test, he talked about his Day 1 outing in detail yesterday. He sat down for an exclusive conversation with IndyCar.

"Not too bad, it was a little bit up and down, you just get in, sort of feel the car, and where everything is at. It's always nice to drive at the Speedway, you know, it's cool to be back in the yellow sub with Pennzoil and the car feels pretty good, so yeah, nice start," McLaughlin said.

The 31-year-old had the following to say regarding his 2024 Indy 500 pole position:

"It was super cool, I mean, the rain delay after you know, before the race, I was like damn you know like, my first time on pole and everyone is going to be out on the stands and it's going to be half empty and it was so amazing to see." (0:42 onwards)

In last year's edition of the 200-lap Indy 500, Scott McLaughlin was able to manage a sixth-place finish. His Team Penske teammate, Josef Newgarden, on the other hand, triumphed in the event.

Next month's Indy 500 could prove to be vital for McLaughlin to climb up in the drivers' standings. He is currently in eighth place with 69 points, but the gap between him and the front runners is quite big.

Alex Palou is leading the standings with 142 points and has a handsome 34-point lead over Andretti Global's Kyle Kirkwood in second place with 108 points. Arrow McLaren's Christian Lundgaard follows in a close third place with 96 points.