After conquering Supercars for a third straight year, all signs point towards a career shift for Kiwi Scott McLaughlin.
The DJR-Team Penske driver was officially crowned champion, after a fifth-place finish at the iconic Bathurst 1000 in country New South Wales.
The 27-year-old has dominated the championship since his switch from Volvo to Ford in 2017 and should have been a four-time champion, if not for a brain explosion in the final race of his first season with the Shell V-Power outfit.
McLaughlin could stay in Australia and shatter every Supercars record in the books by the time he quits, but the flying Kiwi is now eyeing a much stiffer challenge in completely foreign machinery.
After dedicating his life to mastering tin-top racing, McLaughlin makes his IndyCar debut at St Petersburg, Florida next Monday for Penske's US-based team.
He's expected to make a permanent shift stateside, swapping the bump and grind of the Australian series for the high-speed thrill of a single-seater.
"If it is the end of my Supercars career, I’m completely satisfied," McLaughlin said after Sunday's 'Great Race'.
"I said I wanted to win a Bathurst, a championship and be a consistent frontrunner.
"I've got to grab this opportunity in America with both hands."
Hours earlier, McLaughlin's boss dropped a major hint that Bathurst would be the Aucklander's last full-time outing in Australia.
“Scotty has done a terrific job," said Penske. "Think about it, winning 42 percent of the races he has started with us."
McLaughlin's record in Supercars is impeccable - his 56 race wins rank fourth behind Mark Skaife, Craig Lowndes and Jamie Whincup.
His 18 wins during the 2019 season were two more than the previous record set by Lowndes in 2006. A 2017 Bathurst pole was followed by victory in 2019. With 76 pole positions, including two at Bathurst he is second only to Jamie Whincup, and he is a three-time winner of the Barry Sheene Medal for the best and fairest driver in the paddock.
But his future lies elsewhere and his extreme talent suggests he is set to follow the lead of fellow Kiwi Scott Dixon and tussle for IndyCar glory.
McLaughlin shocked Indycar onlookers in February, when he recorded the third-fastest time during a practice session at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas.
On Monday, his first job will be to deny Dixon a sixth IndyCar series title, with Penske teammate Josef Newgarden chasing down the 40-year-old NZ veteran.
Regardless of his on-track result, McLaughlin's standing within the wider Penske team is unquestioned, with the American billionaire labelling his charge "one of the most talented young guys I've seen" during a 2019 Bathurst press conference.
And while no-one at Penske is ready to confirm a 2021 switch, McLaughlin seems to have made his mind up.
"I've done everything I've wanted to achieve, regardless of how St Petersburg goes."
Join us next Monday for live updates of the IndyCar series finale from 7:30am.
