Written by Sean McKean
Despite the strength that McLaughlin and Penske showed at the beginning, it was Pato O’Ward who secured a dominant victory in IndyCar’s return to the Milwaukee Mile. Will Power finished second whilst Alex Palou finished fifth – further closing the gap between the top two.
As it unfolded
Scott McLauglin kept the lead off the start, but a few drivers made up massive ground with the strong high-line. Conor Daly made up 11 spots and Santino Ferrucci nine spots by Lap 6 respectively.
When McLaughlin started catching lapped traffic, however, second-placed Linus Lundqvist got right to the Kiwi’s gearbox. Lundqvist managed to take the lead – with help ahead by lapped teammate Kyffin Simpson – on Lap 46.
Pit cycles began on Lap 60, and although Lundqvist had the quicker pit stop, an off-pace outlap meant that McLaughlin reassumed the lead.
The first caution of the race came out on Lap 83 for Katherine Legge going for a spin off Turn 2. She continued with minor damage.
Under the caution flag, everyone elected to pit bar McLaughlin and Sting Ray Robb. A slow stop from Will Power allowed Alex Palou to leapfrog him. Palou now sat in seventh with Power in 12th.
McLaughlin led them away on Lap 96, holding the lead whilst Robb fell behind Colton Herta and Patricio O’Ward.
A battle waged between Herta and O’Ward by Lap 115 with O’Ward coming out on top. The Mexican then took the lead from McLaughlin four laps later.
At the halfway point, the top five consisted of O’Ward, McLaughlin, Herta, Santino Ferrucci, and Alexander Rossi.
The next batch of pit cycles began on Lap 136. No major issues occurred, as O’Ward kept the lead followed by Josef Newgarden and Marcus Ericsson.
But, Ericsson and Newgarden came together off Turn 2 while battling for position on Lap 145. The Swede appeared to have drifted up the track, sending both into a spin and into the wall. This crash put both drivers out of the race.
The green flag came back out on Lap 158, and O’Ward got the jump on now second-placed Alex Palou.
The last batch of pit stops began on Lap 185, but mid-cycle, the caution came out. With a loose wheel, Colton Herta had a left-front tyre come off – resulting in a caution that left many frontrunners out of order. Pivotally, however, Will Power now led the race whilst Palou lingered in seventh and one lap. Once the running order resolved, the top three consisted of O’Ward, Ferrucci, and Power.
O’Ward led away on the Lap 204 restart, keeping the lead over Ferrucci.
Despite pressure from Will Power towards the end, Pato O’Ward secured his third win of the season at Milwaukee. Power settled for second – a great result in pursuit of the title. Conor Daly finished third to take his first podium for Juncos.
Provisional Results:
O’Ward
Power
Daly
Ferrucci
Palou
Lundqvist
Rossi
McLaughlin
Lundgaard
Dixon
Rasmussen
Kirkwood
Rosenqvist
VeeKay
Malukas
Harvey
Siegel
Fittipaldi
Legge
Rahal
Armstrong
Herta
Robb
Grosjean
Simpson
Ericsson
Newgarden
Commentaires