Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward won the opening race of the doubleheader weekend at The Milwaukee Mile. After starting sixth, the 25-year-old Mexican surged forward and controlled the race for 133 of 250 laps at the historic 1-mile oval, a track the series hadn’t raced at since 2015. It was the third victory of the season for O’Ward, who finished 1.8215s ahead of Team Penske’s Will Power.
“We get another one, that’s three in the books this year,” O’Ward said. “We had a really tough weekend last weekend at Portland, and this is a great way to bounce back. We have another opportunity tomorrow. The car was fantastic; it was getting a little gnarly in the end, but glad I could bring it home for the boys. They were fantastic on pit stops, the strategy was amazing. We worked on the car really hard yesterday to really have something to fight with today.”
A late caution during a pit cycle shook up some of the frontrunners, including Conor Daly, who ended up on the podium and gave Juncos Hollinger Racing its best-ever finish in third. AJ Foyt Racing’s Santino Ferrucci was fourth, followed by Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou in fifth.
The championship lead for Palou shrunk to 43 points over Power as a result (514-471).
The Race
While the initial start was waved off, McLaughlin was able to quickly gap the field once the green flag waved on lap 2. The biggest mover out of the gate was Juncos Hollinger Racing’s Conor Daly, who used the high lane to take several three-wide passes and charge from 25th up to 15th in the opening 10 laps.
The frantic start quickly settled in, with McLaughlin holding a 0.9095s lead over Lundqvist on lap 20 as they began to catch backmarkers.
Deeper in the field saw Newgarden, who qualified second but dropped nine starting spots as a result of penalty for an engine change, sitting 10th but running the lower less-preferred line with no apparent urgency to go on the attack on the likes of Felix Rosenqvist and Marcus Ericsson in eighth and ninth, respectively.
Moments later, though, Newgarden got around Ericsson and set sights on Rosenqvist in the buildup to lap 40.
At lap 40, the lead for McLaughlin widened to 2.6184s over Lundqvist, with Malukas in third at 4.4s back.
The continued navigation of backmarkers saw McLaughlin’s lead continue to accordion over Lundqvist, with falling to 0.5453s on lap 45.
Lundqivst made an inside lunge for the lead into Turn 1 on lap 48, but faded back after the unsuccessful attempt. The Swede gathered it back up, though, and made another inside attempt and this time got by McLaughlin into Turn 1 to take the lead of the race.
Pit stops began with Arrow McLaren rookie Nolan Siegel diving in for service on lap 54. He was followed by teammate Alexander Rossi, along with the Juncos Hollinger Racing duo of Grosjean and Daly diving to pit lane four laps later.
The lead for Lundqvist expanded to 4.6209s over McLaughlin by lap 61 as several other cars opted for pit road, including championship leader Alex Palou.
McLaughlin and Malukas pitted on lap 65. Lundqivst pitted a lap later, handing the lead to Pato O’Ward.
The green flag pit stops wrapped up on lap 71, with O’Ward still leading by 0.6525s over Colton Herta. Meanwhile, McLaughlin cycled out third with Lundqvist in fourth.
By lap 78, Herta took the lead over O’Ward entering Turn 3. However, the caution came out on lap 83 after Katherine Legge spun in Turn 2. She would continue on without sustaining any contact.
This set up pit stops for most of the field on lap 87, with the lone exception being McLaughlin, who stayed out and assumed the lead.
McLaughlin led the field the restart on lap 95, with Herta and O’Ward behind and battling intensely for second. There was a new player in fourth with AJ Foyt Racing’s Santino Ferrucci, who was ahead of Rossi.
McLaughlin remained untouched at the front, holding a 0.6491s lead over O’Ward, who got around Herta just moments prior.
O’Ward then pushed by McLaughlin with an inside pass into Turn 1 just four laps later. The advantage at the halfway mark grew to 2.6253s by O’Ward.
Lap 138 saw McLaughlin pit from the second spot, with Herta pitting two laps later. O’Ward dove to pit lane for service on lap 142 and came out with a 5.0030s lead over Newgarden, who went for the undercut and pitted on lap 131.
However, the caution came on lap 147 as Newgarden came together with Marcus Ericsson while battling for second into Turn 2. Ericsson was on the inside of Newgarden as the two were wheel–to-wheel before touching and spinning into the wall. Palou’s trend of luck this season continued as he trailed the two drivers but squeaked by without incident.
O’Ward led the field to the restart on lap 157, with Palou in second, followed by Power.
The top spot continued to be held by O’Ward on lap 170, with a gap of 0.8535s over Palou.
While O’Ward continued to lead on lap 180, the second spot became contested as Power started to apply the pressure on Palou as they navigated through traffic.
The final caution
Several cars dove to pit lane on lap 184, with O’Ward pitting the following lap. In the midst of the sequence, though, the caution came out on lap 187 after Herta’s left-front tire came off while in the blend lane. Power was slotted as the leader, ahead of Daly, Lundqvist and O’Ward.
Power pitted from the lead on lap 195, with Daly and Lundqvist following in for service. O’Ward assumed the race lead as a result, with Ferrucci slotted second and Power coming back out in third.
O’Ward brought the field to the green flag on lap 203.
The lead for O’Ward widened to 2.4481s over Ferrucci by lap 210. Ferrucci reeled in O’Ward to within 1.5550s by lap 220. The fight for the runner-up spot was on as Power went inside of Ferrucci with 28 laps to go, pushing wide off Turn 4 and forcing Ferrucci to fall back to fourth as Daly also got by.
Palou also took advantage as Ferrucci struggled to regain pace and dropped to fifth with 25 laps to go. Ferrucci, though, fought back and reclaimed the spot moments later.
Power closed O’Ward’s advantage to 0.8280s on lap 231, while Daly was a not-so-distant third at 1.7s back.
The lead dwindled as O’Ward hit quicker lapped traffic, with his gap falling to 0.3s with 13 laps to go.
O’Ward continued to cruise out front, remaining in control through the checkered flag.
