INDYCAR’s return to the Milwaukee Mile delivered a chaotic doubleheader weekend, in which Pato O’Ward swept both races. Alex Palou clinched his fifth championship and a four-way fight for second emerged ahead of the season finale.
O’Ward’s double victory in the No. 5, Arrow McLaren Chevrolet started with a late-August rain shower that suspended Saturday’s Snap-on Makers and Fixers 250 after a red flag on lap 90. Saturday’s race was scheduled to resume Sunday morning ahead of the Snap-On Milwaukee Mile 250. However, overnight rain limited the track from being race-ready at the intended start time, pushing the race to resume after race two concluded.
The weather created a unique situation for the NTT INDYCAR Series and O’Ward. He won race two while leading in race one. O’Ward’s victories cemented him in INDYCAR history as the second driver to sweep a doubleheader on the same day, following Rick Mears on June 28, 1981 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Engine penalties affected qualifying results
Saturday morning qualifying on the oval went smoothly, despite the impending weather. Each driver took two laps–each one dictating their qualifying for each race. Scott McLaughlin secured pole for race one, and Palou secured it for race two.
However, five cars received nine-place grid penalties for race one following unapproved engine changes. The No. 3 Team Penske Chevrolet, driven by McLaughlin, was one of the five cars to receive the penalty. Joining McLaughlin were Palou in the No. 10, Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, David Malukas in the No. 12 Team Penske Chevrolet and Rinus Veekay and Sting Ray Robb in the No. 76 and No. 77, Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolets respectively.
McLaughlin, Palou and Malukas qualified as the top three for race one, but the assessed penalties allowed O’Ward to take the front spot.
Snap-On Milwaukee Mile 250
With race one under a red flag, Palou led the field to green for race two, with O’Ward beside him in second. O’Ward worked his way to the front as pit strategies shuffled the running order throughout the race, with Will Power and Christian Lundgaard among those spending time at the front.
O’Ward’s crew recovered from a slower opening stop with a 6.6-second final stop, allowing him to beat McLaughlin out of the pits. Power received a penalty for speeding in pit lane, while an 11.3-second stop for Lundgaard dropped him from victory contention. O’Ward eventually inherited the lead for good on lap 196 when Santino Ferrucci made his final stop.
McLaughlin, who used one fewer pit stop than the other frontrunners, remained within striking distance as O’Ward navigated lapped traffic. O’Ward’s advantage fell from more than three seconds on lap 224 to roughly half a second five laps later as he struggled to get around Power, who was fighting to remain on the lead lap. O’Ward finally cleared Power on lap 235.
O’Ward said cautions and restarts helped him navigate traffic following his first pit stop. “I kept getting stuck out front,” he said. “Whenever the other sequences [cautions and restarts] started… I was like, ‘all right, let’s get this show on the road.’”
Lundgaard added the weather may have influenced traffic conditions. “The traffic is miserable out there. I don’t know if it’s the wind direction compared to last year that made [the outside of turns three and four] so difficult.”
O’Ward crossed the finish line 0.7916 seconds ahead of McLaughlin to earn his second victory of the season and 11th of his INDYCAR career. Lundgaard finished third for his first career oval podium, giving Arrow McLaren two drivers on the podium. Malukas finished fourth, while Palou rounded out the top five after starting from pole.
Snap-On Makers and Fixers 250
O’Ward capitalized on the promoted starting position early, leading the opening 23 laps before Malukas worked his way to the front. The two emerged as the primary contenders throughout, eventually combining to lead 212 of the race’s 250 laps.
Drivers waited out the rain after the red flag flew Saturday after lap 90. However, with track-drying efforts ongoing and limited daylight remaining, the race was suspended under red for over 24 hours.
At the restart on Sunday, Malukas and O’Ward quickly resumed their fight at the front. Christian Rasmussen, the 2025 Milwaukee Mile champion and Lundgaard briefly took turns leading during pit-stop cycles. Malukas ultimately positioned himself ahead of O’Ward for the final restart with 25 laps remaining.
Malukas led the field back to green on lap 226 but struggled to get up to speed. McLaughlin went high as O’Ward dove to the inside, sending the drivers three-wide into turn one. O’Ward emerged with the lead and held off Malukas over the remaining laps, pulling away during the final 10 to secure his second victory of the day.
“When I was behind Malukas, I was like, ‘The two podiums I’ve had have both been big wins'”, said O’Ward. “It would suck for the third one to be a second [place].”
He added to commend Malukas’ performance. “David did a phenomenal job. I thought he was going to capture me, he was doing such a great job in traffic… he’s an amazing driver.”
Malukas said he was frustrated with his engine’s performance near later points in the race. “Today, we were having some issues [with the Chevrolet engine], and yeah, there’s not much we can do about it… We truly had the fastest car.”
O’Ward took the checkered flag 1.7535 seconds ahead of Malukas, completing his sweep of the Milwaukee Mile doubleheader. The runner-up finish marked Malukas’ ninth podium since joining the series in 2022, though he still searches for his first INDYCAR victory. VeeKay finished third after starting 13th, securing his fourth podium of the season. McLaughlin recovered from his nine-position grid penalty to finish fourth, while Rasmussen rounded out the top five.
The champion: Palou’s path to his fifth series championship
Ahead of the Milwaukee doubleheader, Palou led the championship standings with a 91-point gap separating him from Freedom 250 winner Kyle Kirkwood. Palou’s fifth-place finish ahead of Kirkwood’s sixth-place finish in race two at Milwaukee increased the gap to 97 points.
Palou needed to maintain a 54-point lead ahead of Kirkwood after race one concluded to secure the victory. He secured the championship in after finishing in the top-10 and Kirkwood finishing 15th. This marked Palou’s fifth NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship win in his six years in the sport.
“The last few years have been just magical for us,” Palou said about his performance since joining Chip Ganassi Racing in 2021.
“[Palou’s] ability to constantly learn and take advantage of the resources that we have makes him competitive,” said Barry Wanser, Palou’s strategist. “What we do is not easy, and it’s great to come out on top again.”
Palou joined the legendary ranks of Sébastien Bourdais as the second driver in INDYCAR SERIES to win four consecutive championships. During this historic season, Palou raced to six victories, eight poles and 15 top-10 finishes across the series’ 18 races.
The fight for second at Laguna Seca
With the championship title clinched, a four-racer battle for second in the championship standings headed from the Midwest to the California coast. Lundgaard’s third- and sixth-place finishes at the historic oval narrowly pushed him ahead of Kirkwood and O’Ward in the standings. Malukas remained in the conversation mathematically after finishing second and fourth during the doubleheader. Only four points separated Lundgaard, Kirkwood, and O’Ward ahead of the series finale at Laguna Seca.
Lundgaard’s breakout season as the driver of the No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet started with a win in May at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course, snapping a 47-race winless drought. Then, he found his second win in an intense comeback from last to first at Road America. Driving his best and most consistent season to date, he went to California with an additional six top-5 finishes and 11 top-10 finishes.
At Laguna Seca, McLaughlin took home the first-place trophy, snapping his a winless 36 race drought. McLaughlin’s last win was September 1, 2024, in the second race of the doubleheader in Milwaukee Mile’s long-awaited INDYCAR return.
Kirkwood and Ed Carpenter Racing’s Alexander Rossi joined him on the podium in second and third, respectively. Rounding out the top five were 2026 Indianapolis 500 victor Felix Rosenqvist and Malukas.
Kirkwood secured the runner-up spot in the championship standings with 545 points following Malukas’ fifth-place, Lundgaard’s sixth-place and O’Ward’s 11th-place results. Lundgaard took the second runner-up spot with a ten-point margin separating him from Kirkwood. O’Ward and Malukas closed out the top-five in the standings.
Kirkwood, Lundgaard and Malukas finished the season with their career-best championship standings.
Looking ahead to the 2027 season
With six cars vacant in the off-season and driver contracts expiring, notable names like Veekay and Lundgaard, combined with young talent from the INDYNXT series, are left searching for seats. However, teams have plenty of time to finalize starters ahead of the 2027 season opener on Sunday, March 7, 2027, at the Streets of St. Petersburg.
The first phase of the 2027 NTT INDYCAR SERIES schedule will feature the same courses that introduced the 2026 season, with slight changes to the April and May schedule. The road course challenge at Barber Motorsports Park moves ahead of the Streets of Long Beach, leaving May strictly for the excitement surrounding the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course and the 111th running of the Indianapolis 500.
While INDYCAR has yet to make the official announcement, Road America said INDYCAR will return to the famous 4.048-mile Wisconsin road course from June 24-27, 2027, for another running of the XPEL Grand Prix.
Milwaukee Mile and INDYCAR have not yet confirmed a potential 2027 return date.