Scott McLaughlin crashes at Indy 500 before green flag in 'worst moment' of his life

Scott McLaughlin's bid to win the Indianapolis 500 ended before it had a chance to truly begin. 

The Indy 500 was delayed due to rain, but it appeared that the track had gotten to the point where Kyle Larson and other drivers, like McLaughlin, were confident enough to begin the race. As they were doing so, drivers began to swerve to warm their tires before the race began in earnest. 

While warming his tires waiting for the green flag to wave, McLaughlin seemingly lost control of his car and slammed into the wall, breaking his left tire off almost completely. He then settled about a hundred feet from the impact, with his car completely inoperable at that point. 

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After the incident, cameras spotted McLaughlin out of his car with his helmet off and his head in his hands as he came to terms with what had just happened. McLaughlin was very emotional about the situation and made it known when he spoke on FOX's broadcast about the crash. 

“I really have no idea what happened, just really upset for my team. They’ve built me a fantastic car again. 

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"I’m really sorry to my sponsors, my fans, my family. I don’t know what happened, I still can’t believe we’re out of the race. I had so much hope today.

"By far the worst moment of my life, so, I know that’s probably dramatic or whatever, but I put so much into this race, everyone does, and we didn’t get to see the green flag.”

McLaughlin was among the drivers in contention to dethrone Josef Newgarden, who won the last two Indy 500s. McLaughlin qualified in 10th and was to start on the fourth row before his crash on the formation lap.

Last year, McLaughlin had his best finish at Indianapolis in his fourth full season in IndyCar, winding up in sixth place for Team Penske. 

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McLaughlin's crash wasn't the only early drama at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. 2008 Indy 500 winner and six-time IndyCar Series champion Scott Dixon saw smoke coming out of his car shortly after McLaughlin's incident.

Dixon's team attributed the smoke to hot brakes and urged him to keep them cool, allowing him to stay in the race.

Shortly after the race went green, Marco Andretti was hit from the side entering the first turn, eventually turning around fully and slamming into the wall, ending his race without finishing a lap not under caution.