Scott McLaughlin entered Sunday hungry for his first Indy 500 win, but he'll be leaving Indiana after having the "worst day of [his] life."
McLaughlin crashed before the 109th running of the Indianapolis 500 took the green flag. The New Zealander spun his tires while trying to heat them up during the warmup lap, which caused him to crash into the inside wall.
McLaughlin, who started on pole last year, finished dead last. Alex Palou won the race, his first Indy 500 victory. McLaughlin's teammate Josef Newgarden also did not finish due to mechanical issues, while Will Power finished, albeit a lap down.
The former Supercars champ says he doesn't really understand how the slip up happened, but dropping temperatures on a track that had just seen some rain couldn't have helped.
McLaughlin was clearly devastated, understandably so. As he got out of his wrecked race car, he crouched to the ground and put his hands over his face for several seconds before leaving the scene.
He was gracious enough to talk to the media for some time after the mortifying moment, where he still seemed stunned on how the crash could have happened.
"By far the worst moment of my life," McLaughlin told reporters. "This is everything to us and I didn't even see the green flag. Heart is broken into a million pieces."
The seven-time IndyCar winner has amassed a big following for his confidence and sense of humor, and seeing him so downtrodden was not a typical sight for fans.
McLaughlin sent out a tweet, where he apologized to his team and supporters a couple hours after the incident.
McLaughlin was the lone Penske car who was not sent to the rear of the field for illegal changes made to the car. He also told the media that he felt badly for the team having built him "two" good cars, referencing a practice crash he suffered a week ago.
The driver of the No. 3 car will at least have a race to immediately look forward to: the Chevy Detroit Grand Prix goes off next Sunday, June 1.