McLaughlin takes the round win amongst Michigan Madness

Scott McLaughlin has taken the round victory for the penultimate round of the Supercars Eseries at Michigan International Speedway thanks to a win in the final race of the night, sealing an overdue win in the DJR Team Penske #17 car.

After gaining experience earlier in the year at oval tracks thanks to his stellar performance in the Indycar iRacing Series, McLaughlin used that knowledge to put in consistent performances throughout the night and deliver when it mattered as his main championship rival fell on hard luck.

Back on Australian soil and in quarantine after being stuck in New Zealand, Shane van Gisbergen took his seventh Eseries pole and led the field to the green flag at Michigan.

McLaughlin was able to get the car past van Gisbergen on the outside down the back stretch, Anton de Pasquale tucking his Erebus car under the bumper of the Mustang to try and break away from van Gisbergen in third.

van Gisbergen dropped a bunch of spots only a few laps in after being spun by Macaulay Jones, the Brad Jones Racing pilot getting loose at Turn 2 which sent him into the door of the #97, triggering a large accident early in the outing.

Lee Holdsworth was able to get amongst the lead battle by tagging his Tickford Racing car on to the back of the front pair, unfortunately dropping spots after tagging the Turn 3 wall which elevated Bryce Fullwood’s Walkinshaw Andretti United car to third.

The field started to bottle up behind McLaughlin with just under ten laps to go and compulsory pit stops still to be taken, the biggest mover coming in the shape of van Gisbergen who fought back from his earlier crash to get back to the top five.

Lap 20 saw the lead group all come in for their one and only stop, all skating their Supercars into the lane on the brakes to try and make up as much time as possible. McLaughlin got out in front of de Pasquale with Fabian Coulthard acting as tailgunner to his DJR Team Penske team-mate in third.

With under five laps to run, van Gisbergen got back up to third place and started to range up on McLaughlin and de Pasquale who were too busy battling each other to cover the hard charging Kiwi, making a three-wide move into the last turn to take the lead and win the race.

Rick Kelly took the green flag in the Kelly Racing Mustang at the start of race two, quickly being overtaken by Jamie Whincup who moved into the lead for Triple Eight while his race one winning team-mate had to fight from the back.

McLaughlin and de Pasquale got themselves inside the top ten but the Kiwi had to yield a few spots after getting caught up in a five-wide tangle, the crash hitting van Gisbergen who found himself back down in 15th. The safety car was called out on lap 11 to condense the field, letting the pack stop while everything settled itself back down.

While battling for the lead, de Pasquale ended up worse off after making contact with Coulthard off the restart, spinning to the inside of the track and dropping to the back of the order.

van Gisbergen got back into the lead with McLaughlin as a drafting partner, Coulthard splitting the pair on the outsideas the Kiwi trio were trailled by Fullwood, waiting for the top order to make a mistake.

Despite being a lap down, Whincup got himself caught up in the lead battle, ending up making contact with Coulthard and barely missing his team-mate who retained first place as Fullwood pushed harder to take the top spot.

With a time certain finish, van Gisbergen was able to hold on for the win, pipping Fullwood to the chequered flag while McLaughlin took third after being held up by Whincup in the final few laps.

The leading pair in the championship started from the front row for the final, 45 lap race with van Gisbergen getting the edge into Turn 1 over Fullwood who went side-by-side with McLaughlin.

Chaz Mostert was able to throw his WAU car into first place after getting a good run on team-mate Fullwood and van Gisbergen, losing speed on the Turn 2 exit thanks to a slide but still fighting amongst the top pack as everyone fought for position.

On lap 16, van Gisbergen took his pit stop, coming out with fresh air and out of sequence with the rest of the pack who continued to push on out front. It wasn’t until lap 21 with Mostert coming into the lane that another driver from the lead pack came in to take on fuel and tyres while the front bunch still battled away.

de Pasquale was next to blink on lap 27 as McLaughlin, Fullwood and Le Brocq all came in on the next tour, rejoining the track with van Gisbergen leading the way from Mostert, Pye and Garry Jacobson’s Matt Stone Racing entry, trailled by McLaughlin.

In a one-stop race, van Gisbergen took a second pit stop on lap 31, having hoped earlier in the race for a safety car but it didn’t come, leaving McLaughlin to inherit the lead as Fullwood fought to stay on the lead lap after an earlier drama.

While his title rival van Gisbergen was fighting to get into the top 15, McLaughlin was starting to be hunted down by de Pasquale and Mostert in second and third, both out of contention for the championship but desperate for a race win.

A mix up on the back stretch with just four laps to run saw de Pasquale spun for the second time in the night, Mostert making contact with the back of the Erebus car and earning a drive-through penalty for his trouble, not taking the hit until the final lap which allowed McLaughlin to take the victory, his first since round five.

Jack Le Brocq was able to come home in a strong second while wildcard Jordan Boys got himself on the last step of the podium, a strong result for the young gun. de Pasquale ended up in seventh while van Gisbergen lost the round win thanks to his finish outside the top ten.

Just 72 points now splits championship leader van Gisbergen and McLaughlin as they head into the final round of the series, a two track hit-out at the much missed Oran Park and Australia’s home of motorsport, Mount Panorama.