Max McLaughlin will get a chance at redemption on Saturday evening at World Wide Technology Raceway (WWTR) at Gateway for his second start in the shadow of the Gateway Arch. The driver of the No. 1 Gates Hydraulics, Napa Belts and Hoses Toyota Camry comes to the St. Louis metro area on the strength of his best finish of 2020 last Friday at Dover International Speedway and looks to match his car owner Shige Hattori as a Gateway winner. McLaughlin looks to make amends after his Gateway debut ended on the opening lap last season and outdo his career-best finish of fourth on tracks one mile in length or larger.
Picking Up Steam … After running six races across two series in the ARCA Menards Series, McLaughlin and the No. 1 team are beginning to find their groove and pick up steam. Last Friday at Dover, “Mad Max” posted his best result of the season, a fourth place run in his second start at “The Monster Mile”. In his last four appearances, McLaughlin has delivered finishes of seventh or better. He’ll look to stretch that streak to five races and elevate his season-best finish on Saturday at WWTR.
Chassis Selection … McLaughlin will pilot chassis No. 002 for the second-consecutive week on Saturday evening. This Toyota Camry has made three starts this season, all of which have resulted in top-10 finishes, including a fourth-place result at Dover last week. Dating back to this chassis’ debut in the HRE stable last season, McLaughlin’s best finish at the controls of chassis No. 002 was a pair of thirds at South Boston Speedway in 2019.
Tune In … MAVTV will have live coverage of McLaughlin’s second start at WWTR beginning at 6:00 p.m. ET on Saturday evening, and will also be streamed online on NBC Sports Gold TRACKPass. Stay connected with McLaughlin and the No. 1 team by following @Hattori_Racing on Twitter, @hattoriracing on Instagram, and Hattori Racing Enterprises on Facebook.
Max McLaughlin Quote:On the team’s upward trend entering Gateway“I feel like Gateway might owe us one after last year. We had a really good car and got caught up in a mess on the first lap. We made some gains with our Camry last week at Dover and feel like we have a good direction to work in. This is the same car we had at Gateway last year and we were definitely strong in practice. It’s a fun place to get around because the two ends are so different and it’s a unique challenge as a driver. It’s awesome to have Gates Hydraulics and Napa Belts and Hoses on board this weekend for the first time. They’re going to have quite a few people in the stands this weekend, so it’ll be nice to have some folks in our corner rooting for us.”
HRE PR
