The first race of IndyCar’s double-header weekend was initially delayed by rain showers in the area.
Drivers climbed into their cars on pit road of the historic Milwaukee Mile roughly one hour after they originally planned and set off
At the start of the event, Pato O’Ward led the way from the green flag down into Turn 1.
READ MORE: IndyCar Milwaukee 1 – Full Race Results
Then after 22 laps, Felix Rosenqvist got a run and made a move to the inside and took the lead for himself.
One pit cycle was completed, and O’Ward jumped back into the lead, just in time for rain to delay the race again. It came hard enough that cars were pushed back to the garage area on lap 90 and did not return to speed 25 hours and 40 minutes.
The lengthy delay meant that the entire second race of the double-header weekend was run during the red flag, and Pato O’Ward took victory in that event.
Once Race 1 resumed on Sunday evening, O’Ward and David Malukas took turns leading the field.
At the checkered flag, it was O’Ward who prevailed and earned a second win just a few hours after claiming victory in the other double-header race.
The popular Mexican driver jumped ahead of Malukas on the final restart and ran away with the win.
O’Ward celebrated with donuts on the front straight, and then jumped into his crew’s arms in victory lane.
Malukas’ Team Penske crew used expert strategy to bring him to the pits early and utilize the powerful undercut.
Strategy proved unhelpful on the final restart, however, and he had to settle for second for the seventh time without yet getting a win.
Rinus VeeKay was third across the line, capping off an impressive weekend with a podium drive.
Championship-winning effort
Even though Alex Palou was not near the front of the race at any portion of the event, he still did what he needed to do.
He logged a top five result in the earlier race, and used those points combined with the ones he earned from finishing in 10th in this race to clinch the championship.
Palou surely would have liked to secure his fourth consecutive title with a dominant race win, but he was still pleased as could be to clinch the trophy early. He now has a triple-digit lead over Kyle Kirkwood, which is insurmountable.
Alex Palou is now one of only three drivers to have earned five IndyCar championships, joining A.J. Foyt and Scott Dixon as drivers to have achieved the milestone.
The Spaniard celebrated heartily with donuts on the front straight, even though he had just taken a new Honda engine to start the weekend.
It is unknown if he will need to take another fresh engine and the associated penalty for the season finale in Laguna Seca.
Just off the podium
Scott McLaughlin was in the top few positions for the majority of the race, but fell just off the podium in the final laps.
With a tight group of drivers battling on the final restart, McLaughlin was the one to lose out and was shuffled down one position into fourth.
Last year’s winner Christian Rasmussen was fifth across the line, showing yet again he has impressive oval skills.
After finishing on the podium earlier in the day, Christian Lundgaard was sixth at the conclusion of the second race of the day.
Josef Newgarden crashed during the race earlier on Sunday with a mistake that sent him into the wall, but he rebounded nicely during this race.
He was fourth at the red flag break, but ended the day in seventh.
Newgarden was also the last in a long line of Chevy drivers, with the American manufacturer taking the top seven positions just hours after sweeping the podium in the prior race.
Clean running, mostly
Despite having a lengthy delay that was not restful at all, drivers were largely composed during the race.
The only yellow flag during Saturday’s portion was for rain, and there no further cautions until the conclusion neared in Sunday’s portion.
Mick Schumacher was the one to bring out the caution when he spun coming off Turn 4.
Amazingly, he kept his #47 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda off the wall and simply spun down the main straight in a cloud of smoke.
The IndyCar rookie spun his car around without assistance and continued on to finish in 12th.
Will Power had been running fourth with just 50 laps remaining when he got up into the marbles in Turn 4.
He drifted all the way to the outside wall and tagged it hard enough to break a toe link. It was a disappointing end to the weekend for Power.
Just a few laps later, Caio Collet also tagged the wall. He was in the middle of a three-wide battle and touched Josef Newgarden while exiting Turn 4.
Collet hit the wall hard and came to a rest just past the finish line. He was already a couple laps down, but it was not the ending the rookie wanted to have.
With both races of the Milwaukee double-header weekend finally complete, teams will now head to Laguna Seca for the 2026 season finale next weekend.
Discussion about this post