Despite holding a 142-point lead over DJR Team Penske teammate Fabian Coulthard and 322 over Red Bull Holden's Shane Van Gisbergen in third, McLaughlin knows it's too early to take his foot off the accelerator.

He held a commanding lead in the 2017 championship heading into Bathurst, only for things to go wrong in the final races of the year and eventually finishing second to seven-time champion Jamie Whincup by just 21 points.

"The only thing I can control coming into this weekend is myself and how I react in the car' McLaughlin said.

"I know we've had a very strong start to the year but it's still really early, so I've just got to execute the best I can.

"The races I've won I've executed the best and got the win and then even when I haven't won, I've had strong finishes and that's put us in a very good spot, but it's a long way to go.

"Winton is good, it's not a favourite track but I've done really well here.

"It's a great place for the fans, the camping grounds - the caravans and campers are really cool, so it's a great atmosphere.

"It brings out the colour in Supercars and the fans that come here are great."

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McLaughlin has a strong record at North East Victorian track, and, in the last two years, he's finished every race inside the top-five, winning once in 2017.

But with the change from the Ford Falcon to the new Mustang, he has dominated this year, winning eight of the 12 races so far, despite the category clipping the Mustang's wings a couple of times to slow it down.

After losing to Whincup at the last race of 2017, McLaughlin turned the tables by beating Whincup's teammate, Shane Van Gisbergen, to the title in the last race of 2018.

Having endured two pressure cooker years, he says the difference it has made to his driving and his ability to keep focused is significant.

"A character building couple of years," McLaughlin said.

"It's not until you are put in those situations that you know how well you can manage it."

"Bathurst 2017 was a massive disappointment and then to lose the title at Newcastle was another big disappointment, and both of those occasions you just have to adapt to the pressure.

"You are constantly learning the whole time.

"Then when it got to the last few rounds of 2018 and the pressure was really on for both me and Shane (Van Gisbergen), everything that I'd learnt when it was hard the year before - the hardest time of my life - I felt like I grew as a driver and got to the point where I was able to capitalise on all that learning."

"We were able to execute perfectly last year under the pressure and Red Bull didn't, and we won the title - so I think that speaks for itself."

Supercars have two races this weekend, with race one at 3:50pm on Saturday and race two at 1.45pm on Sunday.